Careers Are Dead. Welcome To Your Low Wage, Temp Work Future

[MizMotown]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jmaureen...p-work-future/

The Labor Department has released new projections of where the jobs of the future will be.
And to anyone who follows job-market news closely, the outlook is likely not a surprise: Many of them will be low-wage.
The department projected the fortunes of 818 occupations through the year 2022, predicting total employment growth for each as well as the total number of job openings that each will post over that decade. As it turns out, the jobs that are currently in the lowest quintile of annual wages are also projected to post the largest share of total openings over that period.

http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/dat...rgely-low-wage

[Danny]

With low wage jobs becomes the norn in the United States, who needs college. Only you need is a high school diploma and you can start flipping burgers at McDonald's to working a boiler operators and work your way up your management. That's what my family did.

[Jimaz]

Ignorance is strength.

[gazhekwe]

We were just talking this evening after listening to some folk music, Greenback Dollar, Kingston Trio. It's about traveling and making money however you can. Traveling from low wage short term job to low wage short term job. Sounds romantic in a folk song maybe, but in real life it is depressing. The song celebrates the lifestyle during the Depression, traveling the roads for agrarian jobs paying a dollar a day. What has happened to the American Dream of a career that will raise a family, buy a home, send the kids to college?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmWXlLxcOlU

[Hermod]

We were just talking this evening after listening to some folk music, Greenback Dollar, Kingston Trio. It's about traveling and making money however you can. Traveling from low wage short term job to low wage short term job. Sounds romantic in a folk song maybe, but in real life it is depressing. The song celebrates the lifestyle during the Depression, traveling the roads for agrarian jobs paying a dollar a day. What has happened to the American Dream of a career that will raise a family, buy a home, send the kids to college?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmWXlLxcOlU

1. The US had a labor shortage caused by three population factors, the stringent and well enforced immigration laws of the 1920s, a very low birthrate during the depression years, and a very large [[in manpower terms) military.

2. Now the US has a labor surplus caused by entry of the baby boomers into the work force, uncontrolled immigration [[both legal and illegal), and downsizing of the military in the 70s and 90s.

3. Add to this job losses from off-shoring and automation.

4. Most of the jobs being created are "low value added" and low productivity though necessary jobs.

[RaumVogel]

Here's a good thread about this subject: http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comme...o_cheat_their/

And an good documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_n5UGr2ho0

I have an Associates degree in IT. I got it in 1995. I have never made more than $12.00 per hour and am currently making $10.00 through a temp service.

[TKshreve]

1. The US had a labor shortage caused by three population factors, the stringent and well enforced immigration laws of the 1920s, a very low birthrate during the depression years, and a very large [[in manpower terms) military.

2. Now the US has a labor surplus caused by entry of the baby boomers into the work force, uncontrolled immigration [[both legal and illegal), and downsizing of the military in the 70s and 90s.

3. Add to this job losses from off-shoring and automation.

4. Most of the jobs being created are "low value added" and low productivity though necessary jobs.

5. The onset of women into the workforce.

[ghettopalmetto]

1. The US had a labor shortage caused by three population factors, the stringent and well enforced immigration laws of the 1920s, a very low birthrate during the depression years, and a very large [[in manpower terms) military.

2. Now the US has a labor surplus caused by entry of the baby boomers into the work force, uncontrolled immigration [[both legal and illegal), and downsizing of the military in the 70s and 90s.

3. Add to this job losses from off-shoring and automation.

4. Most of the jobs being created are "low value added" and low productivity though necessary jobs.

6. The "R" lever in the voting booth: where unions are crushed, education is defunded and inaccessible, subsidies are thrown at low-wage employers like Walmart, minorities are thrown into prison, taxes are raised on the poor and cut for the wealthy, social controls are instituted, and the hordes of the unwashed masses scrap over crumbs to the entertainment of the Masters.

I don't know why anyone is so shocked. Welcome to the Plantation.

[oladub]

6. The "R" lever in the voting booth: where unions are crushed, education is defunded and inaccessible, subsidies are thrown at low-wage employers like Walmart, minorities are thrown into prison, taxes are raised on the poor and cut for the wealthy, social controls are instituted, and the hordes of the unwashed masses scrap over crumbs to the entertainment of the Masters.

I don't know why anyone is so shocked. Welcome to the Plantation.

