Filed under: Industry, Rants and raves, Competitive strategy, Ford Motor (F), General Motors (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM), Employees, Getting started, Entrepreneurs, Workspace, Recession, Nissan Motors (NSANY)
There is never a shortage of jobs. Some people have two or three jobs. The classified adds have thousands of jobs all the time — always. If someone is unemployed there is a reason and it is definitely not a lack of jobs.
Sometimes it is a regional lack of jobs, General Motors (NYSE: GM) and Ford Motor (NYSE: F) in the rust belt states of Michigan and Ohio have downsized, but foreign manufacturers Toyota (NYSE: TM) and Nissan Motors (NASDAQ:NSANY) in the Southeast have up sized. This does not help the states where jobs are leaving, and indeed causes other massive problems like weakening the tax base and pushing housing and other elements of the local economy down. However, from a national unemployment standpoint that does not count.
In our discussions of unemployment and the economic picture we attempt to understand the government figures and attribute some meaning. We know the government is prone to put things in their best light (lie) sometimes and there is discussion about what a true measure would be, but does that really matter? It is more important that whatever criteria is used remain constant so that we can use the data for comparisons, not that it be altered often as people become concerned about the exactness of the figures.
It might be time we need to account for a new set of metrics. What are the costs of retraining? How could these costs be distributed without expanding government — not something I would support. We know that some people are not employable or are only marginally employable because they simply do not have the capability to do many jobs. I have numerous jobs, although generally speaking, I have created them myself over time. Clearly education and training are a factor, along with over all aptitude.
Continue reading What unemployment? Some folks have 3 jobs
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