General Discussion

SoCalDem

(103,856 posts)

7. There are never again going to be "enough" jobs

Sun Jul 8, 2012, 07:41 AM

Jul 2012

Think about it.. a career lasts 30-40 years. That's a LOT of work for a job, and the person doing it.

In a generation, MANY things have changed in every job. Automation/robots/computers have made many jobs that once needed several humans in varying levels of effort, suddenly a no-human job.

The people once attached to (and trained for) those jobs are STILL here...needing an income and yet their jobs are now gone forever.

The schools are still churning out people to do jobs that are either gone or are going away

In the 80's , older folks in the workforce then could retire because they had pensions, so there was a way for younger people to work their way up into better jobs, but once the safety nets started getting shredded, people have to hand onto every last drop of employment, for as long as they can.

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Push For Science Majors, But Lots Of Unemployed Ph.D's Already [View all] HiPointDem Jul 2012 OP

K & R. n/t pnwmom Jul 2012 #1

Knowledge isn't worth what it used to be worth. Something to do with those magic dimbear Jul 2012 #2

Yep! When people hear I have a science degree, glowing Jul 2012 #3

Academics in general... a la izquierda Jul 2012 #4

The world in general isa who you know place MattBaggins Jul 2012 #37

My recollection of one survey was that PhD Biology grads made less than Master Biology FarCenter Jul 2012 #20

What a waste & it shouldn't be that way. Nt xchrom Jul 2012 #5

Education is not the answer to globalization quaker bill Jul 2012 #6

+1 area51 Jul 2012 #13

I've been saying this for years... TreasonousBastard Jul 2012 #16

Most new industries anymore quaker bill Jul 2012 #34

the availability of work has little to do with population growth. HiPointDem Jul 2012 #40

This is a really profound post. I would love to see you elaborate on its themes and coalition_unwilling Jul 2012 #19

Well put Grandcanyon99 Jul 2012 #30

I once worked as shop foreman on a production line quaker bill Jul 2012 #32

welcome to DU. We are all Luddites now. bbgrunt Jul 2012 #33

great post. you nailed it.....explains exactly why we are seeing bbgrunt Jul 2012 #31

Great post indeed, but unfortunately, there is no reason to believe that the competition will end Romulox Jul 2012 #38

You are correct, it will not end quaker bill Jul 2012 #44

There are never again going to be "enough" jobs SoCalDem Jul 2012 #7

If we don't switch to a 32 hour, 8 hours per day, 4 day workweek you are right NNN0LHI Jul 2012 #9

And of course there is the money too. SoCalDem Jul 2012 #10

They aren't paying enough for a 5-day workweek right now NNN0LHI Jul 2012 #11

Or employee-owned cooperatives. n/t antigone382 Jul 2012 #15

I think that's the way to go 4th law of robotics Jul 2012 #39

Cant be done all at once because the employers couldn't hire and train new employees fast enough NNN0LHI Jul 2012 #42

As I said above, we are outreproducing our ability to produce work. TreasonousBastard Jul 2012 #17

But you need scientist to make your robot, computer and automation Johonny Jul 2012 #23

Not all that many, and many of the ones already in the work force are not eager to leave SoCalDem Jul 2012 #24

It use to be you wanted older scientist Johonny Jul 2012 #28

russia and china provide scientists datasuspect Jul 2012 #8

Does the fact that facts don't matter anymore have something to do with this? SoutherDem Jul 2012 #12

Who needs educated people to research stuff when... JHB Jul 2012 #14

Law schools have been doing this for years... TreasonousBastard Jul 2012 #18

Very interesting conversation in this thread, worth reading too! Poll_Blind Jul 2012 #21

I was forunate to get my PhD in 1999 when academic jobs were still reasonably available aikoaiko Jul 2012 #22

the problem sweetapogee Jul 2012 #25

Under our system we can only pay Turbineguy Jul 2012 #26

Oh they just chose the wrong major er...career...wait its that they chose the wrong college riderinthestorm Jul 2012 #27

The dirty little secret of the academy... Viking12 Jul 2012 #29

Morning kick! nt riderinthestorm Jul 2012 #35

afternoon kick Liberal_in_LA Jul 2012 #41

Yup, great minds and all that... riderinthestorm Jul 2012 #45

So..."competing in the world economy!" is only for *blue* collar workers??? I thought globalism was Romulox Jul 2012 #36

Been saying this for years NNN0LHI Jul 2012 #43