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Work after work: Notes from an unemployed new grad watching the job market break

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Re: Work after work: Notes from an unemployed new grad watching the job market break

#11

Post by rsaz »

GianFabien wrote: post #2

When you look beyond office jobs, you see many real opportunities. For example, there is a housing crisis. Not enough trades persons, building supplies, capital to solve that problem. The unemployment statistics aren't detailed enough to show IBM, MS, Facebook, Amazon, etc laying off tens of thousands of employees a year, each. Last I read, over 500,000 staff have been laid off in the past couple of years.

I was laid off some time ago and made an earnest effort to break into the trades. I have some experience in framing and general handiwork, but it is extremely difficult to find an apprenticeship/get on a track to certification. I’ve heard unions are extremely selective to ensure their current union members can find consistent work.

As with most things, getting into it seems to be primarily about knowing someone to get you in.

I’d love to hear more ideas/advice on finding alternative employment if anyone has any. I’m worried I won’t be able to find a normal job again.

Re: Work after work: Notes from an unemployed new grad watching the job market break

#12

Post by cellis »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #7
spencerflem wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The housing crisis isn’t solved by more tradespeople. I know an electrician who’s having trouble finding work because there’s no funding for new construction

Which is both odd and market dependent. I have an electrician I partner with for some work in the Midwest, and his book of work is a year out (commercial and industrial, not new resi).

Electricians in data-center states are eating; elsewhere they are scraping by due to macro-economics.

Re: Work after work: Notes from an unemployed new grad watching the job market break

#13

Post by Jcampuzano2 »

margorczynski wrote: post #8

The most baffling thing is that even now the H1Bs, etc. are still pouring in. How can you say there is a shortage of IT talent and you need to import them where most grads can't find any work?

Because they can't push their finger down a new grads throat if they push back.

Someone who's families very presence in this country depends on their employer will rarely find a reason to complain about being overworked to the bone or told to do questionable things.

H1B and other programs have a noble purpose that is often (but not always) abused to create loyal servants.

Re: Work after work: Notes from an unemployed new grad watching the job market break

#14

Post by ralph84 »

margorczynski wrote: post #8

The most baffling thing is that even now the H1Bs, etc. are still pouring in. How can you say there is a shortage of IT talent and you need to import them where most grads can't find any work?

Because H1B was never about shortages, it is about wage suppression and having an exploitable underclass.

Re: Work after work: Notes from an unemployed new grad watching the job market break

#15

Post by clanky »

cube00 wrote: post #9
margorczynski wrote: post #8

The most baffling thing is that even now the H1Bs, etc. are still pouring in. How can you say there is a shortage of IT talent and you need to import them where most grads can't find any work?

My company had an onshore hiring freeze, while still hiring offshore. C-suite had the nerve in an all hands to say they were expanding offshore because there was a "local talent shortage", all while an onshore hiring freeze was still in effect. This wasn't even a secret; in our stand ups our immediate manager said that they were blocked from hiring onshore and only had offshore quota available if they wanted any more…

> C-suite seem to think they can lie straight to our faces and know they'll get away it.

Hate to say that they're probably right? At least for the moment, tech workers have almost none of the organization or radicalization that would be required to push back against this.

Re: Work after work: Notes from an unemployed new grad watching the job market break

#16

Post by struct »

First, I'm sorry you're having problems finding a job -- that sucks.

Second: consider that sometimes, the cost-benefit of automation depends on perspective. An example that I like to give is Ocado's automated grocery warehouses in the UK: impressive technology, very efficient, but during the COVID-19 pandemic - when everybody wanted online groceries - Ocado had to stop accepting new customers. They didn't have the capacity, and adding a new warehouse took years. The regular supermarkets hired people and bought vans, they were able to scale up.

Automation is great, but it can't help businesses adapt to novel situations. Corporate life is about cycles: the pendulum swings one way, then the other - we've just swung hard over to the automation side for now. The best strategy: know the limits of AI tools, prove your agility and ability to do the things the tools cannot do.

Re: Work after work: Notes from an unemployed new grad watching the job market break

#17

Post by andy99 »

clanky wrote: post #15
cube00 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My company had an onshore hiring freeze, while still hiring offshore. C-suite had the nerve in an all hands to say they were expanding offshore because there was a "local talent shortage", all while an onshore hiring freeze was still in effect. This wasn't even a secret; in our stand ups our immediate manager said that they were blocked from hiring onshore and only had offshore quota available if they wanted any more…

> C-suite seem to think they can lie straight to our faces and know they'll get away it. Hate to say that they're probably right? At least for the moment, tech workers have almost none of the organization or radicalization that would be required to push back against this.

If they can get away with it, it’s because they have a product where quality doesn’t matter. If you want to see everything outsourced, “ organization or radicalization that would be required to push back against this” seems like the way to go.

Re: Work after work: Notes from an unemployed new grad watching the job market break

#18

Post by silisili »

Not understanding the 'I did everything right and look what happened' intro, though certainly not a unique feeling. Tech hiring slowed at the tail end of 21 and the mass layoffs started in 22, 4 and 3 years ago respectively. Studying to go into a market in an obvious downswing has predictable results. Not that you should give up, but it's going to be switch majors or ride out the downturn. And that's not unique to now or even computer science(remember the MBA glut from the early 2000s?).

That said, I don't mean to be dismissive or condescending of the article as a whole, because I think this is a well written article that raises a lot of good points that are worth reading and thinking about. I find myself with similar thoughts and it's a bit scary/depressing at times, even as someone nearly twice their age(in part because of my own offspring).

Re: Work after work: Notes from an unemployed new grad watching the job market break

#19

Post by CrazyStat »

nine_zeros wrote: post #3

> The twentieth century spent a lot of intellectual and moral effort glorifying labour because economies needed people to show up every day. The twenty-first century is starting to build machines and systems that do not need quite as many of us. And herein lies the real, consitent, and real anxiety among the youth - leading to lower birth rates. I myself feel the same. And then I look at the elected corrupt pedophile…

Hmm, I'm not sure about the link to lower birth rates. Birth rates have been falling in e.g. Western and Northern Europe for a long time, despite strong social safety nets.

Re: Work after work: Notes from an unemployed new grad watching the job market break

#20

Post by kenjackson »

ipnon wrote: post #5

It is easier to start your own business than to get a job for a certain class of people in our industry. There is just not enough supply of jobs for people who “did everything right.” It’s a painful economic signal that US economy has run out of cushy Big Tech jobs and now needs an influx of innovative firms. This is difficult to explain to your relatives over Thanksgiving turkey but it is nonetheless the truth in my…

Starting a business is easy. Making enough money to live a similar lifestyle from said business is usually not so easy.
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