Posted on 06/17/2011 4:48:27 PM PDT by 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).
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Kinda hard to move to take a different job when you are underwater on your mortgage.
Some of this may be jobs with exotic requirements, especially where they want the new hire to have experience, not just schooling, in some key areas.
Some of this may be the same old same old B.S. where the idea is to bring in a foreign national, or outsource, on the cheap but first to “show” that no US resident can fill the post.
If all else fails, I will have the most well groomed lawn in Minnesota! : D
Depending on state you could just walk away from the underwater house upon getting an offer elsewhere. A sort of quasi-bankruptcy.
Was at the butcher shop today. My normally easy-going butcher could only complain about help. They’re not qualified, or they don’t want to work, or all they’re thinking of is how much they make. If that last is their first question, that’s as far as it goes.
There’s openings for mechanics where I work. And the place I left 6 months ago still has my position as an industrial electrician open.
Pay me health insurance coverage and minimum wage and I'll take it!
In 41 years of working I have NEVER been unemployed and NEVER accepted a dime of help without giving reasonable return for the cost.
Perfect health and a lifer citizen and a 40,000 post freeper! ; )
A summer vacationing student or the like might not care a whole lot (it beats an idle summer on your resume) but for someone who’s hoping to fill a known personal financial gap it is an understandable frustration.
Software is especially compartmentalized now. If your skills don’t line up exactly they won’t bite or if you make to much money, forget it. I’ve been in manufacturing based software for over 20 years now and still going. Went from mainframe computers to disk drives to semiconductor and now fluid process control.
If it’s the would be employer’s scheme, I hope you kissed the blarney stone....
The old swiss army knives of software are left to go to rust today. Some of that is prevailing management philosophies, which change as all fashions do and not necessarily in a rational manner.
There are hundreds of job openings in Pennsylvania’s Northern Tier, thanks to the rapid expansion of the gas fracturing industry. These are jobs at all levels of experience, do not require college degrees, benefits included, salaries far above the PA average.
Companies hiring are Chief, Anadarko, Southern Union—just about every natural gas co. in Texas has a finger in this pie.
In addition, this is one of the most beautiful areas on the east coast, the schools are fine, and housing prices are very moderate.
Call any PA. jobs center or contact the gas companies directly. Also look in the Sunday edition of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette for job listings.
Baraq will fix that.
Surely he’ll find a way to have the EPA shut down fracturing.
There are many articles in the Sun-Gazette about this new and exciting industry. Here’s an exampla:
http://sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/564693/Touring-Marcellus—epicenter-.html
Shhhhh! So far he hasn’t noticed it.
Where I work is undergoing an extensive renovation of several old buildings. The contractor is totally union. You mostly see the so-called workers shuffling between locations at break-neck snail speed. Today at 2:52 the ENTIRE workforce exited the work premises en masse to head for their cars. They even get time off to walk to their cars!......in general, they won’t do a damned thing that isn’t on their punch ticket, even if it means the final product looks like shit. We got these dweebs because of having to ensure they were all ‘legal’ but some I’ve seen there are likely illegals anyway. It’s just a damned shame. Totally worthless people.
Sure, if you want to be a renter for the next 7 + years.
None of my business, but why did you quit in this environment, if you don’t mind me asking...
He’s working on it. You should take out a 25 year car loan on the chevy volt so you can ride batteries (if it not too cold) for 25 miles....or, you could just buy a golf cart and get the same. //major sarc//
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