Tag Archives: unemployment

Why Do We Keep Giving Our Jobs Away?

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This is an article I originally wrote back in December 2004 about the problem of outsourcing American jobs to other countries. I recently found it and was surprised at how nothing has changed in the last ten years and this piece is still pretty spot on. Actually things may be even worse. There’s a greater number of aging baby boomers to work some of these jobs, and they are having an even harder time, often being terminated from their jobs 10-15 years before retirement age, now dipping into their retirement savings to live – but that is another story for a different day.

I hope this trend of corporate greed at the expense of this country’s health and welfare changes soon. Personally, I think if you outsource jobs to other countries that can be done by American workers, you should be heavily taxed. I think companies who maintain their workforce in the United States should be given tax breaks, at least for a period of time.

I note in my article I am NOT an economist or historian, nor am I necessarily politically inclined, so I don’t know all the background about these types of things, but I know enough to know they can be done judiciously and pragmatically. Of course, this will most likely cut into some profit margins – so though it can be done, I am sure it would be a fight. In honor of Throwback Thursday, I thought I would share it with you & see what you think.

 Outsourcing American Jobs Dangerous Trend

I love to read Molly Ivins’ nationally syndicated column. Today’s article was Ivin’s review of two books. One of the books mentioned, “When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor” by William Julius Wilson, discussed the problems with joblessness in the inner city ghettos. She uses a quote from the book discussing his solutions, which she states as critical for all of us not just for poor inner-city blacks – “The problems of joblessness and social dislocation in the inner city are, in part, related to the processes in the global economy that have contributed to greater inequality & insecurity among American workers in general & to the failure of U.S. social policies to adjust to these processes. It is therefore myopic to view the problems of jobless ghettos as if they were separate from those that plague the larger society.”

This made me think, as I read, that a large percentage of the American workforce is now in danger of this “jobless ghetto” syndrome. I heard President Bush say, during one of the debates, that the key to ending unemployment and government assistance needs is EDUCATION for 21st century jobs. The way I see it, the market is becoming considerably service and technology based. The jobs of the 21st century are huge in the area of technical assistance (development, programming, maintenance) and customer service. These are also the jobs that have been outsourced to other countries, for considerably cheaper labor costs. This is a dangerous trend that has been on the rise in the last five years.

Now, I am not an economics or history expert, but the way it appears to me is that in the last half century jobs have increasingly changed in proportion concerning manufacturing and service-oriented jobs. In the early years of this country up until the first half of the 20th century, manufacturing was a huge part of the economic base. The last half of the 20th century saw a large majority of these jobs being outsourced to other countries because it was cheaper for the manufacturer. This left the service-oriented and technology fields as a way of providing jobs for American citizens. As proved from my last five calls to Dell, and other computer parts manufacturers they are involved with, ALL of their technical support has been outsourced, often times to places where the technicians’ English is accented so heavily, even if they are the most intelligent in the world, I can’t understand a word coming out of their mouths.

If we are sending all the manufacturing, customer service-oriented and technology jobs overseas, what jobs does that leave for Americans? Medical professionals, lawyers, dry-cleaners, and fast-food/restaurant jobs are a few of the jobs left. Do you recognize the large gap in salaries between the first two jobs I mentioned and the second two jobs – the haves and the have-nots?

Do not misunderstand me, I understand the importance of a global economy, but in my opinion we have taken the concept entirely too far. When there is no balance, a considerable amount of middle-class jobs disappear from the U.S. landscape. If this trend continues, jobless ghettos could be as common as tent cities during the Great Depression.

Just something I was thinking about, something I think about often actually.

(And RIP Molly Ivins, you are missed by many!!)

China’s Moon?

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When our government decided to cancel NASA’s Constellation Program several years back, which would have taken us back to the moon and to Mars, Homer Hickman (author of Rocket Boys and October Sky) wrote a short story set in the not-so-distant future. This was his take on America in a “post-NASA” world, a world where the United States is not the leader in human space flight exploration.  I wanted to share it with you, as I have some specific opinions that are of a similar topic I will be writing on in the future, and thought this would be a perfect preface.  It’s an interesting tale, for sure – and a little disturbing to say the least.

I hope you find it interesting, as well, whether you support NASA’s endeavors or not. Oh, and were you aware that China landed its first rover on the moon last December?

The Boy Who Looked at the Moon by Homer Hickman

Just something I was thinking about . . .

American Jobs Needed

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So the other day, I was watching some talking heads show & it was mentioned how the infrastructure of the United States is in dismal need of maintenance & repairs. It was mentioned that the current president had talked about putting American people to work on these projects – thus fortifying America and bringing much needed employment to many areas of the country.

Sounds like perfect sense to me, but we all know those are not the types of jobs that can be shipped overseas to be done for pennies on the dollar of what it would cost here by paying a decent living wage.  These are NOT the types of jobs that bring big bucks to corporate America, so no one seems interested in getting these projects started, let alone completed.

I remember years back the former president made the statement that we need to train Americans for jobs needed in the 21st century. What we have seen is that most of those jobs are being sent overseas to be done cheaper – so I never understood how that was going to help Americans stay employed and help this country prosper.

