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CK_John

(10,005 posts)
Mon Sep 2, 2013, 06:09 PM Sep 2013

Only 1/2 of returning students needed for the labor pool, What do we do for the other half???

Do we teach them how to do things (arts & crafts), so they keep their minds and bodies active and engaged.

Do we just socialize them (daycare centers), so they at least can meet and greet.

Do we teach survival skills (wilderness camps), so then can survive in a hostile society.

This is our real problem for the cyber-era generations. Where do we begin???

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Response to CK_John (Original post)

SoutherDem

(2,307 posts)
3. Pretend they don't exist.
Mon Sep 2, 2013, 06:38 PM
Sep 2013

At least that is what we seem to be doing. We are allowing for profit schools to double or triple charge for substandard degrees paid up front by student loans backed by the federal government. Then when they graduate with a near worthless degree and tons of student debt people (Republicans) don't understand why they are not paying back those loans, are working for at McDonald's and are wanting $15 an hour wage.

Downwinder

(12,869 posts)
4. Change the retirement, SS and Medicare qualification age to 50
Mon Sep 2, 2013, 06:41 PM
Sep 2013

and put them to work. The Corps. mostly all say they want younger employees.

Downwinder

(12,869 posts)
9. Give someone at 50 a guaranteed income with medical
Mon Sep 2, 2013, 07:20 PM
Sep 2013

and there is a good chance they will open a small business. Creating more employment opportunities.

dem in texas

(2,674 posts)
8. 1/2 of returning students needed for labor pool?
Mon Sep 2, 2013, 07:18 PM
Sep 2013

Where did you get this information? Back it up with a valid source.

CK_John

(10,005 posts)
12. It is a well know stat, over 1/2 gradutes are unemployed or underemployed.
Mon Sep 2, 2013, 07:27 PM
Sep 2013

Cyber productivity is out pacing need for labor.

Igel

(35,350 posts)
13. Half aren't working in jobs that require a college degree.
Mon Sep 2, 2013, 07:46 PM
Sep 2013

What to make of that is a mystery. When I graduated I didn't get a job that required a college degree. Then again, Russian literature wasn't really a burgeoning field at the time for those with just a bachelor's degree.

Actually, until recently none of my jobs, strictly speaking, had a college degree requirement. Even technical translation didn't have that as a formal requirement. Teaching high school requires a degree. Oddly, it's not in what I'm teaching. Oops.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/19/unemployment-college-graduates-majors_n_3462712.html

However, it's worth pointing out a nifty line in the HP article: That in 2000, before that recession, the number of un- or under-employed recent college grads hit an 11-year low (so that covers 1989-2000) of ... wait for it ... 41%.

And that the actual unemployment rate for recent college grads is very nearly the national average. Which means that their unemployment is a lot lower than for their age cohort.

CK_John

(10,005 posts)
14. I think your saying is the cyber-era is not creating enough jobs for the amount
Mon Sep 2, 2013, 08:02 PM
Sep 2013

students.

I don't see any improvement for the next 50 yrs.

SoCalDem

(103,856 posts)
15. That's the downside of service economies
Mon Sep 2, 2013, 09:35 PM
Sep 2013

Last edited Mon Sep 2, 2013, 10:36 PM - Edit history (1)

the manual labor jobs of old are not family-supporting jobs anymore.


Decades-worth of unnecessary jobs/businesses have come to an end.
Posted by SoCalDem in General Discussion Thu Oct 15th 2009, 03:47 PM

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6786608

This is what's at the crux of our next problem.

We (the US) are no longer the driving force in the world. We no longer make & provide the necessities of life for the world.

When we stopped BIG manufacturing, on a grand scale, we switched to a "make-work" economy, where paper-pushing, phone-answering, consulting, counseling, tending-to, etc., became our "new way".

We were all told that manufacturing was dirty, time-consuming, back-breaking work...it polluted (it really did), it was costly to maintain and innovate all those creaky old factories, and our "colonies" abroad could do the work for pennies on the dollar...YAY!! cheap stuff.

The manipulation of currency and trade deals and so many other financial shenanigans drove this runaway bus, but it's finally run out of gas, and there are so many enterprises that will never be coming back, and so many jobs will never return either.

We can accept the fact that the fantastic steel mill wages & UAW wages and so many other "good" jobs will never again be here, but even the cruddy soul-sucking desk/cubicle jobs are scarce now.

We overdid it, because so many people had to have an income, and that meant there had to be jobs for people, even if they were not "necessary" jobs.

Those of us who are older, have a reference point to gauge the changes.

A town of 20-30K used to have a few shoe stores, a few good department stores, a couple of grocery stores, maybe 2 or 3 theaters..There was competition, but there was also enough business to support all (or most) of these businesses. Many were businesses that had been there for 50 year or more, and had supported families, employed people, and prospered. They were NOT 110K sq.ft./jammed to the rafters stores. They were modest family businesses. The owners did not "borrow to meet payroll". they paid for their merchandise with the 10-day-discount, they saved their profit, for lean times, and they did not loot their businesses for their own gratification.

Everywhere you go today, things are exactly the same, all towns have the same stores, restaurants, etc. People all work for the same bosses, because a precious few own everything. Entrepreneurs start a business, it prospers a little, and they immediately look into selling it for "big-bucks" to a corporate cannibal, who guts it, lays people off, and passes it on to the next corporate cannibal, looking for a write-off. The customers & employees of that company just fall by the wayside.

There is more to business than just price-cutting and undercutting. People have basic needs and they have wants & desires. Businesses crop up to satisfy these needs & wants, but when there are too many places offering these goods & services, there's not enough demand to keep them all afloat.

People are lazy, and they like to get everything easy. It's no wonder that the shopping center idea took root in the 60's & 70's, but too much it still too much.

We were all better off when we had fewer "choices", but those choices were goods made by, transported by, sold by our own fellow citizens, and the commerce was spread around to everyone along the line. Money circulated and it made stops all along the ladder..top to bottom.

Progress always puts someone out of business, but hyper-progress and mass consumerism has put millions out of work, and millions more deep into life-crushing debt..and lowered wages for most of us.

What's next?

Where will all these unemployed find work?

house building-selling-furnishing? unlikely anytime soon

will 45-60 yr olds "go back to school" so they can start over? unlikely

just how does a 24 yr old saddled with 40K of school debt, ever get out of debt in time to start a life?

If 35-40% of income goes to put a roof over your head and 30% is "acceptable" for medical COVERAGE (not the actual medical procedures), how does the remaining 30% lead one to a comfortable lifestyle?

all questions & no answers yet..

stay tuned..it's going to be an interesting docu-drama

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