There Are LOADS Of Jobs Out There, But People Don't Want To Work!

Originally posted by Jean Paul Zodeaux
reply to post by ZeroSumWinner

 

Why didn't you invent some disruptive technology that changed the face of business instead of selling out and taking a corporate job as a software engineer? Were you too lazy? Too mentally slow? Maybe you didn't have enough go-getter attitude? Perhaps you should reconsider your worth and have the good sense to admit all you are is just another employee. See how easy it is to criticize people who think they are superior?

I presume since you're taking shots at others that means you yourself have done something to create a disruptive technology to challenge the status quo. Right? Or are you just all talk? I guess it isn't so easy taking shots at someone else who is "superior" when you yourself can't walk the talk.

Not to be a dick, But just to chime in on something said 25 pages ago, Landscaping was mentioned as a viable job alternative. Well I was reading this post and had to make a home depot run.(To get some compost for my garden .

While I was there, I saw the usual 10-15 spanish/mexican/columbian folks (I am in Central Florida) hanging out on the side of the building by the hot dog truck. Now I would never hire from here, I would ask one of my buddies that needed the cash to help first, But.. I just asked em.. What do you get for a day's work? The answers ranged from $30.00 + Lunch for 8hrs to $50.00 for 8hrs. (NOTE: The $50.00 for 8 hrs guy spoke fluent English and struck me as fairly educated).

So at $30.00 for 8hrs.. or $3.75 and hour.. Where do we fit in? Even at $50.00 for 8hrs or $6.25 an hour there is no wiggle room. Now as I stand there a landscaping truck pulls up w/trailer in tow and takes 4 of these guys with him.. Now I know why no one pays $10.00 an hour for landscaping positions anymore.

So with that said, I would just like to state that LANDSCAPING in CENTRAL FLORIDA is NOT a viable alternative for someone looking for employment, UNLESS you can work for $5.00 an hour.

And as far as electrician or plumbing or even painting, if you advertise on Craigslist here in Central Florida you WILL BE hunted and attacked by the Licensed and Insured contractors who have no work themselves, they will report you and flag your ad's.(I do side work posting on CL for business here and I KNOW how it works)

I personally do affiliate advertising, I do very well at it.. but then again I have been sitting in front of a keyboard for over 25yrs. So it's a bit of a give.. If you really need money and are starving for work.. I would suggest finding a way to make money online. I do it, I have shown a few friends how to do it.. if your persistent and have drive you can earn an easy 1k to 2k a month with 2-3 hrs work a day. I make more doing less.. But as far as unskilled folks who have no education and little training.. and god forbid a family right now to support.. well ur just Fked..

-Mus

Originally posted by fleabit
I agree it could be worse - and I fully intend to become gainfully employed as quickly as I can. But some of these people irk me. They act as if whatever professional career someone had, is not worth trying to get back into. They should "roll up those sleeves" and just take whatever is offered. It's a load of rubbish. People with skillsets should absolutely try to get back to doing what they do best.

My company after they laid me (and 20% of IT) off, laid off another 14 people in 2 months. To listen to these people here, all those folks should just take jobs flipping burgers, plumbers, ditch diggers, or whatever else.. so they are not a "burden" on society. What a laughable premise. So the senior VP they let go who managed multi-million dollar projects... should go become a plumber? The guy who I worked with for 14 years, who did finances, and is an expert with spreadsheets, financials, Oracle, etc.. should become an electrician, or take a job at Subway?

Like I said.. these people are not living in reality. THEY are the selfish ones, including the OP.

Considering that an electrician can make more than most accountants, that might not be such a bad choice if you have 5 years to get the training done. As far as flipping burgers and making sandwiches, maybe not.

That senior VP should have saved a little more of his salary imho but hindsight is 20/20 and that won't do him a bit of good now if he blew it all on luxuries.

The old ways are falling apart for many different reasons. All I know to do is keep one foot in front of the other and move through the turmoil. Reagan's dream of everyone working in an office is failing. If we are all managers, what do we manage? Sending all the production overseas was shortsighted and now that the worker bees are gone, there is less and less need for the queens so to speak.

It's not so different from an old saying... let me butcher it here:

First they came for the line workers and I said nothing.
Then they came for the customer service reps and I said nothing.
Then they came for middle management and I said nothing still.
Then they came for me and there was no one left to call to...

I'm with everyone in this thread. Let me share my story, briefly.

