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Companies Try to Retain Older Workers
LA Times ^ | 9-3-07 | Jonoathon Peterson

Posted on 09/03/2007 11:07:38 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic

Every time John Remore steps up to his workstation to form a piece of sheet metal, he brings an intangible asset to the job: 42 years of experience, dating to lessons from his father.

(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: business; genx; job; jobs; seniors; skill; workplace
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To: Cogadh na Sith
What sector of engineering?

Construction.

Still insulting my abilities, yeah?

No. More a statement about the industry I'm in.

281 posted on 09/04/2007 10:07:29 AM PDT by Professional Engineer (Bread and Circuses. Welfare and Football. Same stuff, different millenium.)
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To: Professional Engineer
Construction.

Yeah, construction engineering stayed "well" in the 90s while defense was cut to hell--you didn't lose a generation of engineers. It's not plagued with this problem like defense is.

Having it to do over again in '85 I might have chosen to do that, how did I know then The Wall would fall and Clinton would squander the "peace dividend"? LOL...

282 posted on 09/04/2007 10:20:19 AM PDT by Cogadh na Sith
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To: patton

Well hell if you go by patton you aint gunna be a push over kind of dad would ya. Smile


283 posted on 09/04/2007 10:48:14 AM PDT by Walkingfeather (u)
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To: Cogadh na Sith
I work in defense as an engineer, as described in this article, the only way anyone under 40 gets promoted is if someone at the top dies.

It does seem that way at times. But even the death of boomers like myself won't help you. You need to really get in there and kiss some serious ass. Play golf with the big boss--but let him win. Tell really good jokes and then tell everyone you heard them from your boss. Say yes to everything--whether you can deliver or not. That's how its done in american business nowadays.

284 posted on 09/04/2007 10:58:07 AM PDT by subterfuge (Today, Tolerance =greatest virtue;Hypocrisy=worst character defect; Discrimination =worst atrocity)
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To: Cogadh na Sith

If you have land and houses to care for, then it might make sense for you to learn more about how to maximize income and growth on these properties. Especially if you have a significant personal financial stake in these properties. Doing more with these assets can help take your mind off your job frustrations. Furthermore, if you own part or all of these properties, you should consider any growth in value as part of your total income. I have one property that we bought in 1967 for $21,000, now it is taxed at over $600,000. If I do all the work it needs done it will be taxed at over $1,000,000. Let’s see, $650,000 minus $21,000 equals $629,000, divided by 40 equals over $15,000 extra net worth per year.


285 posted on 09/04/2007 11:01:31 AM PDT by gleeaikin
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To: onedoug

ping


286 posted on 09/04/2007 1:14:16 PM PDT by windcliff
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To: windcliff

Retain.


287 posted on 09/04/2007 2:04:13 PM PDT by onedoug
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To: Jeff Chandler

LOL! I joke that when I retired, they had to lay two people off!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I used to sell, service and repair small offset printing equipment. One shop I used to visit every month had a middle aged fellow who seemed to move like molasses but I noticed early on that he kept the machinery running. One day his boss got ticked off about something and started telling me that he wanted to fire the guy. I told him that if he did he would have to hire at least two and probably three people to replace him. He looked at me as if he had never seen me before! I know he thought I was crazy but a couple of years later the man developed cancer, he worked as long as he was able to work but finally had to stop and he only lived a very short time afterward. Sure enough, on my next visit I saw that the shop that one man had run was full of people trying to do what he used to do. From then until the business was bought and the print shop closed they never had another operator who could do it all by himself.


288 posted on 09/04/2007 2:24:25 PM PDT by RipSawyer (Does anybody still believe this is a free country?)
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To: RipSawyer
When I was 20, I had a job in a sporting goods store. One day I was assigned to stock a show tree with ski boots. Two other employees were assigned to do the same with another shoe tree.

The other two stocked the tree with the sizes in random order. I stocked mine ordered by by shoe sizes, and finished the job before they did.

I was reprimanded by my supervisor. Why? Because, unlike my fellow employees, I did the work while sitting down on a chair. It appeared to the supervisor that I was resting instead of working.

289 posted on 09/04/2007 2:42:47 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler ("A person's a person no matter how small." -Dr. Seuss)
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To: onedoug

Boy any excuse.


290 posted on 09/04/2007 2:43:27 PM PDT by windcliff
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To: Jeff Chandler

show tree = shoe tree


291 posted on 09/04/2007 2:44:54 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler ("A person's a person no matter how small." -Dr. Seuss)
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To: RipSawyer; Professional Engineer; RC2; afraidfortherepublic
Sure enough, on my next visit I saw that the shop that one man had run was full of people trying to do what he used to do. From then until the business was bought and the print shop closed they never had another operator who could do it all by himself.

