Why is America out of work?

[kaytieeldr]

Well, the word "collage" sorta jumped out at me, but I don't even have a 4 year degree. In other words, I felt I had no right to say anything.

Oh, thanks! Note that I was responding in the middle of the night (I think) and obviously missed a spelling error or two . You're entirely correct; being educated in creating artwork from an assemblage of different forms doesn't, in any way, qualify one for a job doing the roadwork to which the OP apparently aspires.

 

[Disney Doll]

I'm going to throw out a few thoughts:
~ College educated people who go looking for a McD's job aren't going to get hired because they are overqualified. McDs knows they are going to put all kinds of time and effort into training and then when something better comes along, poof! All that time & effort wasted. And it does take time and effort to train, even for a McDs job.
~ Non-English speaking people may also be illegal aliens and thus work "under the table" for cash and can be paid less since there are no tax witholding ramifications. Not that it's right, but it's business.
~ Younger folks today have a different kind of work ethic than previous generations. Much more willing to wait for the "right" job than to take "any" job.
~ Oftentimes, peopel do better financially collecting unemployment and looking for the right job than they would just getting any job.

 

[kaytieeldr]

After a certain point it get REALLY frustrating looking for entry level work that doesn't exist. Which is why my jobs the past few years have been substitute teaching, secretaty at H&R Block, etc. Is this what I want to be doing? No. But I have yet to find any sort of entry level jobs anywhere in town that pertain to my chosen field, so I'm doing this kind of work while I look.

But you are finding jobs. Understood, they're not jobs in your chosen field; but the road construction jobs the OP can't get don't seem to be in his field of education either. But you're not sitting down, complaining on an Internet forum, about Americans not being able to find jobs. You're finding jobs. Each one you do, even completely outside your field of study, increases your experience and knowledge and widens your opportunites for the next job.

 

[disykat]

Yeap, this kinda tells me that someone was thinkin' the boards were gettin' a bit on the boring side, and decided to liven things up with a trollish post. Which, to my spelling-Nazi brain, was actually painful to read. Well done, OP!

I agree. All of us have a few rogue apostrophes or spelling errors at times, but seriously?

The topic of unemployment is an interesting one. However, I don't think we can blame it solely on illegal immigrants or outsourcing. (Which I'm going to assume is where the OP was going with the "don't speak English" thing?) I do know some people who have lost their jobs to outsourcing though.

 

[Ember]

wrong place!

 

[kaytieeldr]

Well, let us know what the right place is - that's a discussion in which I know I want to get involved!

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Pray tell-is it an Online college degree you have?
What is your desgree in?

Do you really want to do road work with all the illegal aliens?

I found it interesting that the OP knew the English speaking abilities of the majority of road crews in his area. I find it amazing that you know their immigration status. Do you live in the same community, and have a job that gives you access to this information?

 

[Ember]

Well, let us know what the right place is - that's a discussion in which I know I want to get involved!

The right place is clearly at Disney World. Or on a beach somewhere with a small team of experts working out new ways to be nice to me. That works, too.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Oh, thanks! Note that I was responding in the middle of the night (I think) and obviously missed a spelling error or two . You're entirely correct; being educated in creating artwork from an assemblage of different forms doesn't, in any way, qualify one for a job doing the roadwork to which the OP apparently aspires.

I'm really confused...I was noting the spelling "collage" in the OP. I never even saw any errors in yours or even looked for any. Like you, I know the difference in a typo and a word someone doesn't know how to spell. I can't tell if your reponse to me is sarcastic or not...I didn't intend to offend anyone. I only have a 2 year degree, now I'm questioning jumping into a thread about 4 year degrees. Ok, rereading your post to me, I think maybe you aren't insulting me at all. I'm so confused, and I'm PMS'ing. Help!

 

[kaytieeldr]

I'm really confused...I was noting the spelling "collage" in the OP

Oh, I KNOW that! I meant, I missed the OP's mistake with that word! Once you pointed it out, I tried to figure out how being educated in making artwork consisting of pieces of 'stuff' - paper, leaves, pictures, material, etc. - related to getting a job doing roadwork! Sorry for the confusion! I wasn't being sarcastic, and I DIDN'T mean to offend you!