Non governmental unions have been crushed by both parties sending jobs abroad and allowing in too many foreign workers, both legal and illegal, to compete for remaining US jobs. Expanding the supply of workers meant that US workers and their unions cannot demand higher wages and benefits. Formerly union meat packing plants have been replaced by non-union plants employing third world labor, some Buick engines are made in China, GM just dedicated another $12B of its profits to invest in China, and plane loads of Pakistani programmers are brought in to work for less. Our national leaders of both parties and corporate leaders have no loyalty to US workers. President Obama's attempt to fast track the TPP won't help.

[ghettopalmetto]

Non governmental unions have been crushed by both parties sending jobs abroad and allowing in too many foreign workers, both legal and illegal, to compete for remaining US jobs. Expanding the supply of workers meant that US workers and their unions cannot demand higher wages and benefits. Formerly union meat packing plants have been replaced by non-union plants employing third world labor, some Buick engines are made in China, GM just dedicated another $12B of its profits to invest in China, and plane loads of Pakistani programmers are brought in to work for less. Our national leaders of both parties and corporate leaders have no loyalty to US workers. President Obama's attempt to fast track the TPP won't help.

I actually agree with you on this point. Both major political parties have failed working Americans in this regard. Unions were the reason we have a 40 hour work week, sick leave, paid vacations, overtime, and safety regulations--things that are now standard in any industry. By claiming that unions are now "irrelevant", we have done our working people a disservice. All I know is that Japan and Germany--two of the largest manufacturing nations--have very powerful unions. It's ironic, then, that companies from those nations use the Deep South as their Third World labor force.

I'm not arguing that people should be forced to join a union against their will. But the data show that wages and benefits have fallen as unions have decreased in strength. That's not an accident. But then again, we vote for the politicians who come up with magical elixirs like "Right to Work" that drive us right down into the economic crapper.

[MizMotown]

Poverty Skyrockets in Oakland County

http://www.freep.com/article/20140424/NEWS06/304240132/poverty-skyrockets-in-Oakland-County

[bailey]

I actually agree with you on this point. Both major political parties have failed working Americans in this regard. Unions were the reason we have a 40 hour work week, sick leave, paid vacations, overtime, and safety regulations--things that are now standard in any industry. By claiming that unions are now "irrelevant", we have done our working people a disservice. All I know is that Japan and Germany--two of the largest manufacturing nations--have very powerful unions. It's ironic, then, that companies from those nations use the Deep South as their Third World labor force.
.....

up to a point I'm with you...but the ol' AFL-CIO isn't JUST shrinking because of RTW... there are just fewer jobs due to gains in efficiency and mechanization. It takes far fewer to make much more... and those "fewer" are using the most menial of skill to do it, which is why it can be off shored or eliminated. It's not just manufacturing, we don't need a Steno pool anymore either...fuck you Bill Gates and your WORD/EXCEL/Windows killing all those AFSCME jobs! Bringing back unions to 1950s levels isn't ever going to happen.

The disappearance of jobs is a hit, but add that to American's rampant consumerism, pathological aversion to education [[so that you have a skill set above buggy whip assembly), American's bi polar hatred of government in general[[decry Socialism and entitlements, but demand it "does something" when they need assistance) ... I mean you can't compare a socialized systems like Germany and Japan with the US... and cap it all off with a delusional belief that if we just work hard enough, there is no need to save now or live with our means, we'll all be rich one day, CHARGE IT!

Americans are just stupid, easily led, self centered assholes. Look, there would be no wal mart if the vast majority of american's WERE NOT cheap, fat, lazy, stupid, slobs.

The problem is not the Rs pulling the lever or that both parties have been in cahoots here, the problem is way too many people vote [[both at the ballot box and with their wallet) directly against their interests and have zero ability to think 5 minutes into the future.

No way on gods green earth any macomb county jobbie should be voting for a R [[or a Clinton) or shopping at a Wal Mart or eating at a McDonalds [[or patronizing any anti worker or anti american manufacturing corporation) but they do because 'MERICA![[tm) and FREEDOMS![[R) . they do so because they think they DESERVE that 50 inch flat panel/ipad/cell phone/whatever is the latest "must-have" thing made by Chinese workers for slave wage ....they think they DESERVE that dollar menu supersized McPinkslime burger.... and they think they DESERVE that infinite amount of weeks of unemployment because BARACK HUSSIEN OBUMMER tuk their jahbss! No motherfuckers, you tuk YOUR OWN jahbs by being fucking retarded. We americans are morons who vote based on wedge social issues instead of important things like who is going to make sure American's have access to jobs that pay a living wage.

