There is never a shortage of jobs. Some people have two or three jobs. The classified adds have thousands of jobs all the time -- always. If someone is unemployed there is a reason and it is definitely not a lack of jobs.
Sometimes it is a regional lack of jobs, General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford Motor (NYSE: F) in the rust belt states of Michigan and Ohio have downsized, but foreign manufacturers Toyota (NYSE: TM) and Nissan Motors (NASDAQ:NSANY) in the Southeast have up sized. This does not help the states where jobs are leaving, and indeed causes other massive problems like weakening the tax base and pushing housing and other elements of the local economy down. However, from a national unemployment standpoint that does not count.
In our discussions of unemployment and the economic picture we attempt to understand the government figures and attribute some meaning. We know the government is prone to put things in their best light (lie) sometimes and there is discussion about what a true measure would be, but does that really matter? It is more important that whatever criteria is used remain constant so that we can use the data for comparisons, not that it be altered often as people become concerned about the exactness of the figures.
It might be time we need to account for a new set of metrics. What are the costs of retraining? How could these costs be distributed without expanding government -- not something I would support. We know that some people are not employable or are only marginally employable because they simply do not have the capability to do many jobs. I have numerous jobs, although generally speaking, I have created them myself over time. Clearly education and training are a factor, along with over all aptitude.
Some people are unemployed because of a life circumstance that reduces their opportunities for finding a job. Perhaps for a young single mother scheduling and eduction limits opportunity. Perhaps, a veteran with a disability that is limited to some degree. But my experience as an employee, an employer and as an observer of same, is that those that want a job do find them. It may not be the job of their dreams or it may be a boring job for low pay but the jobs exist.
I do not have a solution to the problem of creating a work ethic or a high desire for education among those that are lacking but I think business people supporting local schools by sharing their time with young children is very valuable.
The most important thing the employed can do to help the unemployed is communicate the opportunity broadly, be willing to offer training, and sometimes relocation expenses. The most important thing that the unemployed can do to help themselves is spend any time not working or looking for work educating themselves online or at the library or both, and increase you skill sets. Most importantly, I cannot express enough the importance of keeping a positive attitude no matter what -- that can be hard sometimes -- but it can make all the difference in the world.
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the design and research principal for an architecture and planning firm. He writes Chasing Value and Serious Money columns.Disclosure: I do not own any of the stocks mentioned in this article.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-21-2008 @ 8:39PM
Suzanne said...
Herein So, Cal. The sad fact is that some people have to work 3 lousy jobs because they all dont add up to one decent wage!
I know several older friends with Masters that cant get a decent paying job. And they are talented!
I remember not that long ago, being able to work, donate my free time to charity work and more free time to my kids, Now I have to work overtime just to pay for gas and food, not to mention the soaring tuition at college for my son!
So much for ambition and education!
3-21-2008 @ 9:21PM
stillpluggin' said...
Although there seem to be dozens of jobs in the paper, most seem to have very specific qualifications. To me, these jobs should be promoted within the company and the now empty position should be filled by the jobseekers.
As for the rest of the jobs, there is a lot of competition.
I am a 55 year old female with a Master's degree.
I have applied for jobs ranging from picking up dog poop to retail sales & customer service. No one has said I'm too old but employers manage to find a better candidate.
The author of the article seems to have created jobs for himself and more power to him. The rest of us can't afford the venture or the risk. People are not spending their money and small businesses are getting slammed. I've worked for two stores that have closed within the last 4 years. That to me doesn't look promising for our future outlook.
3-21-2008 @ 9:31PM
Sheldon L said...
Sue,
Thanking you for taking the time to comment.
When the title came to me your thought regarding having to work more (3 jobs) to make ends meet was partially what I had in mind.
At the same time there are people who have multiple offers of work opportunities at the same time as others do not.
I would contend though that it is the matching of skills and tasks in our very complex society that is at issue as well.
It's not like times past when a farmer or rancher could just hire on an "extra hand". We have become very specialized and the training or retraining is timely, and expensive.
3-22-2008 @ 12:31AM
bob boker said...
dude ,
you have some points but they are very hit or miss.
i may not have any degree's at this point but how about this the college is 10-11miles from my house .. it takes a minimum of 2-3hrs for me to walk roughly 4miles - lol soo 6ish or more hrs just to get the college , i can't say as i dont have the dedication to do so but its rather hard to do so or have the drive to do so after working 8+hr shift , or having an oddly placed hours sometimes into the wee hours after midnight
and when you get into those buggery mcjobs (basically anything thats associated with customer service a/or sales -excluding car sales and high end businesses but still in the family)
is that you are never in control of your hours , when you become management you are married to the business -
were i to aquire a car , there is gas/insurance/maintenance and more to keep it going ..
