Great article on why the economy is in trouble.

[Woodznutz]

My conclusion is that it is a combination of laziness and greed.

MSN

 

[1srelluc]

They answered their own question.

If telecom companies want to fix this, they need to invest in employee development, highlight career growth opportunities, and create work environments that keep top talent engaged for the long haul.

 

[Woodznutz]

They answered their own question.

If telecom companies want to fix this, they need to invest in employee development, highlight career growth opportunities, and create work environments that keep top talent engaged for the long haul.

A common thread throughout the whole article.

 

[Dante]

My conclusion is that it is a combination of laziness and greed.

MSN

The challenge? A mix of rapid industry changes, high burnout rates, and a lack of long-term career planning for employees.

 

[Woodznutz]

The challenge? A mix of rapid industry changes, high burnout rates, and a lack of long-term career planning for employees.

Rapid industry changes is the main culprit. Brainiacs create high-tech industries but can't find enough brainiac employees to work for them. We're basically outsmarting ourselves.

And ironically colleges seek to churn out highly educated grads from among students that have no business taking up space in their classrooms.

 

[Dekster]

For $50K a year I'd sit in a fire tower and point "over there" to the fire crews. Maybe those conservation jobs are just too boring for some.

 

[1srelluc]

Rapid industry changes is the main culprit. Brainiacs create high-tech industries but can't find enough brainiac employees to work for them. We're basically outsmarting ourselves.

And ironically colleges seek to churn out highly educated grads from among students that have no business taking up space in their classrooms.

Indeed, much of that could be handled on the HS and Community college level.

The company bean counters are too damn stupid to allow it to happen and the BODs are too insulated from reality to notice what they are missing out on.

Back when my town was a "factory town" FMC recruited help thru the local HS and sponsored vocational classes to that end. A large percentage stayed till they retired.

 

[Woodznutz]

Indeed, much of that could be handled on the HS and Community college level.

The company bean counters are too damn stupid to allow it to happen and the BODs are too insulated from reality to notice what they are missing out on.

Back when my town was a "factory town" FMC recruited help thru the local HS and sponsored vocational classes to that end. A large percentage stayed till they retired.

We've priced ourselves out of our own economy.

 

[Blaster]

Nothing is wrong with the economy.

 

[bendog]

My conclusion is that it is a combination of laziness and greed.

MSN

We are at full employment. Perhaps we need to embrace foreigners with educations that fit our economy.

 

[evenflow1969]

For $50K a year I'd sit in a fire tower and point "over there" to the fire crews. Maybe those conservation jobs are just too boring for some.

You can be alone for months at a time at some of those sites. Most people can not deal with that. Would not bother me but I guess I am atypical in that respect.

 

[Woodznutz]

We are at full employment. Perhaps we need to embrace foreigners with educations that fit our economy.

We are at full underemployment.

Perhaps we need an economy that fits our education level seeing that we are unable to prepare our kids for the present high-tech economy.

 

[bendog]

We are at full underemployment.

Perhaps we need an economy that fits our education level seeing that we are unable to prepare our kids for the present high-tech economy.

we need a third world economy?

 

[The Sage of Main Street]

They answered their own question.

If telecom companies want to fix this, they need to invest in employee development, highlight career growth opportunities, and create work environments that keep top talent engaged for the long haul.

The Minor Leagues Are Baseball's Equivalent of College Education

Too late. They need to give talented 18-year-olds what baseball gives them, a huge bonus up front to motivate them to develop their natural skills before they are hired.

Americans are so sado-masochistic about the Eweniversity. I met someone doing graduate work in Microbiology. She got $600 a week, plus free tuition. She said that she and another student were the only Americans out of fifteen in the program. She was too brainwashed to realize that it would all be Americans if they got $600 a week plus free tuition in undergraduate school.

Same ignorance from somebody who wrote a book complaining about unpaid internships and ones the intern had to actually pay the firm for. What really angered me about it was they were advised to take it out of their trust funds. But she wasn't upset about undergraduate being designed specifically for the RichKid Reich only.

The talented born in lower classes create all the wealth of that parasitic clique for them. Knowing that, the plutocracy brainwashes people to think that the talented needs to punished before they can deserve that reward.

 

[Woodznutz]

we need a third world economy?

We could take some lessons. They don't buy things that they can't afford, meanwhile we are $35Trillion in debt.

 

[Dekster]

You can be alone for months at a time at some of those sites. Most people can not deal with that. Would not bother me but I guess I am atypical in that respect.

A friend in college spent the summer counting ducks in the Dakotas. He could go a few weeks without any real meaningful interactions with humans other than at the gas station. His job was like go to pond A in the middle of nowhere and count all the female mallards between sunrise and sunset; camp out then drive to Lake B and count all the male woodducks.

