Americans will not take some jobs

[Toro]

Even in a recession/depression.

[M]any growers ... are trying to plan their harvests but are uncertain of their labor source. They have relied on the H-2A program, which allows guest agriculture workers to stay as long as 10 months. A spokeswoman for the Labor Department said a decision on whether the program will be suspended for nine months will be made in "a couple of months."

The H-2A program requires growers to try to fill vacancies with Americans first. Some farms, Ms. Malitz said, are seeing U.S. applicants for the first time in years, but remain apprehensive. "Will they stay?" she asks. "They quit in the middle of the season. They don't like it."

Indeed, an economic downturn tests an argument that has been the bedrock of legal, employer-sponsored migration: Americans won't or can't do certain jobs. Among the highly skilled, perhaps they didn't know programming languages such as Java or C++. Among the lower skilled, they didn't want to work with their hands, get dirty, or sweat. ...

Jack Brooks is the rare employer who calls himself "desperate to find people." Every year, the co-owner of the century-old J.M. Clayton Co. in Cambridge, Md., has relied on a dozen seasonal guest workers, mostly from Mexico, to pick the meat out of Maryland blue crabs all day long, March till November. But H-2B visas, as they are known, were all exhausted this year. So Mr. Brooks is trying to find Americans to do the job.

Three people responded to a newspaper advertisement. On the day one was to report to work, she called and said she had found something permanent.

"I can't blame her," said Mr. Brooks. "Imagine losing your job every year around Thanksgiving....I fear if we hire a few locals, they'll be gone as soon as the economy turns around."

Nearby, Bryan Hall, the fourth-generation owner of G.W. Hall & Sons, is in the same predicament. Dorchester County, where the crab-processing industry is based, had a 9.1% unemployment rate in January, second highest in the state. "I know unemployment's up, but I can't find Americans to do this job," Mr. Hall said.

Critics of the visa programs blame sponsors for driving down wages. Mr. Brooks said he offered the no-show hire an entry-level salary of $6.71 plus some incentives by piece and pound, and the potential to double her salary with experience.

U.S. Deters Hiring of Foreigners as Joblessness Grows - WSJ.com

 

[B94]

Americans will do any job if paid enough.

 

[Dis]

Americans will do any job if paid enough.

So how much do you think someone should make for something like shelling crab?

 

[B94]

Americans will do any job if paid enough.

So how much do you think someone should make for something like shelling crab?

I don’t know. I’m not in the shelling crab business.

 

[xotoxi]

Americans will do any job if paid enough.

So how much do you think someone should make for something like shelling crab?

I have many patients that shell crabs and lobsters and shrimp.

They need to make just enough to buy their oxycontin from the street.

 

[xsited1]

Most Americans won't take hi-tech jobs because they're not qualified. That's one reason H1-B workers are necessary.

 

[Luissa]

Americans will do any job if paid enough.

So how much do you think someone should make for something like shelling crab?

you can make up to 4,000 a month in alaska. That is why they probably can't get any americans. If they do want to do that for a job they are going to go to where the money is at.