Unfortunately, when our bridges start collapsing at a quicker pace, our water systems start malfunctioning and the worst nightmare of them all, we start having power grid issues, these corporate tycoons and government buffoons  are going to wish they had invested a little more here in their own backyards. I have always said, the one act that will bring this country to its knees is to take out the power grid – our aging, antiquated power grid that we ALL depend on for every aspect of our lives – communication, power, heating, running water systems, pumping gas, banking, checking out at the grocery stores, etc., as the list goes on and on and on.

It just seems like we are setting ourselves up to be ambushed, caught with our pants down, to fall hard, and to lose much. There’s a song I like by Toad the Wet Sprocket called Whatever I Fear and part of the chorus goes like this:

“Whatever I fear the most is whatever I see before me
  Whenever I let my guard down, whatever I was ignoring . . .”

 We, as a nation collectively, better start paying attention. We better quit ignoring the things that don’t seem to affect us right this instant, but will when we least expect it.

Just something I was thinking about . . . what do you think?

Lyrics ©Toad the Wet Sprocket – Coil 1997

Unemployed in Your “GOLDEN” Years

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It’s hell to be in your fifties and be looking for work. I know quite a few people who are over the age of 50 and have all of a sudden found themselves unemployed. You can’t help but wonder if they are discreetly weeding out older workers. A man I know had a pre-interview assessment test with one of the manufacturing plants. He is an Instrumentation & Electrical Technician. He assumed he would be given a test regarding his skill set. When he got there, the test was given on a computer. The HR person told him to sign in, where she promptly watched him type in his name, last four of his social security number, and his date of birth. The test he took was not what he was expecting. It was multiple choice and asked questions like:

On the job site, do you value safety above productivity?

All the time, most of the time, some of the time, rarely, or never

When you are on the job site, you consider safety to come first:

All the time, most of the time, some of the time, rarely, or never

The average person misses how many days of work in a 6-month period?

Zero days, 1-3 days, 4-6 days, 7-9 days, or more than 9  days

Regarding the last question, he told me, hell he didn’t know what the average person does, he’d never taken a survey before – that’s never been in the scope of his job. (I had to laugh at that!) There were quite a few weird vague questions like that. And as far as safety goes . . .  that is always number one!

Within two hours he heard back from the plant and after judging his “assessment tests,” they determined he did not have the qualifications they were looking for. He was a little shocked, especially since he knows someone in management there and they had mentioned there had been a big shake up and many people were let go, some for not knowing how to do their job. We both agreed the test they gave him was an odd way to gauge if he knew how to keep their factory running, as well as understood electrical and instrumentation basics, processes, and proper safety precautions.

My daughter and I talked about these types of personality assessment tests years ago when she was in high school, as many retail establishments use this type of screening in their initial applicant hiring process. She told me she was really good at taking them, as she knew exactly what they wanted her to say – regardless of what her real answer might be. She also usually got whatever job she applied for. One of the places she worked, she was good friends with the hiring person’s girlfriend, and he told her straight up that she was the only one he had ever seen who had made 100% on that test.

My point is, it’s a game, and many people figure it out at some point in time. I personally am not sure how this would validate anyone’s professionalism or work ethic. For older employees trying to find new jobs (especially those who haven’t had to look in awhile), this is a screening method many are unfamiliar with and the unspoken nuances aren’t as well known. If I owned a company, this is NOT a screening process I would utilize. I don’t want to hire a bunch of people who essentially just kissed my ass by telling me exactly what I want to hear . . . and being dishonest in the process.  But then again, that’s just me. Having said that, I have had to take a couple of those tests and looking back on it, don’t think I was interviewed for those positions. Which doesn’t surprise me – I’m not big on playing games.

My friend said he’ll know what to do next time, too . . .

I have some friends who work as government contractors at one of NASA’s space centers. Late last year, the contract they worked on was rebid. Their employer won the bid, but bid the work so cheaply, concessions had to be made and one of those was the lay-off of about 50 people at the beginning of this year. Every single person laid off was over the age of 40, most being in their 50-60s. People who had years of experience and had devoted their lives to the space program, regardless of the capacity. BUT they were also the oldest, many there a number of years, so they commanded higher salaries, typically more vacation time, and possibly higher medical expenses due to their age (as well as being out on disability for surgeries).

I asked my friend if this didn’t smack of ageism to them and if they were going to file a grievance with the EEOC. Of course they didn’t, as most of them were hoping to get picked up on another contract so certainly didn’t want to burn any bridges. For some of them, the space program was all they knew. And though government workers and contractors often get a bad rep, some of these people worked really hard for their money, and made significant contributions to the overall goals of the nation’s space exploration plan. Unfortunately, a high percentage of my friend’s friends are still unemployed – I ask about it pretty regularly. Nothing like using all the money you have saved for retirement to make ends meet when you are let go from your job with another 10-15 years left until you can really retire. I can just imagine how unsettling and frightening that must be!

Not sure how this growing trend is going to affect our nation’s collective knowledge base, as well as the economy, and how our country deals with its aging population.

I’m curious, what are your thoughts or experience with this . . .