We get the government, the economy and the employment picture we deserve. Stupid should be painful, there is a lot of pain out there because of a lot of really stupid decisions, maybe it'll wake enough people up to do something about it. But I doubt it because 2014 is going to be about Obamacare and amnesty and abortion and gay marriage and whether a welfare queen rancher in Nevada is hero or a racist....

[ghettopalmetto]

MizMotown, this isn't just about a temporary [[although painful) recession. There are insidious, systematic forces at work in our country...and the result is what Bailey described.

What we're seeing now is the fruition--the DREAM--of the Southern plantation elite. A small number of privileged W.A.S.P. families control everything, write the laws, make all the money, and get to dictate the lifestyles of those "beneath" them...all while not having to do a damn thing to contribute to the betterment of our society! This is a culture that has existed for centuries, and we are now realizing the utter destruction that it can wreak on a former superpower nation, to say nothing of individual communities.

The self-appointed elite inherit their wealth--some of them going back to King Charles of England, who gave land in the Carolinas to the "hard-working" "job creators" of his day. For centuries, the elite have relied on cheap [[or free) labor to make their money for them, exploiting people and natural resources, and sending raw materials abroad [[where other, smarter, harder-working people use them to manufacture goods). The result has been a ravaged landscape, and a permanent underclass. And that's just the way they want it. God forbid the peasants get too "uppity" and start demanding "rights" like real people.

The real magic has been convincing the permanent underclass to vote against their individual best interests. Once we've done that, the plan *really* kicks into motion:

-tax cuts for the leisure class [[a God-given right!)
-increased taxes on the poorest [[don't want them getting ahead!)
-cuts to education [[gotta keep 'em all dumb, or they'll wake up!)
-cuts to infrastructure [[we pay for what *we* need, the peasants will get nothing)
-cuts to food stamps and social programs [[who cares if poor people starve? their just workers--they can be replaced)

They wrap all this in a coat of Jesus and Morality, and instill fear in the general populace [[You better start carrying guns everywhere!). The goal is to divide the working classes with petty, heated arguments, as there are far more of us than there are of the elite. They've succeeded well.

Now we get things like "Right to Work", where we're all entitled to "contractor temp" positions that pay far less. We are told to accept the few crumbs that we get, and since our rights have been stripped, we have no choice. Boeing took $450 million of FREE money from South Carolina...the workers in North Charleston are paid $15/hr--HALF of what their unionized counterparts in Washington state earn. BMW in South Carolina pays $16/hr--HALF of what its German factory workers earn. When Ikea opened a plant in Danville, Virginia, its workers were paid $8/hr with 12 vacation days--8 of those were designated holidays. Meanwhile, Ikea workers in Sweden make at least the minimum wage of $19/hr, with five weeks of vacation a year. Poaching jobs with cheap labor is a way of life for the Plantation Elite...they've been doing it for centuries. You think the South is crying about lost textile jobs? From where did they steal those jobs over 100 years ago? And now these same principles have made their way to Detroit, where President Obama pressured GM and the UAW to pay new employees the same rate as their right-to-work Southern counterparts. A billionaire like Mike Ilitch can extract hundreds of millions of tax dollars from the poorest large city in the nation Just Because, but when was the last time a would-be entrepreneur received a five-figure startup loan from the City of Detroit?

If you dare demand rights, you're decried as a "socialist". In the meantime, the plantation elites declare themselves "patriots" and persecute anyone who challenges them. Of course, they make sure to overfund the military industrial complex that protects their unearned wealth...which relies on an endless stream of disposable soldiers who have no other opportunities for income than to become a target.

So yeah, Murrika Number 1. We're nothing but a Third World cheap labor force for Europe and Asia, designed to sustain the comfortable lifestyles of those who have never worked a day in their lives. My forefathers immigrated to the Rust Belt for a dream to have a better life. If they would have known it would become the Antebellum South, they might have stayed in Europe.

Personally, I refuse to be one of the peasant rubes of the lazy Southern plantation elite. If I offend a few people in the process, tough shit. This world might eat me alive, but I'm at least going to give it one nasty-ass case of indigestion. I just don't have any patience for Crackers anymore.

[MizMotown]

Oh I see what's coming and it's not pretty... As a union represented worker I know the benefits of union jobs. It's a sad, sad world that 'we the people' are so willing to except the bare minimum for ourselves and our brothers/sisters.

[Papasito]

America is in charge of it's own destiny. But the era of American exceptionalism is dying [[or already dead). We choose to have 'free trade' and 'globalism' so we can be on a level playing field with 3rd world countries who pimp child labor and cheap goods, then complain about having to live on the same level they do.

It's what we asked for!!