 

[lillygator]

Also wanted to point out in the construction biz and house building biz here-the dependable, hard working people are the Mexican Immigrants .

DH works with lots of contractors who say , in this hard work enviroment, the young black men dont apply, the young white men tend to not show up to work-so most of the crews for these industries have become all Mexicans-because of their work ethic.

Now THAT is racism.

nope, it's a fact.

 

[Colleen27]

And todays immigrants ( most of them ) posses a desire to work hard, in jobs americans would not take.

That isn't true. Americans would take those jobs, but not at the sub-minimum-wage, no benefits, no workplace protections conditions that employers can get away with when hiring illegal immigrants. I don't fault the immigrants for it - they're doing the best they can for themselves, same as the rest of us - but I find it absolutely incomprehensible that so many people buy into the "Americans don't want those jobs" line of BS that cheapskate employers use to justify their unethical and illegal labor practices.

 

[Colleen27]

I'm going to throw out a few thoughts:
~ College educated people who go looking for a McD's job aren't going to get hired because they are overqualified. McDs knows they are going to put all kinds of time and effort into training and then when something better comes along, poof! All that time & effort wasted. And it does take time and effort to train, even for a McDs job.

The thing is, we already have a more educated workforce on whole than the employment market requires (the last numbers I saw were about 28% of the population holding a degree, and about 24% of jobs requiring one). The largest job gains forecast for the near future are in unskilled work - waitstaff, retail, home care, janitorial, etc. We teach our youth that a college degree is the way to a better standard of living, but right now the numbers don't support that generalization, especially if earning the degree requires taking on large amounts of debt.

 

[Cornhusk]

Fair enough.I treat the DisBoards as A text.I type fast and I am so glad you can point out this.

Any job I can get now I would put 110% into it.There is A problem with PEOPLE like you that has too put every comma,cross youre t's and dot youre I's to make youreself look perfect.

And too top that,I think youre knowledge of the past is just that,the past.It's time to put American's back to work!

If you want people to take you seriously, you can at least type with a slight knowledge of the English language.

P.S. Welcome to the school of Hard Knocks and don't worry this is not a four year institution. Instead of just whining about unemployment, be enthusiastic. There are people in worse positions.

 

[EMom]

Also wanted to point out in the construction biz and house building biz here-the dependable, hard working people are the Mexican Immigrants .

DH works with lots of contractors who say , in this hard work enviroment, the young black men dont apply, the young white men tend to not show up to work-so most of the crews for these industries have become all Mexicans-because of their work ethic.

And the best part is, when you hire one of those industrious illegal aliens instead of a US citizen and they get injured on the job, they can't even hit you up for worker's compensation! They work for a fraction of the price and can be thrown overboard with the greatest of ease, unlike those pesky Americans. It's a win/win for employers!

 

[EMom]

That isn't true. Americans would take those jobs, but not at the sub-minimum-wage, no benefits, no workplace protections conditions that employers can get away with when hiring illegal immigrants. I don't fault the immigrants for it - they're doing the best they can for themselves, same as the rest of us - but I find it absolutely incomprehensible that so many people buy into the "Americans don't want those jobs" line of BS that cheapskate employers use to justify their unethical and illegal labor practices.

I despise the "they just do jobs Americans won't do" argument. It's b.s. I grew up in East Texas and didn't lay eyes on a Mexican in that area until the mid-80s. They just weren't there. Yet, miracles of miracles, our houses got built, our yards got mowed, the dishes at restaurants were washed, someone babysat our kids, the roads stayed repaired and the crops even got picked. Geez......did we have some hidden European dwarfs doing the work since "Americans won't do those jobs?" NO!

Americans most certainly would do those jobs and they still would......Except they will not do them for slave wages, no worker's comp and other benefits. So the illegal aliens come over, underbid what American workers can work for (who are often the less educated and therefore, at the bottom of the US payscale already) and suddenly, the lowest rung of US workers has nowhere to go........but welfare. If the illegals disappeared tomorrow, yes it would take a bit of time to adjust, but some Americans would take those jobs for a bit more money. I'd be happy to pay more for products if it meant not having to deal with the illegal alien problem and that jobs would go to Americans, who then could get off welfare.