In high school I opted not to go to college. The reason was because most of the people I knew who had degrees, couldn't use them to find work, and it resulted in a large debt for this "useless piece of paper." Unless one was a Doctor, Lawyer, or Teacher of some sort, there weren't many fields where I thought it was REQUIRED.

After high school I became an assistant martial arts instructor at a school I went to. They had about 160 students at this time. I saw this is a more viable option in the long run. 100 dollars a student per month= make great living doing what you want, staying in shape, helping people. I was all in for that.

I did that for 3 years, working up to head instructor, was doing pretty well. We now had 300 students. But it went down because the owner became a drug addict and ended up losing the business.

I took some time off, thought I was going to write a book. So I did. Didn't work out well. By this time the economy was going down. I had a few temp jobs here and there, a 2 month hosting job at a steakhouse. I quit because in 2 months I made 300 dollars, no sufficient in my mind for cleaning feces off of toilets, picking up cigarette butts bare handed out in the snow in the parking lot, etc.

I tried a number of jobs I found in the paper but was discouraged that they all ended up being some kind of gimmick. Like, selling vacuums, so I worked from 7am until 12pm, drove all day, spent 60 dollars in gas(Gas was $4.50 a gallon here at this time), didn't make a dollar, so I left. Had many jobs like that, it was frustrating.

At one point I decided to really put in a lot of effort in getting jobs. Put out $400 applications in a week, was at 4 different temp agencies, got no calls back. I gave up, even McDonalds didn't return calls.

So, I ended up having a friend in Texas let me move out there, in an area where the economy was a bit better. I stayed with my friend for a few months, got a job, was waiting for an apartment to open. My job ruled, I was a display installer, worked part time, and in the first month I made $5000. It was easy, it was all local, I made my own hours, worked when I wanted, it was awesome.

But it was a feast or famine industry, and there was no work for many months. That with car problems, I started to have a hard time. My car finally went, so I tried to buy a new one. I didn't have the money, nor the credit, ha my parents cosign for me, got a vehicle a few years old. (The job entailed a lot of driving, and often transporting a lot of stuff, so I got an SUV a few years old. )

Right before the next feast season hit, the car dealership reclaimed the car because they backed out of the loan, and I was left without a vehicle. So, I ended up renting a van(had to, was now transporting large units 3-400 miles for installation.) Well as it turns out, the business, the vendor, and my company all had disagreements about what was supposed to be done, so I spent weeks out of town, living in a hotel(if I needed internet to communicate) we ended up not being paid for the work I did because no one agreed as to what was supposed to be done. I ended up working a month, spending $2000 out of my own pocket, and not seeing a dime. I had to quit.

Now I had no job, and #ty resume, tried to find work, but I was out of money, asked my parents if I could move back to PA. I did that. I was looking for work but what i found was now people were unemployed for so long, that entry level positions were looking for people with 3-4 years experience.

Without a car, I was limited. Buses have limited schedules, and as one employer said "work starts at 6:40, the bus arrives at 6:45. You need another option."

After a few months my parents helped me get a car, and after applying around, I got hired in a warehouse for amazon.com, through their temp agency. Then when the busy season ended they let a few thousand people go. Took a few months, and now I've found work again, a warehouse, through a temp agency, and they keep calling me off of work when a machine breaks down. I still live with my parents, as does virtually everyone one I went to school with.

I'm with the OP, in the sense that you need that attitude to succeed, in a struggling situation. We all heard tales of what our parents and grandparents did during the depression, worked 80 hours as a 15 year old, dropped out of school, worked for pennies a week.

The fact is, however, many things in the economy have changed. The US has had many changes. Manufacturing jobs aren't there, hiring laws have changed. Many of the industrial type jobs that a person and their family could live off of are gone. Many of the jobs that are being created (yes jobs are being created) are low income to the point that you may need 2-3 jobs to support a single person. Example, in PA, you need to work 89 hrs at minimum wage to be able to afford a 2 bedroom apt(you shouldn't have a 2 bedroom..tbc

reply to post by SanguineDenial


Then they came for me, and all I could do was call the helpline in india

reply to post by captaintyinknots

So those of us who spent years training for our current career only to have it ripped out from under us should disregard the money and time already spent, and do it all over again, with the mindset that "this time, itll be better"?