which requires more and more money..
see where im going..
i can't place complete blame but indirectly we're all screwed simply due to people being oil money mongers its widely known there are designs for super fuel effecient cars but they're not PROFITABLE
now with my inablity to get to my educational facility (and yes i've tried carpooling others must be reliable and they're hardly 100%)
im reduced to working in walking distance , a taco hut , pizza shacks , and mcbuger flips ...which at max are on the outer rim of an hour walk from where i live .
soo all in all whats the point of the educational system or being capable to read above a college level or in some individuals case 5th grade level ..
whats the point is understanding technology , photography , art, literature , digital art , HTML , CSS , photoshop when you are downtrodden to work flippin burgers for people too fat to fit past the safety bar , or too stupid to realize the food is crap rather literally , or generally working as customer service jobs wherein you are routinely threatened or cursed at simply cause you follow the policies of the business
sooooo excuseeee mee for believing myself to capable if not downright deserving of more than random shifts - flunky hours , and minimum wage
while i look and try for better..
3-22-2008 @ 2:18AM
mcfnord said...
hey joker, currently i earn about six figures and i'm helping microsoft comply with the eu protocol requirements. until 1999 i was an engineer for the world's leading media player. during the 2002 recession i couldn't get a job. you ever been to a food bank, joker? you ever been laughed out of temp agencies ("overqualified")? you ever sold your VHS tapes in the street? shut off the gas and shivered cuz you couldn't pay the bill? i couldn't even get welfare cuz i still had some IRA assets. i looked for a job for about a 18 months. i took the time studying, eventually building robots, then starting a software company. then i got a job delivering pizza. recession means contraction and that means some people are completely out of luck. in the terribly long double-dip reagan recession people died. not amibitous enough? a lot of the things i do today grew from that period. i still have my software company. trying to understand why i couldn't get a job, i read the business section every day, and now i read the WSJ every day. my experience with living on credit cards led me to $175k credit line supporting a four-figure profit from 0% arbitrage. i'm refinancing now at a 15-year fixed. i'm renting out my house to live in the same slum i had targeted as a place to live when i hit bankrupcy. honestly i'm rolling in money. i'm still so hungry i'm vicious, because i promised i'd never forget what recession means. that starts with telling you: contraction means NO NEW JOBS. someone else has more experience at the lowest-level jobs, and i can only lie so well. therefore i'm not qualified. you can't just "step down" in the "dreams" and step up in the "boring" because someone else who has had that less dreamy more boring job is already applying, and they get it, you don't. cuz they are more qualified. pizza was pretty cool because i could save the computer system, make pizza, provide web marketing tools, and basically take over the business. by the end i was 2nd in command, and it didn't even take long. now i make five times the income. so yeah i found opportunity but it took a year. so i resent your "aint a dream job, is real boring" line of bull. i hope you learn what i learned. recession means free time.
3-22-2008 @ 12:41PM
TX CHL Instructor said...
Hey mcnford -- I been there, done that, too. You gotta consider that to Liber, a job is fungible. Which is an interesting attitude for a journalist. I suspect most journalists are journalists simply because there is no other way they could possibly make a living. Especially not actually doing what they write about.
Right now, software jobs are fairly plentiful, but if the H1-b pushers have their way, that won't last long. And if I hear "overqualified" from some child interviewer again, I think I'll hang it up and do something else for a living. Fortunately (unlike a journalist), I have other skills.
3-22-2008 @ 12:45PM
william lindblad said...
Pick a controversial subject and you are sure to get comment. I managed to go to full retirement at 48 and have not spent more than two weeks of the last 17 years doing any gainful employment. This is by choice and I am not drawing any monumental retirement. I have enough to pay my bills,eat and live in reasonable comfort. I don't have a boat, expensive car or any other real items considered luxury scale. Being around for awhile, I have seen a few recessions and certainly know the meaning of hard times. Been there - done that. I agree with the concept that there is usually some work to be had if one is looking, but it will be stopgap and something to pay bills, rather than long term. Big trouble is that the less desired low end is getting smaller. Do you realize how many manufacturing jobs this country has lost in the last 30 years? Everyone does not have the college opportunity and the blue collar area provided a lot of substantial wages to the high school educated. They in turn, purchased and contributed to the economy as their numbers were vast.
3-22-2008 @ 7:17PM
wsn said...
Although it may be anecdotal, I have to add that even as a young, highly mobile graduate with Computer Science degrees from fairly reputable universities and significant internship experience, I cannot find even a low paying job. Many if not most (recent) PhDs I know have fled the US in search of greener pasture in Europe and Asia. People I know are willing to move anywhere and retrain at their own expense, and yet they are jobless. Businesses have to do a far better job at communicating what exact skills and experiences they desire.