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Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

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Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Especially now with the record enrollment in CS/CE programs over the past 5-10 years. The industry has been awash with fresh talent for the past few years and I don't see it slowing down.

Maybe it's different in the US but in Europe companies still struggle to find good job candidates. They get tons of applications of course but they aren't good/experienced enough. Basically many companies' bottleneck is hiring.

Dude. I beg of you, to stop repeating the propaganda that big tech so desperately wants you, and everyone else to believe.

There is NOT a shortage in developers. There NEVER WAS.

Big Tech simply couldn't stomach the rise in salaries that we saw between 2005 and 2017/2018. This all comes down to cost. There's plenty of talent not just in the US, but abroad. But big tech continues to see a need to drive prices down, and profits up. The best way to do that? Pay employees less.

Trust me when I say that programming is a blue collar job in 10 years. Big tech has done a phenomenal job convincing even engineers, that the pool of talent is "so small" that their job couldn't possibly be at risk if everyone and their mother gets a CS degree.

Good luck to you, if that's your mindset.

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#112
post #35

I think this reflects a general erosion of trust between employers and employees, which I blame Corporate America for. It used to be a tacit agreement in the workforce that if you worked hard, the boss and the company would take care of you. This illusion has been shattered first by the employers (outsourcing, at-will employment, gig economy), and now the employees (ghosting, switching firms without notice). The lack…

Not on the side of Corporate America but curious how you would respond. As markets get more mature, it becomes difficult for companies to maintain employees if their salary level to contribution rate drops. Is the assumption that employees will absolutely be valuable to a company's strategic goals? How can a company practically care for an employee for life?

The answer is that companies can’t. Private businesses shouldn’t have to create expensive welfare programs for their employees, but pay their taxes and let Government take care of healthcare and other essentials through national healthcare programs.

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#114

My fear never went away. As someone who graduated at the very beginning of the Great Recession, I have a constant feeling that this cannot be forever.

That is a good feeling to have because it cannot and will not. It has been the same for every generation whether they felt it or not

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#115
post #35

I think this reflects a general erosion of trust between employers and employees, which I blame Corporate America for. It used to be a tacit agreement in the workforce that if you worked hard, the boss and the company would take care of you. This illusion has been shattered first by the employers (outsourcing, at-will employment, gig economy), and now the employees (ghosting, switching firms without notice). The lack…

> This illusion has been shattered first by the employers (outsourcing, at-will employment, gig economy), and now the employees (ghosting, switching firms without notice). This wasn't an illusion, companies actually did take care of employees and had pensions and full-time jobs and retraining and stuff. Also, ghosting and employees bouncing is a symptom of the employers not providing any loyalty to their employees. B…

> companies actually did take care of employees

Was this primarily due to employees having more leverage and demanding it (because union rights were a lot stronger)?

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#116
post #35

I think this reflects a general erosion of trust between employers and employees, which I blame Corporate America for. It used to be a tacit agreement in the workforce that if you worked hard, the boss and the company would take care of you. This illusion has been shattered first by the employers (outsourcing, at-will employment, gig economy), and now the employees (ghosting, switching firms without notice). The lack…

To compete with the rest of the world, the US companies cannot create commodity products or services. Our labor costs are too high for commodities.

Thus, they must chase the Next Big Thing. The result is that they have to keep "flushing" their workforce to chase a different butterly every few years as the prior NextBigThing turns into a commodity and drifts overseas or is automated.

To do this, companies want just-in-time specialists that they don't have to train. Loyalty and hard-work alone won't give them that.

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#118
post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not on the side of Corporate America but curious how you would respond. As markets get more mature, it becomes difficult for companies to maintain employees if their salary level to contribution rate drops. Is the assumption that employees will absolutely be valuable to a company's strategic goals? How can a company practically care for an employee for life?

The answer is that companies can’t. Private businesses shouldn’t have to create expensive welfare programs for their employees, but pay their taxes and let Government take care of healthcare and other essentials through national healthcare programs.

"Private businesses shouldn’t have to create expensive welfare programs for their employees, but pay their taxes and let [individuals] take care of [their own] healthcare and other essentials".

FTFY

Re: Americans' fear of losing their jobs grows

#120

My fear never went away. As someone who graduated at the very beginning of the Great Recession, I have a constant feeling that this cannot be forever.

Do you have savings? If you had enough saved to spend a year looking for another job, would you still live in fear?
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