The "Americans won't do those jobs" theory has been disproven over and over and over, whenever a company that hires large percentages of illegals is raided and they are forced to hire citizens. Amazingly, the Americans line up for the jobs. Yes, they expect more money, but it's usually not a ton more. And in the end, it balances out. The argument really is, "Americans won't work for a fraction of the wages, no benefits and with the understanding that if they are mistreated in the worst way, they are at the employer's mercy."

If all the illegals left tomorrow, the US would not fall apart. Puh-leeze. Do you really buy into that argument?

 

[donaldduck352]

Hellow everyone,the troll is back.Instead of me firing anything back at all the very nice posters here,I wanna thank you and all your criticism on my computer grammar.I wear thicker skin to let all the comments get to me.

I'm done with this thread due to the lack of understanding of my post.

Have A nice day!

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

That isn't true. Americans would take those jobs, but not at the sub-minimum-wage, no benefits, no workplace protections conditions that employers can get away with when hiring illegal immigrants. I don't fault the immigrants for it - they're doing the best they can for themselves, same as the rest of us - but I find it absolutely incomprehensible that so many people buy into the "Americans don't want those jobs" line of BS that cheapskate employers use to justify their unethical and illegal labor practices.

It's interesting because this is something I have actually seen. In middle school, I went to school with about 50% living in Hillsboro city limits and the other 50% living in a more rural setting. The a lot of the kids who lived in the rural settings all fought over low paying berry picking jobs and the like. Now, these same people who are now in their early 20s have siblings or other relatives who can't even get one of those jobs because they're always permanently filled by migrant workers.

 

[lacrosse_lady72]

Hellow everyone,the troll is back.Instead of me firing anything back at all the vey nice posters here,I wanna thank you and all youre criticism on my computer grammer.I wear thicker skin to let all the comments get to me.

I'm done with this thread due to the lack of understanding of my post.

Have A nice day!

There's a difference between computer grammar and just being terrible at writing. Bad computer grammar includes a lot of what one says in casual speech, or the style of how someone texts. This does not include writing youre, when it's spelled you're, but supposed to your. Or commas that are not followed by a space. Or a capitalized A in the middle of the sentence. Or interchangeable to and too.

Everyone makes mistakes. The only people who shouldn't really make at least a handful of mistakes are English majors/people with English degrees. But I think in a place when the mode of communication is through writing, if you're not at least appearing to make the effort to have decent structure, spelling, punctuation and grammar, you're only setting yourself up to be ridiculed.

 

[EMom]

It's interesting because this is something I have actually seen. In middle school, I went to school with about 50% living in Hillsboro city limits and the other 50% living in a more rural setting. The a lot of the kids who lived in the rural settings all fought over low paying berry picking jobs and the like. Now, these same people who are now in their early 20s have siblings or other relatives who can't even get one of those jobs because they're always permanently filled by migrant workers.

The "they're just doing jobs Americans won't do" folks HATE it when you bring up true stories like this. It blows their argument out of the water.

I simply cannot believe how many Americans have bought into that line of horse manure. They fail to realize that by allowing uncontrolled illegal immigration all these years, we have effectively created an enormous group of Americans who (since they are not qualified for higher paying jobs for a variety of reasons) cannot compete with illegals for the lower paying jobs.....and that leaves them depending on the government (or turning to crime) for money. For years and years and years, all those jobs were in fact held by Americans. It is a recent development that they are no longer getting those jobs. There is one reason only. And it's not because they won't do them. Sure, a few here and there won't work, but there are plenty of others who would happily take the jobs.

Those Americans were on the bottom rungs of the employment ladder in the US and illegal immigration has yanked those rungs right out of their grasp. If you listen to who makes the "Americans won't do those jobs" statements, most often you will find someone who is paying an illegal alien's salary and is unwilling to pay a few bucks more to an American. They are looking out for their bank account and insulting the work ethic of others to do so.