Not Enough Americans to Fill Jobs

[olympicoscar]

Despite a claim to the contrary by some posters, there are jobs out there but not enough qualified Americans to fill them. GM and Chrysler have reported difficulty in finding skilled workers.

Here is another claim for skilled machinists.

Desperately seeking Americans for manufacturing jobs - Feb. 16, 2012

[Ballboy534]

Because Americans (as a whole) are too entitled to perform work they believe to be "beneath" them, plus all those qualified machinists that were laid off or fired in the last five years found out they can live off a combination of their pensions (if they have them), social security, unemployment, and various other forms of social programs.

Probably also a result of too many unqualified and entitled Gen-Xers going to college and thinking that a degree automatically equals a 50k+ salaried job.

[HighTide]

How many of those are union jobs?

[olympicoscar]

Yours is speculation (Ballboy) so I might as well add my own opinion. A lot of younger people don't want to start a career in these fields because of all the layoffs and uncertainities of the past.

Also I would add that other jobs have become more glamerous. Working with your hands is so 20th Century to a lot of younger people.

[goDAWGSsicem]

Yeah, there are jobs everywhere. American's are just too stupid to qualify.

Unlike those highly skilled peasants in China & Asia.

[clarkson23devils]

1 I work with my hands and enjoy it

2 this is just a small piece of a large picture.This is just a sample of two companies with several underlying factors left undefined.I could list several factors as to why they can not find skilled workers that have nothing to do with the work force.Believe me I want to see the economy recover more than anybody but the fact is there are several skilled americans unemployed and there has not been a significant improvement.There is more to life than a number or story spit out by the media.If you want the big picture talk to someone who is out of work,look at your surroundings its quite depressing.

[Ballboy534]

Originally Posted by olympicoscar

Yours is speculation (Ballboy) so I might as well add my own opinion. A lot of younger people don't want to start a career in these fields because of all the layoffs and uncertainities of the past.

Also I would add that other jobs have become more glamerous. Working with your hands is so 20th Century to a lot of younger people.

No, they don't want to do work that is "beneath" them; why else would they refuse jobs that pay $20+ an hour with the potential to make $30+ with overtime? People in my generation (for the most part) grew up being told "how smart" they were and were seldom pushed to prove that they indeed were "smart." As a result, most flocked to college (some to earn worthless BA and MA degrees) that not only taught them no real life skills, but added to the inflated sense of self-worth and thus the "demand" for a 50k+ job immediately upon exiting school. For an engineer, medical professional, or someone working to produce a tangible product or service, those are realistic expectations; however, for all the business and philosophy majors that push paper and redirect "work flow" they're off their rocker if they think that is a reasonable objective.

[olympicoscar]

Originally Posted by clarkson23devils

1 I work with my hands and enjoy it

2 this is just a small piece of a large picture.This is just a sample of two companies with several underlying factors left undefined.I could list several factors as to why they can not find skilled workers that have nothing to do with the work force.Believe me I want to see the economy recover more than anybody but the fact is there are several skilled americans unemployed and there has not been a significant improvement.There is more to life than a number or story spit out by the media.If you want the big picture talk to someone who is out of work,look at your surroundings its quite depressing.

Not a bad reply. I know there are people that DO like to work with their hands, but the numbers are declining.

I think I will take your advice and try to talk to some people who are looking for jobs.

[SeeYouNT]

Originally Posted by clarkson23devils

1 I work with my hands and enjoy it

2 this is just a small piece of a large picture.This is just a sample of two companies with several underlying factors left undefined.I could list several factors as to why they can not find skilled workers that have nothing to do with the work force.Believe me I want to see the economy recover more than anybody but the fact is there are several skilled americans unemployed and there has not been a significant improvement.There is more to life than a number or story spit out by the media.If you want the big picture talk to someone who is out of work,look at your surroundings its quite depressing.

