5 ms·

Poor Kids Need Summer Jobs. Rich Kids Get Them

31 points by Overtonwindow 10y ago

kapitza 10y ago
No mention of the J1 visa, which employs hundreds of thousands of immigrant students in US summer jobs: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/opinion/americas-sweatshop-diplomacy.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/opinion/americas-sweatshop...
- chrisbennet 10y ago
  Wow. That was the first I'd ever heard of that.
- dsfyu404ed 10y ago
  Yup, total f###ing scam. The local employers in the tourist area I grew up in load up on Irish and eastern European college students every summer. They give them barely enough hours to make ends meet if they live two and three to a room, ride a bike ~10mi or more to work and pick up another part time job on the side. Standard practice was/is to hire too many people so that everybody would be fighting for hours and firing people at the drop of a hat wasn't inconvenient. The main benefit is getting a bunch of employees who are totally clueless about their workplace rights in the US and is dependent on remaining employed by the company that sponsored their visa in order to keep their visa. The supermarkets and hotels were businesses who would usually sponsor J1s so they were the ones who treated them like crap. The actual tourism parts of the tourism industry only hires the foreign workers secondarily (since all the foreign workers had at least two jobs) and treated them like anyone else. This kind of behavior is particularly scummy since it would cost very little, if any) additional money to pick up the phone and call a temp agency since managing a primarily foreign workforce is inefficient. It's not about money, it's about having employees you can treat like sh#t. (Source: worked summer jobs with J1 students as coworkers)
biocomputation 10y ago
From a white, middle class background. I am one of six children, and while my parents made a decent living, six children meant that money was always tight. Still, my Mom taught us the importance of good manners and being able to speak properly. She did this because she thought it was the right thing to do, and because she knew we didn't have the same financial advantages as other people. I learned an important lesson about this in my very early twenties when I applied for a summer internship at a local firm. There were only two interviews: one with engineering and one with the owner. The owner gave me the internship on the spot not because of my qualifications, but because he liked the way I dressed and spoke. His words to me were something along the lines of "I feel comfortable putting you in front of our clients." One of the reasons poverty is so disabling is because it changes the way a lot of people ( but not all people ) carry themselves. People from wealthier backgrounds often present better and get first crack at opportunities as a result. Note that when I say "present", I am talking about mostly superficial qualities, not level of education, skill, or other deeper qualities. Anyone can learn to present themselves the right way, with respect to speaking, dressing, and credentials - although it's extra work and extra cost for those who have already fought very hard for their chance to climb the ladder.
- EliRivers 10y ago
  For better or for worse, you're so right. Shift-work during university. Hiring was a cattle call; just a long line of people my age. Sat down. Interviewer told me I was hired because I was the only person wearing a tie. Wrote down first shift, stood up, left. Sixty seconds.
  - dsfyu404ed 10y ago
    In dining services we'd half jokingly use phrases like "throwing bodies at the problem" because a pulse was our primary qualification for employment. It's mind boggling that they didn't make money hand over fist when ~50% of their employee costs were returned via work-study reimbursement from Uncle Sam.
  - biocomputation 10y ago
    Yup. That sounds about right. It means that even knowing how to iron a shirt and pants ( so they look good with a tie ) can be an important distinction in terms of accessing opportunity. Sad but true!

31 points by Overtonwindow 10y ago

No mention of the J1 visa, which employs hundreds of thousands of immigrant students in US summer jobs: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/opinion/americas-sweatshop-diplomacy.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/opinion/americas-sweatshop...

chrisbennet 10y ago
Wow. That was the first I'd ever heard of that.
dsfyu404ed 10y ago
Yup, total f###ing scam. The local employers in the tourist area I grew up in load up on Irish and eastern European college students every summer. They give them barely enough hours to make ends meet if they live two and three to a room, ride a bike ~10mi or more to work and pick up another part time job on the side. Standard practice was/is to hire too many people so that everybody would be fighting for hours and firing people at the drop of a hat wasn't inconvenient. The main benefit is getting a bunch of employees who are totally clueless about their workplace rights in the US and is dependent on remaining employed by the company that sponsored their visa in order to keep their visa. The supermarkets and hotels were businesses who would usually sponsor J1s so they were the ones who treated them like crap. The actual tourism parts of the tourism industry only hires the foreign workers secondarily (since all the foreign workers had at least two jobs) and treated them like anyone else. This kind of behavior is particularly scummy since it would cost very little, if any) additional money to pick up the phone and call a temp agency since managing a primarily foreign workforce is inefficient. It's not about money, it's about having employees you can treat like sh#t. (Source: worked summer jobs with J1 students as coworkers)

biocomputation 10y ago

From a white, middle class background. I am one of six children, and while my parents made a decent living, six children meant that money was always tight. Still, my Mom taught us the importance of good manners and being able to speak properly. She did this because she thought it was the right thing to do, and because she knew we didn't have the same financial advantages as other people. I learned an important lesson about this in my very early twenties when I applied for a summer internship at a local firm. There were only two interviews: one with engineering and one with the owner. The owner gave me the internship on the spot not because of my qualifications, but because he liked the way I dressed and spoke. His words to me were something along the lines of "I feel comfortable putting you in front of our clients." One of the reasons poverty is so disabling is because it changes the way a lot of people ( but not all people ) carry themselves. People from wealthier backgrounds often present better and get first crack at opportunities as a result. Note that when I say "present", I am talking about mostly superficial qualities, not level of education, skill, or other deeper qualities. Anyone can learn to present themselves the right way, with respect to speaking, dressing, and credentials - although it's extra work and extra cost for those who have already fought very hard for their chance to climb the ladder.

EliRivers 10y ago
For better or for worse, you're so right. Shift-work during university. Hiring was a cattle call; just a long line of people my age. Sat down. Interviewer told me I was hired because I was the only person wearing a tie. Wrote down first shift, stood up, left. Sixty seconds.
- dsfyu404ed 10y ago
  In dining services we'd half jokingly use phrases like "throwing bodies at the problem" because a pulse was our primary qualification for employment. It's mind boggling that they didn't make money hand over fist when ~50% of their employee costs were returned via work-study reimbursement from Uncle Sam.
- biocomputation 10y ago
  Yup. That sounds about right. It means that even knowing how to iron a shirt and pants ( so they look good with a tie ) can be an important distinction in terms of accessing opportunity. Sad but true!