9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m one of them
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Re: 9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m one of them
#2[deleted]
Re: 9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m one of them
#3I think this focus in corporate america and startups on "winner take all" and only hire elite is hurting the economy. Because we've allowed monopolies for so long and they've multiplied, it's great for companies and investors, horrible for the economy at large.
Re: 9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m one of them
#4I think this focus in corporate america and startups on "winner take all" and only hire elite is hurting the economy. Because we've allowed monopolies for so long and they've multiplied, it's great for companies and investors, horrible for the economy at large.
One reason for this is that the market heavily favors this and the outcomes are highly dependent on this sort of behavior. Technology makes winner take all scenarios possible, not just monopoly though that's a part of it. Capital runs after the winner takes all facilitated by technology.
Re: 9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m one of them
#5Honestly. If the author can't make it in SV due to having a rough ride they should look outside the area.
There are plenty of companies needing IT workers across the USA and moving to one of them sounds like a good way for him to get back on his feet.
Re: 9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m one of them
#6I've met a lot of people who "couldn't" find a job.
What they usually mean is "they can't find a job in the area they want, in the industry they want, doing the kind of work they want, at the salary they want, working for someone else."
This is a highly overconstrained search. If / when people loosen one or more of these constraints, they're opportunities open right up.
Like everyone, I prefer to get exactly what I want.
...but it doesn't always play out that way.
When I've needed work and my dream job isn't there, I've worked in garbage industries, on crappy projects, at places that are long commutes, etc., and I've been swamped with work for 25 years.
Re: 9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m one of them
#7Honestly. If the author can't make it in SV due to having a rough ride they should look outside the area. There are plenty of companies needing IT workers across the USA and moving to one of them sounds like a good way for him to get back on his feet.
He's not an engineer though, at least from what I read in the article. He wrote:
> I was still able to get customer support position quickly, learning skills on the job
> My background in IT and customer support, both considered the bottom rung at most tech companies, meant that I was expendable
So it seems he didn't really have higher qualifications, working in customer support, which is nowadays often outsourced and probably underpaid.
I feel sympathy for the author, but at the same time one thing that I miss from the article is whether he tried to raise his qualifications in any way. Did he try other market segments? Picked up any courses? Broadened his education in any way in the time he was unemployed? The market is saturated with unqualified workers so it's really not so shocking that people are having hard time finding work.
Re: 9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m one of them
#8I think this focus in corporate america and startups on "winner take all" and only hire elite is hurting the economy. Because we've allowed monopolies for so long and they've multiplied, it's great for companies and investors, horrible for the economy at large.
One reason for this is that the market heavily favors this and the outcomes are highly dependent on this sort of behavior. Technology makes winner take all scenarios possible, not just monopoly though that's a part of it. Capital runs after the winner takes all facilitated by technology.
look at smtp/pop or http or html all perfectly none winner take all tech which works pretty darn well yet everything is moving to winner take all because investors make more money.
Re: 9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m one of them
#9> That’s when the distraction starts. I promise myself, just a quick glance at Twitter to see what’s going on in the world, and then I look up and it’s 1:15 in the afternoon. Twitter is my heroin — it’s endless content, and if I’m bored by one tweet, I just go on to the next one.
I think the danger of unlimited news is understated. The addiction is as bad as other forms of drugs. Ok, maybe not as bad as heroin, but I don't think we are far form that.
Re: 9M American men in prime working age can’t find jobs. I’m one of them
#10Honestly. If the author can't make it in SV due to having a rough ride they should look outside the area. There are plenty of companies needing IT workers across the USA and moving to one of them sounds like a good way for him to get back on his feet.
He's not an engineer though, at least from what I read in the article. He wrote: > I was still able to get customer support position quickly, learning skills on the job > My background in IT and customer support, both considered the bottom rung at most tech companies, meant that I was expendable So it seems he didn't really have higher qualifications, working in customer support, which is nowadays often outsourced an…
The problem with customer support is that people can stay doing it until they get automated out of existence, during which time the writing on the wall is clear. Do they apply for other vacancies in the company or do things such as improve the documentation that the customers need? In my experience there are plenty that do not, they roll on to thr next temp/customer service job to get stuck in that groove.