Your alternative is to sit unemployed, perhaps for the duration of your life. You evidently got a major in something that has no market. You must either create a market for your skills or develop skills in something else. Is this pleasant? NO!! It is the facts of life.
Years ago I lamented to a 64 year old man that I was becoming disenchanted with my software career. I was expecting sympathy from him; but, to my surprise he exploded with venom! He said, "So? Go put yourself in another career! Don't bitch to me about your sorrows. I've had THREE careers in my lifetime. I started out as an Arthur Murray dance instructor. The pay was good and women threw themselves at me. Then my knees went out. I studied to be a machinist and worked my way through the ranks to become a Master Tool and Die Maker. The pay was good! Then along comes CNC machine ... bam, I was laid off. Next I turned to software engineering, where I am now. That is sixty years in three careers, with about twenty years in each career. Don't bitch to me about job and life changes! You just have to hold your nose and do it! Alternatively, you can just die."
That is a quick summation of life. You really do have to "go with the the flow", or change your own life to match the circumstances. You surely can't change things on a Nationsl or worl scale.
Move to another city or state if you have to. My career started in Kentucky, and then changed to Alabama and then Georgia. My older brother had to follow work through four states. You just have to do what you have to do. Lord, I've worked for seventeen companies in my fourty year career. My best times were when I worked for myself.

It costs money to go to school to be a plumber or an electrician.Money people don't have. not to mention,not everyone has the cognizant ability to be an electrician. This has got to be the absolutely worst advice ever at resolving a financial situation for a person. ...I call a plumber and an 18 year old, bubble gum pop, school girl shows up because she just HAD o take that job. LOL.

Originally posted by Phenomium
It costs money to go to school to be a plumber or an electrician.Money people don't have. not to mention,not everyone has the cognizant ability to be an electrician. This has got to be the absolutely worst advice ever at resolving a financial situation for a person. ...I call a plumber and an 18 year old, bubble gum pop, school girl shows up because she just HAD o take that job. LOL.

Not likely, she would make more money as a stripper.

reply to post by cetaphobic

You are expecting people living on welfare to just SUDDENLY have the knowledge and skill necessary to do these jobs,

I don't think the OP imagings that "SUDDENLY the knowledge appears". What do you do with your spare time? Do you spend any of it at the library or using the internet to read about selected skill sets? You have to TRY something! You can't expect that negating all possible avenues before you try one of them will help you in any way. You will have to WORK your way into another job. Sure, this will be very difficult when you are caring for children at the same time you are trying to improve your situation.
Network with other people who are in the same situation. Take turns minding the children while the other goes to the library or otherwise searches for a job or skills.
The OP is just trying to point out that doing nothing except complaining will not change anything for you. Obama and his ilk aren't going to help you in any way. You have to pull out of this with you own effort. I am fully aware that the effort is going to be massive.
By the way, even MIT offers all of its courses on the web, free of charge. They do not offer a degree unless you pay; however, the knowledge is presented for free.
When push comes to shove, you can always join the military.

reply to post by ModernAcademia


I would rather work a job doing something I like... None of those things intrest me.. I need a job where I can be creative. I love to make music and I compose songs. I would love a job making music for singers or even making soundtracks for movies and tv shows. Sadly I cannot find any jobs like this.. Its not about me being lazy. I am far from it. I just dont see a point in getting up everyday and living life when you despise what you have to do everyday....

Your alternative is to sit unemployed, perhaps for the duration of your life.

Right.. because that's not exaggerating at all, I'm sure that's just how it will happen.

Most people will find meaningful work in their line of work for equitable pay within 8 months or so. And during that time, they should FULLY take advantage of any benefits offered them.

Give me one good reason that they shouldn't accept the pathetic and meager unemployment offered to the full extent, while they are actively looking for good work.

reply to post by TheGreySwordsman


...2 bedroom apt in that situation, but you get the idea. )

But, as the OP said, you need that attitude the willingness to do #. The immigrants, legal, and illegal do it, so we can. The problem is that if you built up structures in good times that require a certain amount of income to support, today's economy may make it challenging for you to maintain them, and the wages those people will work for just won't do it.

You need to have that willingness to do crap to make it through the hard times. Your quality of life may go down.

I am spoiled, I have tremendous support from friends and family, I might as well be on government support, and wuld be if I could collect

A big thing is, many of the folks I know collect unemployment because they make double on unemployment what they have been able to find on the job market. It doesn't make financial sense not to.

