And more immigration is exacerbating that problem further. I think we should link immigration to unemployment numbers.
Big Cities No Longer Deliver for Low-Skill Workers
31–40 of 430 posts
Re: Big Cities No Longer Deliver for Low-Skill Workers
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
You make very good points above. I really enjoyed college, especially my liberal arts classes. That being said, with AWS Certs going for between $75-$300 how long do colleges think they can survive? If you were a 22 yr old who studied from zero-level computing knowledge for 12 months and got the AWS Solutions Architect Pro cert (somewhat possible assuming 2 hours / day) I can already guarantee you’d receive a written…
Who on earth employs a "solutions architect" whose only qualification is some random certificate that tests AWS trivia?
Backwater IT orgs deep in the heart of Texas that have heard that they have to move everything into the cloud?
Re: Big Cities No Longer Deliver for Low-Skill Workers
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not for the unskilled workers out of a job.
In the short term yes, but in the long term it will benefit them too. If there is less work to be done in the world, then everyone will work less on average. I firmly believe that one of two things will eventually happen: • We will find new industries which replace the old jobs. Companies in these industries will by necessity find ways to fill positions, either by paying enough that (even) more people can afford coll…
Who's gonna make UBI happen? Where's the motivation for offering true UBI rather than precarious subsidies to "jobseekers"?
Re: Big Cities No Longer Deliver for Low-Skill Workers
#34> So what’s to be done in order to help mid-skilled and non-college workers live decent, middle-class lives? ... build lots more housing in cities, driving down rents and making cities more livable for everyone. This is a nice idea in theory, but isn't this a temporary fix? For the first five years, housing prices will lower. But as more companies (demanding higher-educated individuals) realize more people are availa…
We wouldn't be back where we started. We would have fewer people struggling to get by because they were hired by these companies.
Re: Big Cities No Longer Deliver for Low-Skill Workers
#35" middle-class life to those without a college degree " Anytime you start delving into what has changed for a subset of people, over decades, the most important piece of the puzzle is decided ding who qualifies for the subset. I mean concepts like "middle class" or "without a college degree." A lot more people get degrees, in 2018. Does the graduates/nongraduates segment still represent a comparable group of people?…
College doesn't necessarily make people more productive. Rather it acts as a filter to knock unproductive people out of the hiring pool. And in economics terminology, completing a degree acts as a signal for candidates to demonstrate intelligence and persistence to employers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signalling_(economics)
There are varying extents to which signalling is a good explanation and employers have more fine grained information then just degree or not. As usual the literature is less univocal.
Re: Big Cities No Longer Deliver for Low-Skill Workers
#36> So what’s to be done in order to help mid-skilled and non-college workers live decent, middle-class lives? ... build lots more housing in cities, driving down rents and making cities more livable for everyone. This is a nice idea in theory, but isn't this a temporary fix? For the first five years, housing prices will lower. But as more companies (demanding higher-educated individuals) realize more people are availa…
Except that more people have better housing than before. Isn't that a significant difference?
Re: Big Cities No Longer Deliver for Low-Skill Workers
#37> So what’s to be done in order to help mid-skilled and non-college workers live decent, middle-class lives? ... build lots more housing in cities, driving down rents and making cities more livable for everyone. This is a nice idea in theory, but isn't this a temporary fix? For the first five years, housing prices will lower. But as more companies (demanding higher-educated individuals) realize more people are availa…
It's not like there is a infinite pool of people. Let's just build enough housing to move everyone where they are most productive. In large cities.
Re: Big Cities No Longer Deliver for Low-Skill Workers
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
You make very good points above. I really enjoyed college, especially my liberal arts classes. That being said, with AWS Certs going for between $75-$300 how long do colleges think they can survive? If you were a 22 yr old who studied from zero-level computing knowledge for 12 months and got the AWS Solutions Architect Pro cert (somewhat possible assuming 2 hours / day) I can already guarantee you’d receive a written…
Who on earth employs a "solutions architect" whose only qualification is some random certificate that tests AWS trivia?
lots of people.
In the Salesforce consulting world the Certified Technical Architect (CTA) cert means you walk in the door at any of the big consulting firms at managing director or equivalent rank and that comes out to around $200k/year. The cert isn't that easy to get, it requires a dozen or so prerequisite certs and then an exam plus a board review but you could probably do it in a year and a half.
Also, i think over half of all CTAs are employed at Salesforce itself so you could always go work for them if consulting isn't your cup of tea (it's not for everyone that's for sure).
Re: Big Cities No Longer Deliver for Low-Skill Workers
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not for the unskilled workers out of a job.
In the short term yes, but in the long term it will benefit them too. If there is less work to be done in the world, then everyone will work less on average. I firmly believe that one of two things will eventually happen: • We will find new industries which replace the old jobs. Companies in these industries will by necessity find ways to fill positions, either by paying enough that (even) more people can afford coll…
> We will find new industries which replace the old jobs
Reading the book Janesville, I'm very pessimistic on the effects of programs aimed at retraining people for new careers once jobs in a town are lost. I'm convinced for the next generation that it's a net benefit, yes, but that many people who lose their job never really recover and the people who try to switch industries end up on average the worst off.
We should be honest about the role we play. Even if it's a net positive, it's not a net positive for every person. For many people it can be devastating. (This actually bolsters your second point and helps make the case for a strong safety net.)
Re: Big Cities No Longer Deliver for Low-Skill Workers
#40My tinfoil hat theory is that this is being caused by the increasing concentration of wealth. Which is being enabled by increasing levels of automation and efficiency.
US worker productivity growth has been extremely limited over the last 15 years. Simply put the economy isn’t that efficient relative to population growth. What has happened is massive growth in drug prices, housing, and other non-productive areas of the economy. Rent seeking is rampant.
Agreed, and the increased prices are for existing drugs. We are not seeing an increase in cost due to innovation. Price increases are caused by companies charging more year after year for the same pill.