QuoteThe New Poor
In a Job Market Realignment, Some Workers Left Behind
By CATHERINE RAMPELL
Published: May 12, 2010
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. â€" Many of the jobs lost during the recession are not coming back.
Period.
For the last two years, the weak economy has provided an opportunity for employers to do what they would have done anyway: dismiss millions of people â€" like file clerks, ticket agents and autoworkers â€" who were displaced by technological advances and international trade.
The phasing out of these positions might have been accomplished through less painful means like attrition, buyouts or more incremental layoffs. But because of the recession, winter came early....
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/13/business/economy/13obsolete.html?hp
It's a bit unsettling from a native perspective to see how an article titled "The New Poor" focuses so much on Jacksonville, but...it's been a pretty rough 2 years in this city for the un/underemployed.
I know a lot of people think it's not that bad, but those are usually people who haven't had to job hunt with a limited skills set during this recession, in this city. While everyone was slamming Jacksonville citizens for not spending 60+ dollars per ticket to support the NFL and the Jags, some of us had to take some pretty grueling low wage jobs just to get by. So, it's comforting to see an article reflecting some of the hardships felt in this town and across the country.
But...this article does make a good point: the modern worker has to evolve, for sure.
"Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose."
So one must conform or die?
Under achievers, and defectives need not apply?
Immediately go to your video store and rent or steal a copy of METROPOLIS... Yeah, the silent film. Watch it 15 times and come back and comment...
OCKLAWAHA
Looks like I’m in luck Ock, it's available instantly on Netflix :D
Good show David! Though the flick was produced before the advent of "talking pictures," you or anyone else that hasn't seen it a few times and pondered the meanings will be mesmerized. The film is a cult classic of the counter-culture disestablishmentarian school of thought that I adhere to... Somewhere between liquid mind, nylon rain, and The Emerald Tablets, the truth will strike you, your just another brick in the wall.
OCKLAWAHA
QuoteImmediately go to your video store and rent or steal a copy of METROPOLIS... Yeah, the silent film. Watch it 15 times and come back and comment...
Rent
Idiocracy while you're at it. If you're too smart to rent, go to thepiratebay.org.
Speaking of dumbing down, a lady approached Wilfried this evening while he was taking a breather on one of the new Laura St.
stump stoops. She told him that while she and her boyfriend enjoyed their dinner last week, they "will not be returning because her boyfriend's chicken marsala was not presented on
a bed of spaghetti." Reminds me of the Caesar salad that got sent back one time because we "
forgot the grilled chicken breast."
Makes me want to cry for what we have lost in this country...
This article is a mess. Ive done my research, and we have weathered the storm far better than every other major city in florida. We have lost the LEAST amount of jobs since this recession. I have met several people lately that have moved here and found empolyment within two weeks to one month of being here.
The story told in the article is extremely unfortunate. Clearly the person has a desire to work and is willing to go to great lengths to better herself, but she just hasn't found the right opportunity yet. I am sure there are thousands of stories remarkably similar to hers across the country. Society does adapt and improve, and employees from an older generation may be left behind.
Was it the fault of the employee for not continually training and keeping current on trends or skills? Is it the companies' fault for not keeping their employees current? Should the government provide services for helping workers meet current skill requirements? I honestly don't know the solution for her situation.
For our country, it is great that we are becoming more efficient and advancing in skills and productivity. I would just hate to think that the new age is creating barriers to entry that are too high for many older workers.
I would hate to be a policy maker or an executive who had to deal with issues like this. Economies are becoming so cut throat. With China and India becoming world powers, America has to stay ahead of the curve. This requires constant innovation and increased efficiency. I don't think our nation's current population is capable of keeping up with the needed level of sophistication. Some people in our country will have to fall behind for our industry to continually improve. The question is what to do with/for these people in the future.
This is also a scary concept when you think about the growing influence of big business. What might be good for a balance sheet may be bad for society and our cities. The post recession era will definitely be trans-formative times for our country.
Here's another view, that the real problem for America is not its innovative capacity, but the fact that its benefits go to relatively few:
http://www.economist.com/node/18621224?story_id=18621224
I also think too, that one of the other problems with Companies now a days, is that they no longer feel the need to be morally obligated to our community.
My mother, father, and older relatives, would tell me stories about how their former companies would work to keep jobs locally, would re-train them and etc, for them to grow with the company. Nowadays the corporation only cares about it's profits.