Especially when markets are bought and paid for by a top few who some clueless think worked their way up.
Not sure that's relevant to the comment I made about markets adjusting themselves. It's not bought markets, it's the system of rules and constraints -- and the goal of a corporation to maximize profits. Certainly rules should be followed and infractions should be punished (although THAT's not happening lately - witness the GM BK as one example).
Those who don't like the established rules could try to constructively bring about change. Lots of whiners out there but nothing really getting done.
"Is the disparity between a rookie spare pro athlete and a superstar the same as between a new entry level worker and an admittedly (nice to see some here admit it) overpaid CEO? "
No it's not 300 times, but for example Alex Rodriguez earns about $30 mil/yr vs. the league minimum of about $500k. I think the average pro baseball player earns about $2.5mil. But Alex probably makes 300 times of those who work at the stadium or in the front office.
Progress takes time when the standards don't already exist. Adopting existing standards and technologies is almost instant, if you have the money (they do), the will, or are held to any level of accountability (which China is not).
Funny, indeed.
UAW might die out, but the days of organized labor might not be dead yet.
The markets are bought, that's the point. The offshoring and zero accountability corporate movements would only exist in a bought and paid for market. The proof is in the pudding.
When the golden rule remains the law of the land, pining to "constructively bring about change" is either a distraction or a deception, take your pick.
Lots of greedy old bastards out there who whine about whiners, the same generation who cried about social injustice and then became the problem instead of the solution.
Progress takes time when the standards don't already exist.
Progress takes time EVEN WHEN standards exist. The "social market" is not efficient. Some European countries have legalized drugs and lower drug usage than us. That's a social standard - why aren't we shifting immediately? Because we are insular and our ideas die hard, and the moralistic wackos would want to continue to control social behavior.
Funny, in the '90's I was wondering why it wasn't obvious to everybody that GM was a disaster. And that the UAW was a disaster. And it took over 10 years and it was obvious, at least to me. But THEIR social adjustment never really took hold until they had absolutely no choice.
And some were born at times when living costs vs salaries and workplace competition simply weren't as they are now. Think about how different the reality of today might be if everyone had such luck. The same people who look down on others for not being able to climb a ladder they themselves kicked away. Thanks for the future.
Some younger people also don't have to deal with shrews and devilspawn, which opens up more funds and time for leisure with savings at the same time
I am more alarmed about the taxpayer funded needless 100K salaries the offshoring generation won't attack than some autoworkers in hellhole city, Michigan.
Oh I think it was pretty obvious that GM, while maybe not a disaster, was being beaten handily in the marketplace by foreign competitors. Most people knew that. American cars were simply not as good as Japanese and German ones. We all knew that--at least all of us who wanted to look reality in the face.
I remember thinking for sure that the entire D3 was going to tank in the mid 1980s. I was really surprised that they didn't. I just didn't see it as sustainable.
Turns out I was just a little ahead of my time.
I don't think the UAW felt particularly good working for a bunch of second-raters. Would you?
Distraction from the Chinese lack of environmental responsibility. Apples to oranges, which is to be expected from some people.
I can look at 90s GM cars simply by design and see the train wreck - I saw an early 00s Monte Carlo today and was thinking just that. A bunch of bumper installers and dashboard assemblers didn't greenlight that dumpy mess.
I wasn't entitled like many lazy workers of today.
BINGO, Entitled, the country owes me a living, the company is using me. Those are all words the Navy Yard murderer said to his friends just weeks before he killed all those innocent workers. The entitlement mentality I am seeing today is really not good. I don't know who is pushing it but they are not making life easier for those people to cope.
And the real American ratio is over 500x according to the link from earlier, while the next greatest nation is half that. Income inequality in the US is closer to third world than first world. Something is broken.
Maybe if we cut off the Praetorian class and their military-industrial cabal, taxes could be reformed for people and execs and businesses alike. Fat chance? There's a group that's been much more dangerous than the most rabid politically connected union thug.
Glorified slave labor can make some industries much more viable.
I saw many gm designs from the 80s as a train wreck as well. Ford and Chrysler too. The k car and mini vans gave Chrysler life. Ford had the 86 Taurus then trucks and SUVs in the 90s. If it wasn't for gmac, gm may have gone bankrupt 10 years sooner. Gmac added a lot to GMs bottom line during the housing boom.
I don't think the UAW felt particularly good working for a bunch of second-raters. Would you?
I don't think they really cared as long as the paychecks were there and they were not getting laid off. Oh, I forgot they didn't get laid off back then. They went into a rubber room and watched TV and read magazines. All the while the company would pay them to go to school. Most didn't so they were unhappy when the downturn came around. Why the D3 were so stupid to go along with the jobs bank is a real mystery. Had to be a senior moment for management.
I don't even think they realized they were building crap cars. There hatred for the Japanese would not allow them to get even close enough to see how much better they were put together. Even today in some of the D3 plants you cannot park a foreign car in the close up parking lot.
Gmac added a lot to GMs bottom line during the housing boom.