 

[evenflow1969]

A friend in college spent the summer counting ducks in the Dakotas. He could go a few weeks without any real meaningful interactions with humans other than at the gas station. His job was like go to pond A in the middle of nowhere and count all the female mallards between sunrise and sunset; camp out then drive to Lake B and count all the male woodducks.

Some people can handle solitude, most can't. I would have enjoyed your friends job. I work with people during the day but prefer my own company once off work.

 

[Dekster]

Some people can handle solitude, most can't. I would have enjoyed your friends job. I work with people during the day but prefer my own company once off work.

I could do it for awhile. I am not sure I would want to for a whole career.

Anyway, probably the rightest comment I have heard about the current state of affairs is that we are heading back into an early 80's job market where there aren't going to be a ton of good listings and most jobs will be filled in that "Hey, do you know anybody looking for work who wants to actually work?" sort of way.

 

[evenflow1969]

I could do it for awhile. I am not sure I would want to for a whole career.

Anyway, probably the rightest comment I have heard about the current state of affairs is that we are heading back into an early 80's job market where there aren't going to be a ton of good listings and most jobs will be filled in that "Hey, do you know anybody looking for work who wants to actually work?" sort of way.

Many people. The area I currently live in, people live the old way. The hunting and fishing where I live is amazing. It is an expensive tourist trap but awesome place to live if you can afford it it. No better place for a teenager to get a job in the summer. Work ethic is learned at a young age. I many young men that got their captains license by the age of 18. Many that got guide license at same age. I am a fishing guide and I guide water foul hunting trips. I also flip houses on the side. I do most of the work myself on these houses but some things require at least two people to do. I have a several high school kids that help me out on projects. I do not have to tell them to keep moving. People actually talk to each other here. Their noses are not buried in their phone. This area is kinda party central so alcohol problems do exist but they are functional alcoholics. I personally do not partake in the party life. As long as you show up for work and pay your bills I don't care if you drink to much. That is your business. My best friend here is a young man, only 27. Works over time in a factory and also runs fishing charters and duck trips. Awesome work ethic. I need help he is a phone call away. He has a whole group of friends that are same age and similar approach to life. I could keep up with them just a few years ago. Now I have lost a step. I feel bad that I can no longer keep up completely. I see them picking up some of my slack on hunting trips. They don't complain about it and always want me to come along. Carrying a dead deer a mile back to the truck is not easy for me these days. Pulling an ice shanty a mile and a half out onto the ice is not easy anymore. They always make sure it gets done. They will wait on me to catch my breath doing it with out complaints. They are all getting married now and having kids. They all love getting their kids together with my grandchildren. Ya I know some good people.

 

[Dekster]

Many people. The area I currently live in, people live the old way. The hunting and fishing where I live is amazing. It is an expensive tourist trap but awesome place to live if you can afford it it. No better place for a teenager to get a job in the summer. Work ethic is learned at a young age. I many young men that got their captains license by the age of 18. Many that got guide license at same age. I am a fishing guide and I guide water foul hunting trips. I also flip houses on the side. I do most of the work myself on these houses but some things require at least two people to do. I have a several high school kids that help me out on projects. I do not have to tell them to keep moving. People actually talk to each other here. Their noses are not buried in their phone. This area is kinda party central so alcohol problems do exist but they are functional alcoholics. I personally do not partake in the party life. As long as you show up for work and pay your bills I don't care if you drink to much. That is your business. My best friend here is a young man, only 27. Works over time in a factory and also runs fishing charters and duck trips. Awesome work ethic. I need help he is a phone call away. He has a whole group of friends that are same age and similar approach to life. I could keep up with them just a few years ago. Now I have lost a step. I feel bad that I can no longer keep up completely. I see them picking up some of my slack on hunting trips. They don't complain about it and always want me to come along. Carrying a dead deer a mile back to the truck is not easy for me these days. Pulling an ice shanty a mile and a half out onto the ice is not easy anymore. They always make sure it gets done. They will wait on me to catch my breath doing it with out complaints. They are all getting married now and having kids. They all love getting their kids together with my grandchildren. Ya I know some good people.

I still stay in touch with most of my co-workers from my first real paycheck getting summer job but that is probably because a lot of them were already in my family's orbit when I was dragged out of bed at 7:15 am on the first day of summer being told I was already late to a job I didn't even know I had LOL. Someone got fired at 6:30 am and I was volunteered to be their replacement based on me having said I probably should look for a job.

Anyway, the reason I inherited most of the land that has been in my family generations is because they knew I wouldn't sell it off. I was raised in that mindset that as long as you have land, you can find a way to survive the rest. I would had to be a youngin in today's economy. That is why I would rather things go south while I am still alive and able. I can get us through it if need be. One of my earliest memories is weeding the garden and I have been doing it pretty much ever since. I have bought and sold a lot of real estate but I would never sell a square foot of that old family farm at any price. I hopefully have instilled that mindset at least somewhat in my #2 kid as he is the one I plan to pass it onto.