4 ms·

There's no fast way out of the situation. Training and education is ultimately the answer, but to fill today's jobs, that needed to happen 2-4 years ago. So t

by moxious 10y ago

There's no fast way out of the situation. Training and education is ultimately the answer, but to fill today's jobs, that needed to happen 2-4 years ago. So today, I think we're up a creek in any case. Still, best get to training and educating people ASAP, because 2 years from now is coming sooner than most people think. We could complain about how much it costs to do this, or we could just shut up, do it, and then enjoy the sweet, sweet tax dollars that those high educated, high earning workers throw off. The article talks a lot about under-investment in infrastructure like roads and bridges. I guess I'm making the same argument in the end, I'm just pointing out that people are infrastructure, in that you can't do business without them, just like roads. So maybe we should invest in them.

blfr 10y ago
There's no fast way out of the situation. Of course there is and at least some Republicans at least claim they're going to take it: slash immigration, lower the labour supply, raising its prices.
- moxious 10y ago
  Yes, no matter how big or complex the problem, there will always be someone promising a quick and easy fix. And there will always be those in enough pain that they want to buy the quick fix. I'm not a big fan of magic beans though, because I'm young enough I still have to live here for a long time, I'm not cashing out of this place next year. If the problem is not enough skilled workers, it would seem that lowering the labor supply is exactly the wrong thing to do.
- yummyfajitas 10y ago
  How does lowering the labor supply solve the problem of the labor supply being too low? Next up: solve hunger by setting food on fire.
  - blfr 10y ago
    It solves the problem of cheap employers since that attitude will become untenable.
logfromblammo 10y ago
People aren't stupid. They don't just want jobs; they want careers. Training makes sense for a job that has a career path. If you learned to drive a road tractor, you started by working for a transport company until you save up enough to buy your own rig, then you were a contractor for one of those companies until you got an agent to get you the loads you wanted on the routes you liked. Maybe eventually you got off the road to work in the management office for a transport company. With automated trucks on the horizon, young folks are less likely to even bother learning how to drive such vehicles. No one wants to be told that the skill they already spent half their lives honing will not carry them through to retirement. Big companies have been dismantling careers and repackaging them as cheaper and more fungible jobs for decades now. There is no consideration given whatsoever to the fact that employees are people that cannot spring fully formed from Zeus's brow when the company calls, nor store themselves in a closet and turn themselves off until needed again. If you won't pay for people to live their lives outside of your workplace, they won't waste any of their finite time in it. It isn't just training. The company needs an ecosystem that moves humans from graduation to retirement. They don't have to own or control the whole thing, but all the pieces have to be there. And if a piece breaks, it has to be repaired or replaced to keep other parts healthy. That hasn't been happening since the 80s, so now there are huge, gaping holes in the career pipeline, and what companies remain are often parasites upon it rather than contributors to the ecosystem. So, yeah, good luck finding someone to install your auto glass, buddy. All those kids know that you will never be paying that $70k/year (with bonuses!) you teased them with, because three years from now, you might just replace the guy you hired this year with yet another sucker at $12/hr. What happened to your previous glass guy? Did you promote him, or fire him?
- antisthenes 10y ago
  Generally people don't give a shit whether you call it a job or a career as long as it helps them achieve their life goals. The reality is that unless you're doing something related to IT or got a cushy management job through nepotism, or getting massively subsidized by your parents, you're unlikely to progress to major life goals, like house ownership and starting a family, both of which require the ability to save a decent portion of your paycheck. People just want jobs that leave them with something after rent+food+healthcare and the reality is that the pool of these "good" jobs is shrinking by the year and requires multiple years of expensive education and at least above average intelligence, because you're competing globally against the upper middle classes of other countries as well.

by moxious 10y ago

blfr 10y ago

There's no fast way out of the situation. Of course there is and at least some Republicans at least claim they're going to take it: slash immigration, lower the labour supply, raising its prices.

moxious 10y ago
Yes, no matter how big or complex the problem, there will always be someone promising a quick and easy fix. And there will always be those in enough pain that they want to buy the quick fix. I'm not a big fan of magic beans though, because I'm young enough I still have to live here for a long time, I'm not cashing out of this place next year. If the problem is not enough skilled workers, it would seem that lowering the labor supply is exactly the wrong thing to do.
yummyfajitas 10y ago
How does lowering the labor supply solve the problem of the labor supply being too low? Next up: solve hunger by setting food on fire.
- blfr 10y ago
  It solves the problem of cheap employers since that attitude will become untenable.

logfromblammo 10y ago

People aren't stupid. They don't just want jobs; they want careers. Training makes sense for a job that has a career path. If you learned to drive a road tractor, you started by working for a transport company until you save up enough to buy your own rig, then you were a contractor for one of those companies until you got an agent to get you the loads you wanted on the routes you liked. Maybe eventually you got off the road to work in the management office for a transport company. With automated trucks on the horizon, young folks are less likely to even bother learning how to drive such vehicles. No one wants to be told that the skill they already spent half their lives honing will not carry them through to retirement. Big companies have been dismantling careers and repackaging them as cheaper and more fungible jobs for decades now. There is no consideration given whatsoever to the fact that employees are people that cannot spring fully formed from Zeus's brow when the company calls, nor store themselves in a closet and turn themselves off until needed again. If you won't pay for people to live their lives outside of your workplace, they won't waste any of their finite time in it. It isn't just training. The company needs an ecosystem that moves humans from graduation to retirement. They don't have to own or control the whole thing, but all the pieces have to be there. And if a piece breaks, it has to be repaired or replaced to keep other parts healthy. That hasn't been happening since the 80s, so now there are huge, gaping holes in the career pipeline, and what companies remain are often parasites upon it rather than contributors to the ecosystem. So, yeah, good luck finding someone to install your auto glass, buddy. All those kids know that you will never be paying that $70k/year (with bonuses!) you teased them with, because three years from now, you might just replace the guy you hired this year with yet another sucker at $12/hr. What happened to your previous glass guy? Did you promote him, or fire him?

antisthenes 10y ago
Generally people don't give a shit whether you call it a job or a career as long as it helps them achieve their life goals. The reality is that unless you're doing something related to IT or got a cushy management job through nepotism, or getting massively subsidized by your parents, you're unlikely to progress to major life goals, like house ownership and starting a family, both of which require the ability to save a decent portion of your paycheck. People just want jobs that leave them with something after rent+food+healthcare and the reality is that the pool of these "good" jobs is shrinking by the year and requires multiple years of expensive education and at least above average intelligence, because you're competing globally against the upper middle classes of other countries as well.