From the USA Today via IndyStar:

WASHINGTON — The unemployment rate jumped almost half a point to 9.7 percent in August, the highest since 1983, reflecting a poor job market that will make it hard for the economy to begin a sustained recovery.

I somewhat remember the recession of the early Reagan years, and the tail end of the Carter Administration. Though where I lived at the time (da Region) we felt it hardest during the tail of of the Carter Administration when Big Steel was closing or laying off in droves. We were not a Steel family but majority of my neighbors in the neighborhood were Steel families. Republic, US Steel, Inland Steel, J&L, etc. and a smaller group worked at what used to be known as Standard Oil (now known as BP).

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Looking at CareerBuilder and Monster.com you would think “What job shortage?” – well that’s true to a point. As someone in the IT field, there was a time when a warm body who know the difference in a C:> prompt and the CD-ROM drive could get a good paying job even if it were answering the phones. As a former hardware techie, there was a time my services were sought by several retailers. Not anymore, as much of the phone work is offshored and computer retail has gone from a specialty business at specialty stores like the old Elek-Tek, MicroAge, and CompUSA to either big box retailers like Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Target or “mail order” companies like Dell. Of these only Best Buy employs service technicians at their stores. Nowadays, small to medium sized companies don’t want an entire IT staff. They want an “IT Person” who can do it all. Though there are IT opportunities out there, for the right person with experience, certifications, and skills.

Now for the high school dropout there is not as much if any opportunity out there. Something for a high school sophomore or junior to think about before deciding to no longer show up for class. The days of a high school grad or even a dropout for that matter working in a factory for 30 years like many baby boomers and retiring with a pension are long over.

What I see companies doing now are requiring employees to become more flexible. During this downturn many companies like my dayjob have downsized a few employees and reduced headcount through voluntary attrition, not replacing employees who leave for other opportunities. One person told me their employer at one time had people in specialty jobs. During this slack time companies have taken advantage and cross trained employees to do multiple jobs. So when business does pick up slightly a company does not need to necessarily call back furloughed employees but use the employees they have cross-trained to do multiple tasks. Of course the Big Labor Syndicates don’t appreciate this kind of activity as they want more warm bodies on payrolls so they can collect dues and use it to promote socialist agendas. I just love how the Big Labor Syndicates claim laws requiring union membership such as EFCA will “fix” the economy. Then again perhaps their definition of “fix” does not necessarily mean “repair” but rather the alternate definition which is “to artificially set”.

I also see companies now in order to get work willing to shave every penny off the price of goods sold in order to keep the doors open and keep people working. At my dayjob the management hates to let anyone go because in many cases when business picks up, furloughed employees often have found other work and don’t come back. So employees must learn and accept flexibility. Personally I now do the job that two people once did, and yes I do manage to get both roles accomplished within 40 hours.

“That’s not my job” and “This is the way we’ve always done it” no longer cuts it in today’s employment market. What will not work in spite of the continued droning of leftist talk show hosts on Government Radio, is more government spending creating artificial jobs which only last as long as long as the government credit card stays under its limit.