Our country is going to be tech jobs, servant jobs, service jobs, and handling the goods made in other countries. Crash and burn, America. You are drinking poison and you can't stop.

[rb336]

this says it all

[old guy]

Good stuff rb.....

[TKshreve]

Nobody seems to ever note the worlds exploding population. That's the elephant in my opinion. Attributable to each and every issue we face macro-economically, and micro-economically as well. From war to wages....

[rb336]

Nobody seems to ever note the worlds exploding population. That's the elephant in my opinion. Attributable to each and every issue we face macro-economically, and micro-economically as well. From war to wages....

Yes, population is a huge issue. Not as big as global oligarchy, but big

[Papasito]

Enforcing a 2 child per family global standard is something I would be in support of.

[rb336]

Enforcing a 2 child per family global standard is something I would be in support of.

I'd go with one

[MizMotown]

Welcome to the New America: Low Wage Nation

http://www.thenation.com/article/177735/welcome-new-america-low-wage-nation

[antongast]

up to a point I'm with you...but the ol' AFL-CIO isn't JUST shrinking because of RTW... there are just fewer jobs due to gains in efficiency and mechanization. It takes far fewer to make much more... and those "fewer" are using the most menial of skill to do it, which is why it can be off shored or eliminated. It's not just manufacturing, we don't need a Steno pool anymore either...fuck you Bill Gates and your WORD/EXCEL/Windows killing all those AFSCME jobs! Bringing back unions to 1950s levels isn't ever going to happen.

There are fewer manufacturing jobs due to gains in efficiency and mechanization. The thing is, though, the association between unions and manufacturing is just kind of a historical accident in America in that both were growing around the same time. But if the major sources of working-class employment in the 21st century are going to be retail, food service, health care, etc., there's nothing inherent to these jobs that makes them unsuitable for unionization. We think of these jobs as low-wage crap jobs and manufacturing jobs as good union jobs because the manufacturing sector happens to be heavily unionized and these other sectors happen not to be, but it isn't obvious to me that, given comparable pay and work rules, most manufacturing jobs would be any less crappy than working at Wal-Mart. Actually, the Wal-Mart job might be preferable in that you're less likely to get maimed at a cash register than on an assembly line.

Labeling companies like Wal-Mart and McDonalds "anti-worker," although certainly true, also seems a bit beside the point in terms of this discussion. Henry Ford certainly wasn't known for his sympathetic view of the labor movement. Almost all companies resist unionization. The relevant question, for me, is how much leeway they have to do that without facing legal penalties, and, perhaps more importantly, what enforcement mechanisms are available.

In practice, it seems to me that companies have a lot of power to coerce workers into not voting to unionize. Partly this is because they have the legal right to do things like employ professional anti-union consultants and mandate that all their workers attend anti-union meetings while on the clock. Partly it's because they'll fire anyone they suspect to be leading a unionization effort. In theory, this is illegal, but in practice, companies can easily afford the laughably small penalties, and most workers can't afford a long spell of unemployment while their cases are litigated. Then you have the laws against "interference" in a union election, which again take the form of employers "interfering" with impunity and only being penalized after the fact when the election is already lost and the union resources have left town.

If we want stronger unions, less one-sided labor laws would be a very helpful start.

[JBMcB]

There are fewer manufacturing jobs due to gains in efficiency and mechanization....But if the major sources of working-class employment in the 21st century are going to be retail, food service, health care, etc., there's nothing inherent to these jobs that makes them unsuitable for unionization.

Isn't this kinda asked and answered? If you push up the cost of labor above what the labor market can bear, then you encourage better efficiency and more mechanization. If minimum wage, or a union, pushes wages at McDonalds up to $20 or whatever, you'll be walking into a McDonalds staffed by two people, with a big machine spitting out bags of food in the back. It'll be great news for those two people working the counter, not so great for the dozen of other people without a job.

[antongast]

Isn't this kinda asked and answered? If you push up the cost of labor above what the labor market can bear, then you encourage better efficiency and more mechanization. If minimum wage, or a union, pushes wages at McDonalds up to $20 or whatever, you'll be walking into a McDonalds staffed by two people, with a big machine spitting out bags of food in the back. It'll be great news for those two people working the counter, not so great for the dozen of other people without a job.

If we get to the point where virtually all jobs have been mechanized out of existence and we can enjoy a high standard of living without having to work for it, I think that's a pretty good problem to have. Then all we need to do is figure out how to stop a handful of elites from sucking up all the wealth.

Until we get to that point, there will be workers of some description, and those workers will be better off with collective bargaining rights than without them.