There are, however, people who cannot do any more than they are doing. My uncle for example, destroyed his lungs working with chemicals, asbestos, etc. Now, some days, he can walk 60 feet without his oxygen tank, sometimes he can't

My other uncle, used to prosper, he had two successful construction companies at one point. He had a level of training that few have when it comes to special concrete work. However, now people cannot afford it, he can't make it cheaper because the cost of materials doesn't go down. The immigrant workers are willing to work hard for wages he cannot afford to. So now he works with some of those companies. He drives 3 hours in one direction, for a 5th of what he used to be paid, to be treated poorly for being the one English speaker, puts in a 10-12 hour day, comes home, falls asleep, starts over again. 6-7 days a week like this. But he hasn't given up. He and his family, who once did very well, now do poorly, but that is just how it is. If he didn't work, they would be even worse off than they are now.

You truly need that point of view the OP has, yet, the reality many people face makes it seem as if there is no hope. I am far more supported than most.

There is possibility for employment and each region has it's own economic challenges. I myself, am working at a warehouse, trying to start a business(6th venture), trying to get into another main career as I build up my business. I couldn't do this without support, and for many, the support of family is replaced by the support of government.

There are however, many, many people who severely take advantage of the system. I have an aunt who #s the government so hard, and then again I have another aunt, and cousin who both work an awful lot, and cannot afford a pork BBQ sandwich, besides their bills.

The OP's attitude is required at one point. But global perspective is needed to see the reality that many people are living. I won't even go into the mental and social conditioning for the systematic deconstruction of the human will that goes on in this situation. For many, there seems to be no hope whatsoever. For 95% of people, there is more hope than they see, and only a very narrow few are more or less totally "screwed" but even then, it's better to be broke and homeless in the US than to live in many places in the world. I cannot speak about other nations, but all of my European friends seem to be prospering.

Some food for thought, and I wish everyone the opportunity to carve out a living and eventually prosper. Thank you

reply to post by Kryties

Let me guess, you only had yourself to look after. Like Ive been saying all along mate, not everyone has the same situation and opportunities as yourself.

When you have people depending on you, is is better to sit and complain about not having a good job? I would think that in any case, in any situation, one would be better off casting about for alternatives.
He was reading the programming book because he had already done the research and discovered that there were software jobs available. He started reading the programming book because he was going to attempt to break into that job market.
What do you do with your spare time? Are you actually looking for alternatives or do you post on forums all day?
I have a degree in Computer Science. That being said, many of the good programmers with whom I worked were self-taught and non-degreed. It is indeed possible to get into software without a degree. It is possible to gain software experience on your own. You would have to be careful about "what flavor" of software you try to penetrate because not all "branches" of software are strongly active right now.

I started 7 years ago as an electrician. Sure, I only made $8 an hour but I put the time in and put up with being the gopher. Some people think they should just be handed an awesome job with no experience. I put in my time and now only 7 years later I am making $17.50 an hour with all benefits, retirement, company truck, the works. Do the time and you'll be rewarded.

"The world does not owe you a living, it was here first." -Mark Twain

Originally posted by ModernAcademia

I started out very difficultly
I now have a wife and a kid on the way

I DECIDED not to have kids until I could afford them
Why would I put a kid through a low income with litle food and clothing?
I would consider myself a horrible father if I did that mistake

Oh give me a break. You are acting like people on this thread have told you that they lost their job and THEN had kids...You keep telling people to read...It seems you need to work on your own reading comprehension. The people in this thread are telling you that they had kids at a time when, like you, they were more than financially stable...Then 15 years later...They could not get any work!!!

I just hope that 5,10 or even 15 years down the road you don't have trouble finding work...

Seriously, you are accusing people of being bad parents and are not even stopping to realize that when they had kids they were in the same position you are in now! With lots of money and everything for their kid...

The first person you brought that up against. He lost his job five years ago. But he has kids in college. This means that he had plenty of money for raising children for the majority of time raising his kids....Which is why I remind you, You do not know what will happen to you, 15 years from now....

You say you are not on a high horse, well, you are on one about that...And you have zero right to be. So lay off the parenting stuff...Because you are way off base and not even making sense about that....

You really need to stop the attacks about peoples parenting skills, You never know where YOU will be in 15-20 years.... I certainly hope no one ever accuses you of bad parenting...

Unrealistic thinking, sure, but bad parenting for not being able to find work, 15 years after you have the kid? Nah, I sure hope not....Because it would be equally stupid then as it is from you, right now.

Do you get that yet? Or is it still over your head? Because you are acting really very small as far as that goes...Attacking peoples parenting skills? Come off your high horse...You have no right to be up there...And don't you dare say you are not on one...

You just implied that people were bad parents because they cant get work, 15 years AFTER having kids....

This thread and your posts are a disgrace...I wonder if you will accuse me of not having a job for taking that stand against you. Hey, it would be just as baseless as your other accusation...So be my guest.

