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From what I could gather from the multitude of articles that I read about the US job market following the 2008 economic crisis, I noticed an interesting trend o

From what I could gather from the multitude of articles that I read about the US job market following the 2008 economic crisis, I noticed an interesting trend or pattern where US workers are interested in getting jobs exclusively in the US and not anywhere else. I am not talking here about unskilled or low-skilled labor, I'm talking about individuals who possess marketable skill set who could prove beneficial for any business abroad and yet they limit their job search to their home country. I couldn't find an explanation for this. Is it the expected lower pay? Is it having to live in a foreign country and assimilating to other cultures? What's it exactly? Because If were one of them, I'd take any reasonable job offer abroad than staying unemployed draining my savings and having wide gaps on my resume that would complicate the matter even further.

mixmastamyk 11y ago
Those jobs are far and few between, and not usually available to "foreigners" except in rare circumstances. For example, when a guy here was advertising for jobs in Europe, I contacted him and was politely blown off when I said I was a US citizen. Yes a bit odd since this site is US centric, but there you go.
superuser2 11y ago
Many, many factors: 1) The average American lives 18 miles from his or her mother. Leaving one's hometown for a tech/finance/arts hub is for the upwardly mobile elites, not the masses. HN's demographic is extremely unrepresentative. 2) Foreign language education is poor. K12 schools generally make a token effort towards Spanish, French, and German. Asian language education is rare. Bilingual children are generally from immigrant families, or from very wealthy families who can afford good schools, study abroad programs, a gap year or summer for their teenager to wander around Europe with friends instead of working, etc. 3) International travel is extremely expensive and most people do not have that kind of cash lying around to cover necessities, let alone leisure travel. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. So going abroad is just not a familiar or natural experience to many people. Only 46% have passports.

mixmastamyk 11y ago

Those jobs are far and few between, and not usually available to "foreigners" except in rare circumstances. For example, when a guy here was advertising for jobs in Europe, I contacted him and was politely blown off when I said I was a US citizen. Yes a bit odd since this site is US centric, but there you go.

superuser2 11y ago

Many, many factors: 1) The average American lives 18 miles from his or her mother. Leaving one's hometown for a tech/finance/arts hub is for the upwardly mobile elites, not the masses. HN's demographic is extremely unrepresentative. 2) Foreign language education is poor. K12 schools generally make a token effort towards Spanish, French, and German. Asian language education is rare. Bilingual children are generally from immigrant families, or from very wealthy families who can afford good schools, study abroad programs, a gap year or summer for their teenager to wander around Europe with friends instead of working, etc. 3) International travel is extremely expensive and most people do not have that kind of cash lying around to cover necessities, let alone leisure travel. Most Americans live paycheck to paycheck. So going abroad is just not a familiar or natural experience to many people. Only 46% have passports.