Oh, poor me...poor me !!!

[JDgreen227]

We use to RUN the Global Economy. We need to get back to being a leader, and not part of a resource pool.

Can we argue that reduced wages and benefits now being paid to employees of major companies like the Big 3 are a step in the right direction to recover the leadership of the Global Economy? Scares me just to imagine the wage/income level that will be required here to remain competive with offshore companies....

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Can we argue that reduced wages and benefits now being paid to employees of major companies like the Big 3 are a step in the right direction to recover the leadership of the Global Economy? Scares me just to imagine the wage/income level that will be required here to remain competive with offshore companies....

If we aim for the bottom we will surely hit it.

What we need is differentiation. Low skills jobs pay less, if we want high pay, need higher skills.

If USA is to rule the global economy is will not be with low level jobs...

We have a knowledge based economy, not a labor based economy.

Just my 2 cents, not about polyticks here, just how I see the workplace.

 

[CBW1999]

heated.... not really. I think that all of us have life experience that lead us to form morals, values and ethics. Our country is in dire straits with the "baby boomers" starting to exit the workforce there is essentially only one generation left with the "traditional" ideals that made his country prosper.

This particular discussion is just one symptom of many contributing the bigger problem. No easy fix-

 

[lockhaven]

Higher skills with less emphasis on education. Many jobs require a high skill level but do not need the college fine arts and social training. The problem is young people are being sent to college without any idea of what it is really for. Many degrees are just that degrees with nothing practical about them. "I have a BS in BS" so hire me. Some large companies have made the mistake of hiring only because of a degree and zero know how. The schools need to focus on what a person is good at and not what college they can get into. High tech jobs do not require college degrees if the person knows what makes something work. Apprenticeships and dedicated training would put far more people to work then everyone having a degree in some useless discipline.

 

[JDgreen227]

Higher skills with less emphasis on education. Many jobs require a high skill level but do not need the college fine arts and social training. The problem is young people are being sent to college without any idea of what it is really for. Many degrees are just that degrees with nothing practical about them. "I have a BS in BS" so hire me. Some large companies have made the mistake of hiring only because of a degree and zero know how. The schools need to focus on what a person is good at and not what college they can get into. High tech jobs do not require college degrees if the person knows what makes something work. Apprenticeships and dedicated training would put far more people to work then everyone having a degree in some useless discipline.

Well stated...one of my wife's nephews is now studying toward his MA in structural engineering....he spends a good part of his time outside of school actually working in his field to gain experience and he has utter scorn for those who earn a degree but have no real experience outside of their education. He describes such people as:

"Book smart, but life stupid." I concur....for many careers no amount of study and/or classroom time are going to be a substitute for hands on experience. I have a 41 year old step sister who just got her BA after going to college part time for 15 years...she has basically been a professional student since graduation from high school and basically the only work she has done was while self-employed doing web design. When she goes to an interview she is asked "Have you any work experience outside of self-employment?" After nearly a year, she is about to give up. Sad.

 

[300UGUY]

If we aim for the bottom we will surely hit it.

What we need is differentiation. Low skills jobs pay less, if we want high pay, need higher skills.

If USA is to rule the global economy is will not be with low level jobs...

We have a knowledge based economy, not a labor based economy.

Just my 2 cents, not about polyticks here, just how I see the workplace.

The problem as I see it, is that the skill level is constantly moving up, and the type of jobs being exported is always increasing. Imports keep getting higher tech all the time. A lot of engineering and design jobs are done overseas now. R&D is going there now. I don't this changing anytime soon. "American" companies are global now, and move operations between countries to optimize profits. American workers have been sold out by their employers. I worked in manufacturing for 37 years, but I would not advise any younger folks to make a career out of manufacturing. You are always just one executive decision from the street.

 

[lockhaven]

I worked for a company 12 years ago that was made up of ex NASA contractors. we had 3 PHD's and a masters was required I think to enter the door, until I arrived. The people were brilliant they could grasp a concept in a heart beat, but implementing it was a disaster. My boss was an Englishman had a masters in mechanical engineering, he told me that in England it is required to take an abbreviated 2 year apprenticeship in a tooling shop to get an engineering degree. i had worked at Black and Decker for 22 years prier in research and applied technology at least that was what it was called when i left. The best designers we had were those with shop experience. As shop supervisor I dealt directly with engineers and some of the college only people were a disaster. Good luck to your wife's nephew and tell him my well wishes for his career.

 

[Gator6x4]

We use to RUN the Global Economy. We need to get back to being a leader, and not part of a resource pool.

I am afraid a resource pool is about all we can muster at this time. When you have a 30-40 percent high school drop out rate in some communities hamburger flipping is about all that is available. Textile and furniture are gone to the land of ninety nine cents per hour. Schools have become warehouses, one teacher for 40-50 students. How many have tried to make a purchase when the computer or cash register was down and had to tell the clerk how much change you were owed?

How many have overheard a business associate, co-worker or friend telling how his/her children is being picked on because the teacher expects them to be able to read. How many heard the individual running for the nations highest office say, his goal is to have all children be able to read and write by the 4th or 5th grade. My parents thought I should be able to read and write before I entered the first grade.

 

[EE_Bota]

Amazing how an article, partial and poor quality, causes so many comments.

Some show a realistic understanding of the human condition.
Some show a realistic understanding of the economic condition.
Some show a need to rant against people's condition.
Some show compassion.
Some are calloused.
Some show a need to dictate how others should live.
Some use facts to support or illustrate their comments.
Some use fantasy and assumptions to justify their position.

Some don't know the difference between any of the above.

Are the differences because of nature or nurture?

An American Psychological Association task force in 1995 concluded:

The task force concluded that IQ scores do have high predictive validity for individual differences in school achievement. They confirm the predictive validity of IQ for adult occupational status, even when variables such as education and family background have been statistically controlled. They agree that individual (but specifically not population) differences in intelligence are substantially influenced by genetics.

So, when you got it, you got it. :cloud9: When you don't, you don't.:mur:

Doubtless, Smstonypoint, who holds the TBN chair in statistics and 'rithmetic, can explain the reasons for all the above far better than I.:confused3:
Perhaps the great man, himself, had a pithy commentary on it all.

Those of you who think it is justified to tax cigarettes so highly are the social engineers of the group, you guys need to get your fingers in a little deeper and straighten this guys life up for him. I'd lower those taxes to the same rate and anything else, and look at the overall tax rates the fellow faces, and if reasonable, I'd walk off and let him lead his life, content that I didn't go out of my way to lay a special screwing on him via taxation.

Many want to engineer society, but almost no one has enough skill.

 

[CBW1999]

Those of you who think it is justified to tax cigarettes so highly are the social engineers of the group, you guys need to get your fingers in a little deeper and straighten this guys life up for him. I'd lower those taxes to the same rate and anything else, and look at the overall tax rates the fellow faces, and if reasonable, I'd walk off and let him lead his life, content that I didn't go out of my way to lay a special screwing on him via taxation.

You make a very good point and, one I never thought about. It is a tax directed solely at the end user. If there wasn't such a high tax to begin with, their budget expense would be quite a lot less and conceivably lessen the chance they need public assistance. Makes you think a little more about the so called "soda" tax. Similar situation.......