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Mere job creation is not going to be enough to solve the problem of unemployment. What the politicians don’t “get” is that unemployment is not just a quantitative issue arising from economic factors. Unemployment is a qualitative issue that is resulting from the hiring system. What the well-connected and wealthy class don;’ “get” is that the problem is the hiring system. Corporate America is trying to replace broad based, diverse hiring with a workforce that is predominantly male, young, able-bodied and coming from cultures that emphasize hierarchy and obedience. A maze of employment law has been put into place by business special interests to protect employers’ attempts to screen out anyone who doesn’t meet these criteria, and to allow for a steady stream of foreign workers undercutting American wages. This has been accompanied by the publicizing of a job seekers “lore” full of useless “advice” designed to make the unemployees feel that their situation is their own fault - it’s their resume or their interviewing skills or their alleged failure to network or there alleged lack of knowledge of how to network. The arsenal of corporations is supported by weak anti-discrimination laws and the unaffordability of attorneys by older workers, the disabled, women or minorities. Elimination of those with bad credit discriminates against older workers, minorities and anyone who didn’t grow up in a rich family and who needed credit to go to school or buy a car or a home, or who grew up in a working class family that didn’t know or teach children about personal finance. Psychological tests given to applicants at chain stores and hospitals will screen out anyone who doesn’t match the personality type of the job. For example, if a person scoring as a social services type gets an accounting degree, that person would be screened out for an accounting role. The job applicant is not allowed to see the results of a test of his own personality. Women are routinely blocked from substantial responsibilities in science and technology. Anyone with gaps in the resume or several job changes may be screened out because of superficial judgments. The result is the establishment of a class of people who employers are blocking, or blackballing, from employment. Even if they are law abiding citizens who have never done anything wrong and who are good workers, they are screened out by the system, just because they may be blind, in debt or the victim of previous layoffs and employment gaps. There needs to be a way that anyone who wants to work can sign up and get work, not just menial work, but also work at professional levels, contributing to education, science, law enforcement, etc. As long as the employer’s hiring prerogatives are considered sacrosanct, unemployment is just going to continue and a steady stream of untarnished young foreign workers will be brought in for temporary assignments and the lidea of lifetime careers of full time work will not exist any more in America.
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I don’t understand the source of the estimate that there are six people for every job in America. The actual number of people applying for every job is more like 50-200. I know of one corporation at which 20,000 people applied for 350 jobs at the start of 2007.
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Fifty years ago inventors began inventing labor-saving appliances and devices, culminating in computers and automation, Rote jobs such as telephone operator were scaled back drastically. While labor-saving inventions were supposed to being out more leisure time, most employed people feel experience difficulty balancing work and family. Because many tasks are simply no longer necessary, the US should think about a 6-hour work day and the distribution of more 30-hour-per-week jobs to more people. This would alleviate some fraction of unemployment and while some workers may take a slight pay cut, they would suddenly be able to pick up their children from school or pursue outside hobbies or even small businesses.
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Most new jobs come from small businesses. Big business jobs are contracting at best. A bit of anti-trust action is called for.
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Something needs to be done. My daughter lost her job due to this economy, and she has not bee able to find a job in at least two years. She is 54 years old, and has good experiences and qualifications. But they seem to be only hiring the 18 and 19 year old people so they only pay them min. wage, Even though they may have to fire them in a couple of weeks. And, hire another 18 or 19 year old. It is so sad that our country is in this shape. Help the People PLEASE!!!!
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Labor Law has sat idle for too many decades. Too many changes in the workplaces have demanded updating the laws, and due to a Wall Street Minded determination to eliminate unions, all we have seen are the kind of things created (like the ones “olderworker” described in his latest comment) to encourage illegal immigrants, and practices designed to increase dividends, and reduce paychecks! Before we go into the task of trying to pass the Employee Free Choice Act, we may want to try to update a few other things, as well. Three years ago, my wife was working at a company (over 18 years) when she found out she needed surgury. Training the only other employee there with more seniotity than her the core elements of her job, she left and had the surgury. Five weeks later, she returned to work to be informed that her job had been “absorbed”, and that she was “laid-off”. There were several others who had been hired as recently as (less than) 5 years ago! Still, she was no longer employed. Other workers (all females) who were unmarried, or single parents were retained, as they “needed” the job much more? Younger workers, willing to work for less, were favored there, with little left for us to do than to hire a lawyer, and try to sue for damages!? And in union workplaces,… we have little or no insurance against officials being elected to union office that are worthy the positions they are elected to. There is much to be done,… along with all the things the new Employee Free Choice Act addresses, we should recognize this as our best great opportunity, and do it!
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