Who's left to employ? Tight job market scoops up those on the margin

CS Monitor ^ | 08/06/2018 | By Laurent Belsie

[SeekAndFind]

Almost like clockwork, a growing US economy cranks out new jobs. In July, it added 157,000 positions, the US Labor Department reported Friday; in June, 248,000.

But with unemployment near 20-year lows and some analysts touting “full employment,” are there enough available people to keep filling them?

Population growth can account for about a third to a half of the new hires. But to keep the economy growing, people not currently working need to come off the sidelines to reenter the workforce. And that’s what’s happening. The story of who and how is a sometimes messy process, with people struggling with issues from health to criminal backgrounds getting jobs, losing them, and then gaining the courage to try again.

It’s also a tale of progress and hope.

Down the corridor from a law office, 10 floors above Boston’s bustling financial district, a dozen men and women are seated around tables shaped in a U. They’re taking an intensive two-week course here at JVS CareerSolution, learning how to find work despite a background of addiction or criminal activity.

There’s general agreement here that the economy is strong and that it’s a good time to look for a job. But there are complications.

“I have never had a problem finding a job; I have always had a problem keeping a job because of my CORI,” says Alonzo, wearing a bright white T-shirt. (The Monitor did not ask for last names in order to respect the privacy of the class.)

Massachusetts’ CORI, or Criminal Offender Record Information, is an obstacle for many in the class. Mark, a former mechanic, was recently rejected for jobs at two garages because of his criminal background. “You try to change your life,” he says, “and it's not working.”

[Mr. K]

Start booting people off of welfare

[Born to Conserve]

What about “free market” do employers think we don’t understand? If you want better workers, or you want more workers, PAY MORE. It is called “competition”, and it miraculously sets a fair price for goods and services.

Paying kickbacks to Bribing politicians to import cheap labor and subsidize the cost, is not a free market, it is fascism.

For the immigrants we do invite, there should be significant requirements for health, wealth, intelligence, education, etc.

Thanks to current immigration “laws”, our average height, health, IQ, language skill, work ethic, hygiene, and morality, are in a nose dive.

[ASA Vet]

Back in 1970 I worked for a short period in the AMWAY powder mix department. At that time a bus load of trustees from the State Prison in Ionia, MI were brought every weekday to work on the lines. They packaged product and loaded skids. I don't know what they were being paid, but they wanted to get out of prison and do something.

The only problems were some of them hitting on the women workers. If they became too flagrant in violating the "leave them alone," rule, AMWAY didn't let that individual return.

[StolarStorm]

I think high medical insurance expense has caused a lot of over 40 tech workers to get replaced by young H1-Bs. When Obamacare hit there was a huge replacement of experienced (older) workers. It wasn't based on skills, rates or anything particularly obvious. Since insurance companies charge based on average worker age... well there is the incentive for replacement.

I think it's great to have the option to use a visa to bring in a highly skilled individual, but that's not what has been happening for years now. Thankfully, Trump is now working to reduce the abuses of the h1-b program... but it will take a long time to clear out the huge numbers who never should have been brought over here in the first place. The program has been so abused perhaps some consideration should be given to putting it on hiatus for a few years.

Anecdotally, I know a LOT of over 40 tech workers that were pushed out in mass layoffs and replaced by h1-bs... and are either out of work or in much lower paying fields now. As for me, I handle all the IT needs for my church. I enjoy it immensely, but it doesn't pay the bills. But I'm going to do what I should do, not rely on others. I've been working on a business plan.

[redgolum]

Training is expensive, and you need someone who has the skills to train.

That, and as my former employer used to say “We are not in the business to train someone who will then go get a better job”.

[StolarStorm]

I tested the expensive theory by clearly stating a low salary requirement upfront. No joy. It’s not about salary, it’s something else. I have a theory and I know it sounds very very cynical. 1) health insurance cost 2) millennial female HR gatekeeper bias against middle aged men (have a few personal experiences to back that up) 3) Asinine assumption that older tech people are not as technically capable

[Titus-Maximus]

How much of the new employment of minorities can be attributed to the closing of the border?

[dangus]

11% of people with Bachelor’s degrees are doing minimum-wage work. 20 million people without high-school diplomas are between 25 and 55, physically able to work, and report that they would want to work, but cannot find jobs. in addition to these, 22 million are in the workplace but are either unemployed (U-3) are only marginally attached (U-4) or work part-time despite seeking full-time work (U-6).

I’d say employers need to find those college graduates, train them so that they’re out of the unskilled labor pool, and fill the unskilled labor pool with the unemployed, underemployed, and out-of-the-workforce.

[RedStateRocker]

Who cares.

Any entity that makes it their business what a person does on their weekends or after hours deserves to go out of business. Impairment, yeah that’s bad. Smoking a bowl after work or on the weekend? Anyone who has an issue with that can go to hell

[Balding_Eagle]

I think that’s exactly what the president’s Apprentice Program is designed to do.

[AndyJackson]

Who's left to employ?

The legions of Deep State employees inside the DC Beltway who should be off doing useful work if they can.

See Mike Lofgren - Essay: Anatomy of the Deep State.

[thescourged1]

FRiend, I hear ya!

Even the factories around here (all of them) are dying for help, and they won't even give me the time of day. I guess being 50 and being unable to stand for 12 hour stretches and lift heavy weights has something to do with it. Forget about lots of experience and steadily taking pay cuts since 2008, I need not apply. Hell, I'm even going back to school to try to even things up a little and just want a part-time job that pays better than $9 an hour and can't even get that.

[StolarStorm]

Even though the Trump admin talks up the great employment numbers, I’m sure they are fully aware of the huge numbers of people who aren’t counted anymore in the stats. At least we are making progress... when we were going way down under Obama. I do think the tide is turning though. Just had 3 recruiters contact me last week... and that hasn’t happened in over 6 months.

[dangus]

It’s worse than I cited:
Percent of workers with bachelor’s degrees working BELOW prevailing FEDERAL minimum wage: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/BADEC8

[tbw2]

Pulling people off of unemployment and SSDI and into the labor market will help keep Social Security solvent.

[thescourged1]

We have a ways to go, but yes things are on the upswing.

Good news on the recruiters, were you looking?

[central_va]

Pay more, they will come.

[StolarStorm]

That’s the funny thing... I had just stopped looking and was focusing on getting my business plans in order. lol. But, I don’t think I’m going to let myself get sucked back into corp world to just get shafted again when it’s convenient. There will be many like me, cynical now and very aware that there is NO loyalty given to employees or respect for experience. There are companies that are going to find out the hard way that their H1-Bs and newly minted hires can’t keep the their ships from sinking. Karma.

[central_va]

Did the Koch Bros write this trash?

[Ouderkirk]

You are correct...at 55 with a EE and project manager with 35 years of experience I cannot get a job in my field. I can get an interview, sometimes more than one, just won’t get the job.