[olympicoscar]

Originally Posted by Ballboy534

No, they don't want to do work that is "beneath" them; why else would they refuse jobs that pay $20+ an hour with the potential to make $30+ with overtime? People in my generation (for the most part) grew up being told "how smart" they were and were seldom pushed to prove that they indeed were "smart." As a result, most flocked to college (some to earn worthless BA and MA degrees) that not only taught them no real life skills, but added to the inflated sense of self-worth and thus the "demand" for a 50k+ job immediately upon exiting school. For an engineer, medical professional, or someone working to produce a tangible product or service, those are realistic expectations; however, for all the business and philosophy majors that push paper and redirect "work flow" they're off their rocker if they think that is a reasonable objective.

I agree that most Americans don't want to work as hard as their elders. Degrees in some fields may seem worthless, but it's what you make of your education in the job market that counts.

When did a degree in business become worthless. Accounting and finance pay good salaries. International business is also a good field.

Keep in mind not everyone has the ability to work with their hands and the same can be said for engineer and medical jobs. You have to like your work in order to be successful. If you paid me $100 an hour I would not work an assembly line because I know I would botch the job and be bored.

[HuskerInSecLand]

Wacker (pronounced VOCKER) Chemie AG is building a plant here in the Chattanooga area. They are a polysilicon manufacturer, the ingredient used to make solar panels. They are scheduled to open in 2014 but have created an entire school in the local community college to train workers because America does not have enough people schooled in Math and Science. They will send you to school for 9 months to 2 years including internships in Germany and Belgium (for some positions). This is because, not just Tennessee, but America does not have the educated workforce they need.

If you have a degree in Chemistry you should be applying here. They have already hired over 200 and their still breaking ground for the plant, simply because they don't want to lose any potential candidates.

[JuiceTheGator]

There's a supply and demand side to all this too. When people realize that 1/3rd of what they WOULD be paid goes to gov't regulation and related hiring expenses, they'd vote differently.

Ask any employer how much more they're paying for an employee over what is actually paid. It's pretty sad. If a scientist made 100k instead of 90k, it might change the supply of them.

But some technician making only $40k might make over $55k if regulations were better, liabilities were fewer, etc etc.

[olympicoscar]

Originally Posted by JuiceTheGator

There's a supply and demand side to all this too. When people realize that 1/3rd of what they WOULD be paid goes to gov't regulation and related hiring expenses, they'd vote differently.

Ask any employer how much more they're paying for an employee over what is actually paid. It's pretty sad. If a scientist made 100k instead of 90k, it might change the supply of them.

But some technician making only $40k might make over $55k if regulations were better, liabilities were fewer, etc etc.

Yeah I agree. Lets not worry about how the car is built. If the brakes disintegrate at 60 miles an hour, well it's buyer beware. If your car explodes because someone bumps into your car at 20 miles an hour, tough luck.

If the saw machine collapses while running and it cuts through your head, well hey not all of us need our brains. Let's not inspect bridges, heck their all gonna collapse eventually anyways.

Hey why don't you barbecue on President's Day at your workplace. Do it right near the electrical cords. If we work hard this weekend we can get the safety laws repealed. BTW, the cook in the last restaurant you ate probably has AIDS and spit in your food.

[Ballboy534]

Originally Posted by olympicoscar

I agree that most Americans don't want to work as hard as their elders. Degrees in some fields may seem worthless, but it's what you make of your education in the job market that counts.

When did a degree in business become worthless. Accounting and finance pay good salaries. International business is also a good field.

Keep in mind not everyone has the ability to work with their hands and the same can be said for engineer and medical jobs. You have to like your work in order to be successful. If you paid me $100 an hour I would not work an assembly line because I know I would botch the job and be bored.

The problem is that a lot of folks from my generation look at salaries and pick a major based on it without giving any thought to whether the market will have a place for them. When there aren't jobs related to their field of choice, they bitch and moan about not having job opportunities (because they can't find one that jives with their field) when in fact, there are opportunities that they aren't willing to take.