To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors
1–10 of 694 posts
Re: To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors
#2The article fails to mention Amazon, which does still have plenty of non-outsourced blue collar jobs. I doubt there is a lot of the kind of upward mobility at amazon for them that there was for the Kodak janitor in the 80s, though.
Re: To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors
#3>Focus on core competence and outsource the rest. The approach has made companies more nimble and more productive, and delivered huge profits for shareholders. It has also fueled inequality and helps explain why many working-class Americans are struggling even in an ostensibly healthy economy.
That is the outsourced companies causing inequality. They are the ones paying people terribly, not the company contracting with the outsourcing companies.
This article wants to blame major companies for inequality while conveniently ignoring the existence of the outsourcing companies which are the ones setting the pay for these employees. Stop doing that, raise the minimum wage and benefits that outsourcing companies must pay their employees/contractors, and fix the bloody problem at its source.
Re: To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors
#4>Focus on core competence and outsource the rest. The approach has made companies more nimble and more productive, and delivered huge profits for shareholders. It has also fueled inequality and helps explain why many working-class Americans are struggling even in an ostensibly healthy economy. That is the outsourced companies causing inequality. They are the ones paying people terribly, not the company contracting wi…
I think in both cases, it's just the market. There is a demand for engineers which is more than for janitors, and with more limited supply. Everything else is just moving money from one pocket into another, it doesn't have economic significance.
Re: To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors
#5>Focus on core competence and outsource the rest. The approach has made companies more nimble and more productive, and delivered huge profits for shareholders. It has also fueled inequality and helps explain why many working-class Americans are struggling even in an ostensibly healthy economy. That is the outsourced companies causing inequality. They are the ones paying people terribly, not the company contracting wi…
I think in both cases, it's just the market. There is a demand for engineers which is more than for janitors, and with more limited supply. Everything else is just moving money from one pocket into another, it doesn't have economic significance.
"It's just the market" is such a lazy reply. Did entrepreneurs not like making money back then? Or did they realize that a healthy society was just as important as healthy companies?
Re: To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors
#6>Focus on core competence and outsource the rest. The approach has made companies more nimble and more productive, and delivered huge profits for shareholders. It has also fueled inequality and helps explain why many working-class Americans are struggling even in an ostensibly healthy economy. That is the outsourced companies causing inequality. They are the ones paying people terribly, not the company contracting wi…
Eh.. that's like saying "Can't blame me for cruelty to animals, the people I buy the meat from treat the animals cruelly; not me."
Re: To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors
#7>Focus on core competence and outsource the rest. The approach has made companies more nimble and more productive, and delivered huge profits for shareholders. It has also fueled inequality and helps explain why many working-class Americans are struggling even in an ostensibly healthy economy. That is the outsourced companies causing inequality. They are the ones paying people terribly, not the company contracting wi…
[deleted]
Re: To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors
#8As a resident of Rochester for the last 3 years post-grad, the wasted human talent here is staggering. There are engineers from Kodak that were bought out of their pensions who (anecdotally of course) get passed over for adjunct positions at RIT, because they either don't have the degree or RIT prefers younger adjuncts. Many haven't moved away because of the sense of family among former co-workers, but are whiling away their early retirement.
The two major research universities are propping up the city's advancement opportunities, but doing so with tuition increases and recruitment of full-price paying foreign students, which makes the place more vibrant, but has also alienated many.
The largest employer in town now is the University of Rochester Medical Center, which provides many of the middle income and higher income jobs but is also making a habit of buying up 'distressed' hospitals.
The collapse of Kodak and exodus of money and talent has cratered the city public school system, which has a 47.5% on-time graduation rate. The only shining spot in terms of education is an Arts school, with great links to the still world-class Eastman School of Music.
Rochester itself is also a great example of 'white flight' in the post-Kodak era, though it began long before that.
Re: To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think in both cases, it's just the market. There is a demand for engineers which is more than for janitors, and with more limited supply. Everything else is just moving money from one pocket into another, it doesn't have economic significance.
"It's just the market" is such a lazy reply. Did entrepreneurs not like making money back then? Or did they realize that a healthy society was just as important as healthy companies?
It was definitely closer to the former than the latter. Things that are obviously profitable now were not hip or obvious, nor was the infrastructure to commoditize everything available.
Re: To Understand Rising Inequality, Consider Janitors
#10>Focus on core competence and outsource the rest. The approach has made companies more nimble and more productive, and delivered huge profits for shareholders. It has also fueled inequality and helps explain why many working-class Americans are struggling even in an ostensibly healthy economy. That is the outsourced companies causing inequality. They are the ones paying people terribly, not the company contracting wi…
you see, part of outsourcing is a sleight of hand where the worker is twice removed from the work giver. it kills the worker negotiating power. if you consider a janitor hired to a company that works for a megacorp, he's bargaining against the wall "this is what megacorp can pay, so there's no way we can raise your salary" - and works both way: megacorp cannot rate, engage and more importantly retain the individuals that are sent in to work there irregardless to their skill/merits, so everyone is fungible and a career is impossible.