Peace and love.

maybe I will check out the SECOND thread inspired by the original.... See what it is like over there...

Well, technically THIS is the second thread. Their is the original thread. Then this rebuttal thread...And now there is a rebuttal thread to your rebuttal thread...

Yeah, that's what we need...Hey, why post your opinions in the original thread? let's all just make our own threads!

reply to post by Kryties

how you think people can just up and change the direction of their lives in an instant when they have responsibilities

I don't really think the OP has such expectations. He is merely pointing out that your expectations have to change with the times. You will have to retrain somehow in order to be able to adapt to a different way of making ends meet. Nobody said that would be easy. You will have to meet your responsibilities AND start preparing for change in your career. If you play even one minute of a video game, you are wasting your time. You will have to use all of your spare time hunting alternatives and then building skills for whichever alternatives pan out.
Do all of this "in an instant"? No way! It will take time and effort, and probably a lot of both. Both of my parents lived through the depression. Their parents went around town doing things like sharpening scissors and knives, repairing stairs, painting.
Network with other people in order to share the burdon of minding children while the other goes to the library or hunts a job.

reply to post by Revealation

Illegal immigrants are outsourced work

Yes they are! Have you compalined to your state and Federal Congresscritters?

Originally posted by nahahh
Stop relying on a damn J.O.B. It leads to a DEAD END. Start thinking age 60...NOW!

Oh, and, can i also say......the internet is a good way to do business. Are you a fashion designer....event planner...IDK.....THINK OUTSIDE THE "TELEVISION". Oops....i meant...."BOX"!

This share exactly my point. We've in this country a serious problem a laziness and entitlement. People want to start a new job at high wage but they don't want to work for it. They suffer from entitlement. Don't get me wrong it's not just the USA but Canada also.

People have been used to get everything almost for free without really need to work for it. In Canada people can get so lazy that the government had no choice but to start a new work program with Mexico to work on farms during the harvesting season. The Federal Government bring workers from Mexico and will pay for everything: Work VISA, plane tickets, housing, meals, etc... and the workers will work on crops on minimum wage for about 8 months. At the end of the 8 months the Federal Government will pay back plan tickets for them to go back.!

Because there is a shortage of domestic labor sources in Canada. The reason there is a shortage is people prefer to live in the city and do not want to work for minimum wage, and long hours on a farm. For most people even if they did show up the farmers would be unable to keep them around for long periods of time. This puts the farmers in a bind, because the farmers need workers who are not going to quit at harvest when the crop needs to be picked. So, they bring in migrant workers. Is that simple.

Two fundemental flaws to your argument.

1. If people dont want to work then ask yourself this, why? Indeed they are so damn laden with chemicals and flouride and other toxic waste that many if not most are sure to be seriously dumbed down to such an extent they cannot get any motivation whatsoever anymore.

2. There are loads of jobs out there but none you could possibly survive on unless you work for a tyranny that enjoys bombing children from 40,000 feet.

reply to post by Kryties

What part of everyone has different circumstances and not everyone is able to so easily do the things that you suggest do you not understand?

Of course, this is an important point. Do you believe that some people are mentally or physically incapable of finding work? Do you believe this applies to changing a career? Do you believe this applies to their ability to train?

People really can't just throw up their hands and say, "Oh, I just can't do it". Living through welfare is not a good life. The only person who can affect change is the person in question.

OK, not everyone is cut out to be a software engineer or an aircraft designer. Each person must find or develop his own skills, and then apply them to making a living. The OP is correct when he states that maybe employment with a company won't be possible. There are trades that don't need a lot of training and don't really require formal skills. Those jobs won't pay well, but they will keep your family fed. Complaining won't feed anyone. (If there was a job that envolved complaining, I'd already have it.)

There are a lot of people in this mess; and, the traditional model doesn't seem to be working. Maybe we have to gravitate to the ancient system of barter. No matter what, each individual must lay out effort in order to find a niche.

Brainstorm in order to enumerate your skills and abilities. Brainstorm your interests. The research the ways that your skills and interests can be honed for a productive life.

I understand your delima. I have a lot of skills, but not the least sense in marketing. I can design, make, and program electronic instrumentation. Left to myself, I wouldn't know what to make. If you have ideas regarding to neat gizmos you would like to see ... pair up with someone like me to invent and produce a product. Thankfully, I am employed right now.

Find you skills/interests and a complementary buddy. Maybe you are just part of a team that hasn't come together.