That's not a success story. That's failure. Nice job burning the ol' guy out, not hiring anyone and not passing the torch....

I think your story is a cautionary tale for what may happen to US DoD engineering.

292 posted on 09/04/2007 9:43:28 PM PDT by Cogadh na Sith
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To: Cogadh na Sith

That’s not a success story. That’s failure. Nice job burning the ol’ guy out, not hiring anyone and not passing the torch....

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Actually, they did hire a young man for the older fellow to train but he couldn’t keep up so when the older man died they brought in a second trainee. Both of them together couldn’t keep up so they had people from other departments doing simple things for themselves rather than wait for the operators. I had had some training in motion studies and had worked for two years setting production standards so I noticed that the older guy had two or three machines running while he was talking on the phone. The supervisor only noticed that he was talking on the phone. The new operator could only run one machine and he had to turn it off when the phone rang or he would forget to mind it and have a paper jam. Sometimes it takes a trained eye to see what is really going on. I have known people who could do next to nothing and make a supervisor think they were the best of the bunch.


293 posted on 09/05/2007 4:48:46 AM PDT by RipSawyer (Does anybody still believe this is a free country?)
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To: Cogadh na Sith
the boomers won't live forever, or hopefully not much longer.

You say this because lazy know nothing punk gen-x babies eat our dust and cook our french fries.

Grow up.

294 posted on 09/05/2007 5:06:56 AM PDT by Eaker (If illegal immigrants were so great for an economy; Mexico would be building a wall to keep them in)
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To: Cogadh na Sith
the only way anyone under 40 gets promoted is if someone at the top dies.

Unless the under 40 is good at what they do. If you want to support your family perhaps you should work harder and smarter?

295 posted on 09/05/2007 5:13:37 AM PDT by Eaker (If illegal immigrants were so great for an economy; Mexico would be building a wall to keep them in)
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To: Oberon
My husband has been a tool and die maker for almost 40 years. I don't know what his co. will do when he retires, but we DO plan to retire.

Carolyn

296 posted on 09/05/2007 5:23:06 AM PDT by CDHart ("It's too late to work within the system and too early to shoot the b@#$%^&s."--Claire Wolfe)
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To: Eaker
Yeah, I'm a Gen-X baby:

I obtained a BSEE on a 4 year Army Scholarship. I was a distinguished military graduate. I went on to have a successful career as an officer until my Dad and Grandad died and I had to take care of their land and houses. I had a clearance and I wanted to work in defense like my Dad did. I thought it was important. That put me into the defense engineering job market as a rookie right in 1995. 4 projects I worked on got cancelled. I finally climbed my way up by the ears of my bunny slippers and got a great job on a premier program, but I realized that I'm the youngest guy--and I'm 40! The oldsters aren't retiring, and there are no positions opening up.

Now if a guy like me, with my background, sees a problem, there just might be a problem, numbnuts.

297 posted on 09/05/2007 10:43:45 AM PDT by Cogadh na Sith
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To: Cogadh na Sith

So your idea to solve the problem is for a bunch of fellow FReepers hurry up and die?

I am glad I have been successful without a sorry ass attitude like yours. Why the hell should I retire if I don’t want to? Just so maybe you can move up the ladder a rung? Perhaps the Peter Principle has kicked in and you are as high up as you will ever get.

Maybe you should try delivering pizza’s. I see very few of us old people doing that.


298 posted on 09/05/2007 11:19:45 AM PDT by Eaker (If illegal immigrants were so great for an economy; Mexico would be building a wall to keep them in)
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To: Cogadh na Sith
“Then when the oldsters die, your business dies. Good plan. It’s a self limiting problem—the boomers won’t live forever, or hopefully not much longer.”

Most of these “oldsters” are people born before the Baby Boomers. The oldest Baby Boomer is only 61 years old now. The youngest is 42. So by the time you get your wish and all the boomers die off, you’ll be an old geezer yourself if you are still living.

You’re a pea-brained ass.

299 posted on 09/05/2007 11:34:18 AM PDT by TKDietz
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To: TKDietz
Most of these “oldsters” are people born before the Baby Boomers. The oldest Baby Boomer is only 61 years old now. The youngest is 42. So by the time you get your wish and all the boomers die off, you’ll be an old geezer yourself if you are still living

I know--I'll be the junior guy until I'm 70.

Thanks for illustrating my point, though....

300 posted on 09/05/2007 11:36:10 AM PDT by Cogadh na Sith
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