It's Final: Most lost jobs gone for good, analysts say

AP ^ | October 19, 2003

[contessa machiaveli]

unfortunately,i'm not being facetious.

[Willie Green]

Our consumers benefit from cheaper products. If outsourcing makes the products cheaper, then that's that.

"Cheaper" is irrelevant if you can't afford 'em anyway.
You need to be a value-added producer before you can be a consumer.
And it is our value-added, wealth-creating occupations that are being outsourced.

[luckystarmom]

Well, moving every time you lose a job is not always a great option. When you have kids and a mortgage, it is hard to move.

Then if you have a two income family, you can't move because it would cause the other person to lose their job.

What I think totally sucks is that we are now outsourcing engineers to China, India, and Russia. Why??? Isn't a degree from an American college and experience in America worth lots of money??? If not, why not. Why are we spending so much money on a college degree and then have that job outsourced to other countries?

How do we prepare our children to get a job in the future?? What career is safe? I always thought my husband and I were safe. We both have degrees in computer science from very good colleges. Now, I'm thinking I'm going to have to go back to college if I want to get a well paying job. I don't know if we can even afford me going back to college.

I'm currently looking for a job, but I haven't worked in 8 years. It's not economically worth it for me to take a low paying job. The costs of having that job are too high: babysitters, housecleaners, more clothes, more gasoline, take out food, etc.

[oceanview]

that's why parents are piling their college aged kids into law schools at record rates. they see what is happening with other "professional" jobs like engineering and tech, and they don't want their kids to see any part of that.

their are other good careers, many in health care services, construction management, and of course government and government funded services.

[dogbyte12]

Law schools aren't an answer either.

Right now, we are beginning to outsource law work as well.

Before, you would have young lawyers do all the grunt work for clients, and the big kahuna lawyer, would read off on it, correct it, and present it to the client.

Now, law firms are beginning to outsource the grunt work to India. It is legal. There will be pressure on lawyer salaries when this starts to really kick in. There will actually be few law jobs out there. Unless of course, we start really jamming up the courts with more frivolous suits and need warm bodies there.

The only job that is safe, is one that can not be done by internet, fax, overseas, or by a computer/robot.

X-ray reading is now being done in India. It will get to the point that when you get blood drawn, it might be overnighted overseas to be analysed. Seriously.

[massadvj]

Attention all working class Freepers who think the world owes them a living (you tariff lovers, this means you as well):

A job is not something you are entitled to. A job is not something an employer is, or should be, required to provide for you, whether you are competent or not.

Simply, a job is your selling of your time and skills to someone else for renumeration. What you receive for your time and skills is the result of the demand/supply equilibrium for whatever you do based on competition and scarcity.

Therefore, whether you realize it or not, if you have a job you are actually self-employed.

If your services are worth more than your employer is paying, then you should be able to leave your job and make as much working for yourself. If not, you are overemployed. Enjoy it, because it will not last.

If you would prefer not to be self-employed, become a civil servant or tenured professor. Everyone else is subject to the basic realities of global economics whether they like it or not.

[RogueIsland]

Ah, I see the economically clueless Randia crowd has chimed in again.

[rabidralph]

From what I know about my dad's business, he sets his own prices. And he is a foreigner. I used to work in IT, also, but I saw the writing on the wall back in the late '90s and got out of it and now I do something else. I know that doesn't help the folks that geared their whole career to writing software and other highly technical things, but there is always room in America for smart, hardworking people.

[x]

Good post. It stands to reason that we can't all work in service industries and outsource manufacturing to other countries without our standard of living eventually falling. All the more so, since those service jobs that can be done overseas (data processing, software design) are already being lost. Eventually a day of reckoning will come. It won't be pretty, but it will have been deserved.

[anniegetyourgun]

In 2000, median hourly earnings (not including tips) of waiters and waitresses were $6.42. The middle 50 percent earned between $5.88 and $7.26. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $5.49, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $10.15 per hour. For most waiters and waitresses, higher earnings are primarily the result of receiving more in tips rather than higher hourly wages. Tips usually average between 10 and 20 percent of guests' checks, so waiters and waitresses working in busy, expensive restaurants earn the most.

Source: BLS

[anniegetyourgun]

$12,500 annually = $6.00/hr (1.00 FTE). Hardly ironic....or unrealistic.

[cp124]

Walmart workers don't get healthcare so that will be affected too. You are right though that we will all be government employees paying 80% tax rates working for our master politicians. We may have to have a revolution to take the country back.

[RiflemanSharpe]

Another success story of free trade. Free trade is costing the American citizen dearly.

[B-Chan]

I guess it's the Marie Antoinette argument: "Let them eat cake,"...

HM Queen Marie-Antoinette never said ”Let them eat cake” or anything close to it. The Queen of France was a pious woman who had nothing to do with the oppression of the poor ; neither can the blame for France‘s troubles be laid at the feet of her husband, HM Louis XVI, King of France. It was Marie-Antoinette’s husband’s great-great-grandmother, the wife of Louis XIV, who said ”Let them eat cake”.

Marie-Antoinette and her royal husband went to the guillotine forgiving their murderers and praising the name of Christ. They were martyred at the hands of the bloody Republic, and deserve better than the shabby treatment their memories have received over the years.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

What? Waiters are paid minimum wage by most restaurants. That is $2.13 per hour. The rest has to be made up of tips. It is very unrealistic. You know little of what you speak. Silence.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

This includes tips dear.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

No way the average waitress is paid that plus tips.

[JohnSmithee]

"Hundreds of threads with this theme have been posted for several months. If you are interested in some good answers check harpseal's profile page.
Engaging in truly meaningful discussion is always welcomed."

I have to admit to having learned a lot from these discussions. Same with any number of topics that have been debated here over the years. What's happening is important and is quite unique in my lifetime.

[JohnSmithee]

"Marie-Antoinette and her royal husband went to the guillotine forgiving their murderers and praising the name of Christ. They were martyred at the hands of the bloody Republic, and deserve better than the shabby treatment their memories have received over the years."

Interesting, any links...?

[anniegetyourgun]

See for yourself.

Know little of what I speak? Are you also a CCP?

Silence? Are you an FR censor?