Unfilled Jobs? They Do Exist, Even In Slump

IBD Editorials ^ | June 17, 2011 | ROBERT J. SAMUELSON

[Kaslin]

One puzzle of this somber economy is the existence of unfilled jobs in the midst of mass unemployment.

You might think (I did) that with almost 14 million Americans unemployed — and nearly half those for more than six months — companies could fill almost any opening quickly.

Not so. Somehow, there's a mismatch between idle workers and open jobs. Economists call this "structural unemployment."

Just how many jobs are affected is unclear; there are no definitive statistics. Economist Harry Holzer of Georgetown University thinks the jobless rate might be closer to 8% than 9.1% if most of these jobs were filled. That implies up to 1.5 million more jobs.

Economist Prakash Loungani of the IMF estimates that 25% of unemployment is structural; that's more than 3 million jobs. A recent survey of 2,000 firms by the McKinsey Institute, a research group, found that 40% had positions open at least six months because they couldn't find suitable candidates.

Let's acknowledge two realities. First, though structural joblessness is important, the main cause of high unemployment remains the deep slump. In the recession, jobs fell 20% in construction, 15% in manufacturing and 7% in retailing. Only a stronger economy can remedy this unemployment.

Second, a big economy like ours always has some vacancies. People quit or get fired. Hiring procedures grind slowly. Some highly specialized jobs are inherently hard to fill: say, a transportation engineer fluent in both Chinese and English (a real-life example).

[cableguymn]

There might be a reason for the opening in the mechanic field. Mechanics that are good never leave where they are if they are treated right. Mechanics that suck move around a lot. Owners of shops that suck have dusty “help wanted” signs in the window because mechanics talk and know who not to apply with.

I was one for 15 years. I got out because the shops worth working for where very hard to find anymore. Started in 1999 at 50K a year, topped out in 2006 at 80K and it just kept going down hill from there. Overhead at shops is high and the “we know you spent 5 hours figuring out what the past 4 shops could not figure out, but the customer has already spent 1000 bucks trying to fix it so we can only bill them 1 hour (and pay you one hour), don’t worry, we’ll make it up to you on the next one (they NEVER did)” b.s. got old.

When it came time to sell off the 200,000 bucks worth of tools I got about 10-20 cents on the dollar for the ones I didn’t need. I obviously kept a lot just in case.

[bcsco]

No, this is small town rural America. We’re talking youth out of high school or with some junior college credit. One thing he also mentioned, the ‘want’ to work isn’t there. Everything he said has been backed up repeatedly by my wife who manages a major chain store. The work ethic isn’t there. It’s take the check and go home. Finding new employees, even in this market, is like pulling teeth.

[ctdonath2]

Mainframe programming may be a name-your-salary position. Today, new programming students are not aware of mainframes, much less interested in learning COBOL. Old coders are retiring, if not dying.

[Peter from Rutland]

The days of VAX/VMS are well over. There are a few old soldiers out there but it’s few and in between.

Myself, I’m into Visual Studio .NET 2010 Ultimate, which can do GUI automation, and I can code it in C#.

I make sure serious stuff doesn’t blow up now. Nuclear power, gas and oil refining, chemical processing, even certain foods (think liquid).

[ctdonath2]

Very big and long established companies still run old - and working - code on “big iron”. They’re not going to replace systems that big (running billions of dollars annually) just to be “modern”.

[Peter from Rutland]

While that is true most support is transferred to India. In fact HP has shipped all VMS support to India.

[octex]

I’ve read items here on FR over the past few weeks that mentioned that the ads from many companies have specified that the job applicant must not be “unemployed”. Those were not high level jobs in mgt. ....Doesn’t seem like some firms are in tune with the fact that many skilled and experienced people are currently unemployed and want to work.

Grandson just graduated from HS. Last year, he received offers of scholarships from a handfull of schools and tech institutes, after one of his teachers sent them examples of his computer graphics works. ....Before he pursues that path, he’s going to attend a tech school and get his certification in WELDING, so he will always have a skilled trade to fall back on later if needed, or to provide income when attending college. ...Smart kid.

[SteveH]

While that is true most support is transferred to India. In fact HP has shipped all VMS support to India.

I think you meant to write that HP shipped all the VMS support jobs to India, but not the US VMS support engineers (Providence help them, wherever they ended up)...

[RipSawyer]

“Kinda hard to move to take a different job when you are underwater on your mortgage.”
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True, and it probably costs a lot more to move now than it did back in the fifties even if you are not underwater. If I had to move now I would have to either find a buyer who would take a lot of personal possessions along with the real estate or hold an auction, give things away or something. It would cost a fortune if I tried to move all my accumulated junk.

[RipSawyer]

Are they offering any money? Before I finally started drawing retirement I tried to find a job in maintenance. I have a forty year background in electronics and mechanical maintenance. I couldn’t get a serious interview, there were ads wanting someone to do electrical, mechanical, welding, plumbing, painting, carpentry and oh, yes, MUST HAVE HAAC certification. The pay was up to eleven dollars an hour and they wouldn’t even talk to anyone over forty. Of course they don’t say that but it is easy to figure out. Anyone who could actually do all that and do it reasonably well should have been worth at least twenty five an hour.

[wolfpat]

Well, there are jobs as a “duel tech” which is a combined mechanic/electrician for just over $20/hr. You need experience with Seimens PLCs for the electrical part, and the usual skills with moving equipment. Wanna move to the budding metropolis of Moncure, NC?

[cableguymn]

There might be a reason for the opening in the mechanic field. Mechanics that are good never leave where they are if they are treated right. Mechanics that suck move around a lot. Owners of shops that suck have dusty “help wanted” signs in the window because mechanics talk and know who not to apply with.

I was one for 15 years. I got out because the shops worth working for where very hard to find anymore. Started in 1999 at 50K a year, topped out in 2006 at 80K and it just kept going down hill from there. Overhead at shops is high and the “we know you spent 5 hours figuring out what the past 4 shops could not figure out, but the customer has already spent 1000 bucks trying to fix it so we can only bill them 1 hour (and pay you one hour), don’t worry, we’ll make it up to you on the next one (they NEVER did)”

When it came time to sell off the 200,000 bucks worth of tools I got about 10-20 cents on the dollar for the ones I didn’t need. I obviously kept a lot just in case.

[redhead]

Drilling and oilwell services companies in north dakota are CRYING for rig hands. The problem is that there is no housing, and prospective employees must get to ND on their own as the companies do not relocate people at that pay level. "That pay level" is relative here...ND is a right-to-work state, so base pay is somewhat lower than it perhaps be in a unionized state. However, the hours are so long that it is not impossible for someone to take home more than $2000 in a two-week pay period. But, because ND has harsh weather conditions and isolation problems, most people just won't consider working there.