Post removed

[phleshdef]

1. If your lively hood is going extinct, then yea you better figure out a new plan.

[OnDoutside]

2. Data mine ?

[marble falls]

6. Mime.

[hlthe2b]

3. Upset because a very honest appraisal was given to miners of their viability sans new training?

These poor people have been played for "dupes" by Trump. Now you are upset that the current leading Dem candidate did not follow suit?

Or despite sporadic layoffs in the computer industry, perhaps you think coal mining has a better future than IT?

[LisaM]

4. I know you're being ironic, BUT.....

there are some jobs going begging (electricians, plumbers for example) that coders would probably turn their nose up at.

I live in Washington State, and for a couple of years now, the Washington State Ferries have been offering a full-time, entry level job that provides a pretty decent starting salary ($21, IIRC), and offers on-the-job training AND promotion potential up to being a ferry boat captain. This is a state job with good benefits. I don't know anyone out of college who'd even consider this.

I'm not sure what the answer to all this is, but if I'm understanding you correctly, you're pointing out that coders are probably unlikely to consent to learning a new job skill, so we should be more sympathetic to miners (and if that's what you are saying, I agree with you).

[exboyfil]

5. Something someone who is near 60 can do if they are not in great shape

Sounds attractive to me.

[LisaM]

8. No, of course it's not. That was just an example.

The larger point - I think, and you are welcome to disagree - is that asking someone to be re-trained in an entirely different field is a huge ask, and that coders are probably as resistant to it as miners (or oil-rig workers, or construction workers) are. We've created these huge gaps in society, and I just think we need to be more understanding.

Not all out-of-work coders are 60.

[matt819]

11. You're right

The more appropriate response would have been to advise those laid off to explore any and all new opportunities.

Maybe there’s a shortage of chefs. As you point out, electricians or plumbers or welders or diesel mechanics may be in demand.

Maybe they have hobbies they can monetize.

No question. It sucks to be laid off from the major industries or companies in a particular area and not being able to or want to relocate.

Telling laid off miners to learn how to code is just downright silly and, when you think about it, offensive. The coders out there today have grown up with computers and with coding. They are on top of all the established and new computer languages. And some of them are being laid off. So they have the same concerns as laid off mine workers or automobile workers or aircraft workers.

It’s a complex issue involving people, corporations, and state and federal government. It does not deserve to be reduced to soundbites.

The problem, of course, is that local and state government don’t have the resources or the concerns that they should have to deal with this problem. Corporations could do more to support laid off workers, but fundamentally they don’t care at all. There shareholders care only about the bottom line.

My feeling? We are seriously fucked. But, hey, maybe that’s just me.

[TexasTowelie]

7. If that is where the jobs are, then the answer is yes.

However, I have a BIL who managed a uranium mine and when I was laid off I knew that was not one of the high-demand occupations.

For those who have coding experience and a large amount of time before they can retire, I would recommend software engineering instead. My best friend from college has three sons with that degree and all three of them started their careers earning more than either my friend or I made at the peak of our careers. In a lot of aspects, I was doing the job of a software engineer so it would have been a natural career progression.

[mathematic]

9. No, they should present proof of pulse to get any of the other thousands of unfilled coding jobs

That's actually why people tell other people to learn those skills. It's not because out-of-touch liberals don't like people that do physically demanding work.

[Loki Liesmith]

10. They should learn data science.

[GemDigger]

12. Would you have preferred he lie to the people and say mining is here forever?