Posted on 05/18/2009 6:45:32 PM PDT by SkyPilot
DALLAS, May 19 (Reuters) - Rodney Ringler is an unemployed blue collar male without a college degree. He's hardly alone. Men like him have been the main victims of the current recession in the United States.
"I haven't worked since December of 2007, around the time this recession started," Ringler, a 49-year-old computer technician, said as he walked his dog in a Dallas suburb.
He sees little light at the end of the tunnel.
"I've been looking to get into law enforcement because it's a growth area," he said, but had no immediate prospects.
One statistic that stands out in America's recession-stung economy is the unemployment rate for adult men: in April for the second month in a row it surged ahead of the national average to 9.4 percent versus 8.9 percent for all workers. The jobless rate for adult women was 7.1 percent.
The reasons are clear: male-heavy sectors such as construction and manufacturing have been hard hit. But the implications may be dire for the broader economy and hamper the recovery as families that once had male breadwinners struggle.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Are you looking for a job?
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Yeah, it is here, too. 'Cause, you know, pretty soon everyone's gonna be a criminal.
Everywhere is Brazil. /artistic allusion.
Mmm... Since when is a computer technician position considered "blue collar"? I thought that these were the kinds of jobs those old fashioned factory workers were supposed to be training for once we shipped all of the manufacturing jobs over seas. I guess we all need to start training to be computer engineers. Until of course those jobs also start to be considered "blue collar".
Boy, not a babe in the bunch of them.
“a 49-year-old computer technician”
That’s a blue collar job? Amazing how when I was doing that I had to do it business casual.
If it is blue collar, it’s not our fault he paid for college so he could put all his eggs in one basket. I don’t want to hear anyone like that whining because they ended up screwed.
“...and I get at least one or two monthly hits on resumes out there that are as old as Moses.”
You nailed it. Husband is an IT Geek with an alphabet of certifications and he gets head-hunted at least once a month...from a resume that’s 2 years old. (And that’s OLD in IT.)
He’s enjoying being his own boss these days. Plenty of work out there if one is motivated enough to seek it out.
Republicans are happier than Democrats and ... old men tend to be happier than old women.
Go figure.
Women's Studies? Urban Studies? Basket Weaving? iPod Studies? The Sociology of Porn?
Wow. Diversity offers such a cornucopia of educational choices! It's hard to pick just one!
For babes you need to check out the founders of the NOW organization in their original group photo 1966.
Interesting that the feminists (heterosexual back then) in 1966 still smiled.
Isn’t that Michael Steele second from the right?
Oh my, is michelle obimbo in the front row, 2nd from right. It is hard to miss that famous stance. You know, the bowling ball between the knees look.
I don’t know but I think that I could cure that one on the left front.
Thanks for those links Cindy!
I may be behind the times but I don’t consider a computer technician to be a blue collar worker, not that there’s anything wrong with being a computer technician. In my youth a blue collar worker was someone who worked in a factory, drove a truck or otherwise actually got callouses on their hands through manual labor-but like I said, I’m probably just behind the times.
Good news for "minorities." Bad news for WASP males.
He doesn’t have a college degree.
That could be his problem. Lots of companies require a degree before they will consider someone for a job like a computer tech.
He might have 20 years experience in his field, but he won’t even get an interview and the job will go to someone with no experience and a BA in sociology.
What is a rug muncher?
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