Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I don't believe the news lately that the job market is good, but I haven't been applying for jobs since my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer on Dec 20, 2013. She died and now my life has changed a lot, losing her $4,198 / month contribution in paying the bills. More in another thread about my life changes, but anyway now I'm in the Philippines until April 22, 2014, a time for edification here...
Anyway, it is good for the economy that the US is spitting out false news about the US jobs market, then maybe more companies will hire people and feel upbeat about the economy. But the true figure to look at is the labor participation rate, and it is really low, - so actually a lot of people are still unemployed...
So how has this affected you in getting jobs and interviews lately? Did you also see an increase in job postings? Do you still run into a lot of competition for jobs? Are companies still lowballing job salaries? Do you think the job market improved or is it still bad?
Our jobs situation will continue to flounder so long as laborers fail to learn the new skills that are demanded by our transformed economy. We need a much more educated workforce in order to satisfy the recent, massive high-skilled job growth, but our educational attainment rates seem to indicate that this trend is not occurring.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,260,275 times
Reputation: 57826
It's still not like it was in 2000-2006, but far better than in 2007-2011. Companies that had layoffs and hiring freezes are again hiring, but not in the numbers that would bring them back to previous levels. In some cases they have found they can manage with fewer people.
Our jobs situation will continue to flounder so long as laborers fail to learn the new skills that are demanded by our transformed economy.
Can this explain the tremendous unemployment rate for recent grads?
Quote:
We need a much more educated workforce in order to satisfy the recent, massive high-skilled job growth, but our educational attainment rates seem to indicate that this trend is not occurring.
Actually, there are more than enough educated people to fill jobs.
Some cities are better/worse than others.
Some industries are better/worse than others.
Aggregate statistics are meaningful for the economy as a whole, but not so much for the individual seeking a job.
Let's see: all my engineering and business grad friends had jobs before they even graduated. Both my two social science grad friends (anthropology and psychology) are still underemployed today. The reason "college grads" are having difficulty finding work is because far too many of them are majoring in useless disciplines. Sorry, but it's a reality -- if your degree doesn't arm you with a marketable skill, you will NOT find employment after graduation.
Our jobs situation will continue to flounder so long as laborers fail to learn the new skills that are demanded by our transformed economy. We need a much more educated workforce in order to satisfy the recent, massive high-skilled job growth, but our educational attainment rates seem to indicate that this trend is not occurring.
Many people who are out of work have plenty of skills that, by any objective standard, would be useful. It is not their fault that companies are demanding insanely narrow job requirements that often limit the pool of "qualified" applicants to those who already work at that company.
I'm also very tired of the "retraining" mantra. The ONLY time this has any real relevance in today's world is if a person either has NO job experience or skills, or they are given a very rare opportunity to pick up new skills in a different field and then get an entry level job. True entry level jobs - not "entry level = only 3 years of experience vs. 5 years" - are very rare today for anyone who's not literally fresh out of college.
Here's the reality: When a job says, "must have 3 to 5 years experience designing aircraft wing flight surfaces in Catia in a 6-sigma environment," the company is NOT going to also accept "or taken a class in wing design or Catia, or flown on a plane before."
If you don't have the professional experience required, no amount of "retraining" is going to do you any good, and very few people can obtain years of professional experience in a field completely different than their current day job in their free time... unless one thinks it is practical to design aircraft wings, car engines, and so forth at home in a "professional" manner.
No, the problems we face today are NOT the fault of the American work force - a work force that is still one of the most educated, experienced, and productive on the planet. The problem is simply that corporations are cheap and greedy and would rather have 1 person do the work of 2 or 3, or just replace high-cost Americans with dirt cheap labor overseas (or cheap visa workers - same idea.) No amount of retraining is going to make a bit of difference if the company can hire 5 guys - even if each of them is far less qualified - for the price of 1 American.
Many people who are out of work have plenty of skills that, by any objective standard, would be useful. It is not their fault that companies are demanding insanely narrow job requirements that often limit the pool of "qualified" applicants to those who already work at that company.
I'm also very tired of the "retraining" mantra. The ONLY time this has any real relevance in today's world is if a person either has NO job experience or skills, or they are given a very rare opportunity to pick up new skills in a different field and then get an entry level job. True entry level jobs - not "entry level = only 3 years of experience vs. 5 years" - are very rare today for anyone who's not literally fresh out of college.
Here's the reality: When a job says, "must have 3 to 5 years experience designing aircraft wing flight surfaces in Catia in a 6-sigma environment," the company is NOT going to also accept "or taken a class in wing design or Catia, or flown on a plane before."
If you don't have the professional experience required, no amount of "retraining" is going to do you any good, and very few people can obtain years of professional experience in a field completely different than their current day job in their free time... unless one thinks it is practical to design aircraft wings, car engines, and so forth at home in a "professional" manner.
.
The above is absolutely true. And those 'true entry level' jobs goto the kids nearly fresh out of college or high school for the trades.
I think the job market overall is improving, but the jobs are not.
Look, the US is undergoing structural economic changes. The jobs that are appearing are low-paying service jobs. Yes, it's easier to get those now than it was a year ago, but they're still not jobs that will save the US economy. Wages will continue to flounder, college grads will continue to struggle with debt because the jobs that exist don't pay well enough to justify their going to college (yet still require workers to be college graduates).
Also, springtime is a big hiring season, so the recent improvements will likely be gone by summer and fall. And with retail taking such a big hit this last Christmas season, I expect seasonal hiring will be lower than previous years as well.
Some cities are better/worse than others.
Some industries are better/worse than others.
Aggregate statistics are meaningful for the economy as a whole, but not so much for the individual seeking a job.
Wow, I never realized that jobs were so plentiful under Carter.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There is no "jobs market"