That was the only profitable segment of the company if memory serves. Didn't Cerberus buy a big share to give GM more operating capital to keep afloat?
Surely you don't think the average UAW worker a psychopath.
I guess you would have to lay him off to see if he goes postal on you.... I think the rank and file feel they are entitled to a higher wage than they are getting. I don't think they are as happy with their place in life as most of the transplant workers. I would hope there are people watching for warning signs.
And some were born at times when living costs vs salaries and workplace competition simply weren't as they are now. Think about how different the reality of today might be if everyone had such luck.
The opposing view is that the parents of today are a lot more affluent in many cases than their parents were. So the kids of today have much bigger family safety nets than my generation did. They call those in their 50's and 60's the sandwich generation. Supporting both elderly parents AND grown kids. Not quite the utopia some would selfishly try to convey.
"I think you are over-demonizing the UAW worker. He's just a guy trying to make a living as best he can. The job sucks, don't forget that"
That likely describes the average autoworker. The problems has been with the losers who can't be fired. They give the guy/gal who puts in an honest day and shows up on time a bad name.
I have several friends that are union, whether it be the trades or steel mills. They consistently complain about co-workers who are worthless.
My cousin is a union iron worker and he told me during his training and apprenticeship nearly 1/2 his class washed out (he's about 10 years younger than me and finished his apprenticeship about 5 years ago). Mainly due to not showing up and/or not being able to handle the math. And that is for a $30/hr+ job.
In the electrical union, the apprentices are on the bottom of the list, so if there's little work, they can't make a living. I know one guy who "washed out" because he couldn't afford to stay in the program the whole five years.
I can see that being an issue over the past several years. A few of my buddies who have over 15 years seniority were laid off for months at a time a few years back and had a hard time getting enough hours to qualify for paid benefits. A few were having to go hundreds of miles to get work.
College costs certainly aren't remotely as reasonable today as they were in the boomers' time. At least the boomers could get a job SOMEWHERE upon graduation and not be saddled with a debt the amounts to a mortgage. A college degree meant something back in the boomers' day. Today, a Bachelor's degree is no better than a high school diploma and a Master's is barely adequate.
A good friend of mine who was laid off (ok fired to tell the truth) a few years ago from his job recently decided to go to college. He actually qualified for a pell grant that's paying all of his tuition at a community college. So apparently there is money available for some to go to school without going broke.
Whether or not he'll find work when he's done remains to be seen.
That is the one problem I have had with union shops in the past. They do protect a lot of BUMS who should be fired. There is no excuse for a guy who is chronically absent or comes in drunk putting others' safety at peril.
"There is no excuse for a guy who is chronically absent or comes in drunk putting others' safety at peril."
That's one of my biggest issues with unions. That and cumbersome job restrictions.
Most of us wouldn't be employed long if we started calling off every day the sun was shining.
I used to sell structured wiring a while back. If we were installing cable/wire at a union location, it often met taking twice as long to get anything done.
You'll find the same complaints about useless co-workers in any field, union or non.
While that's true, I'll contend that the inability to fire incompetents as compared to non-union positions isn't something that should be ignored. As an example, our KIDS are being taught by teachers where the bad cases are nearly impossible to fire.
Also, having to work with obvious incompetence around you brings down the morale of the entire workforce.
I guess that's a small price to be paid for being born at an unrepeatably lucky time. Not that the greatest generation weren't savers either.
And maybe for being a bad parent. If anything, those affluent boomer and silent generation parents do a disservice - coddling their devilspawn, who are of course making it via "merit" with parental largesse funding free rides, cars, housing, faux jobs, etc well into adulthood. Many of those parents are delusional. Of course, parenthood isn't forced, open the can of worms and have fun keeping them together.
Compare minimum wage + 10% (the typical menial young person job) 35-40 years ago with today compared to education costs. It's alarming. And then the competitiveness of the job market once finished.
Funny thing, a lot of the unskilled "leaders" now demand a masters as a prereq,when they themselves usually lack one, and often lack much skill at all - all based on climbing a ladder that doesn't exist anymore.
Might be similar for UAW newbies 40 years ago vs the new hires today.
But who would wish for a time when an employer could fire anyone, without reason, anytime, based on race, religion, or whether the supervisor took his antacid tablet that morning?
I still remember some old timer telling me about trying to find work in the 1930s on the Golden Gate Bridge. They would stand on the shore every day, waiting (but not hoping of course) for someone to fall off the bridge, because then there would be a job opening.
>Those are all words the Navy Yard murderer said to his friends just weeks before he killed all those innocent workers.
He was on the psychotropic drugs, like most of the other mass shooters were on. The media doesn't want to offend the drug companies by noting that fact.
I don't think the average UAW worker is on Zoloft, Paroxetine, Prozac, or other SSRI drugs that seem to fuel the mass shooters. Hmmm.
Today's kids are facing a corporate ladder that has been cut off close to the bottom or has a lot of consecutive rungs missing. I've met a lot of senior management that would have difficulty reciting the days of the week in their proper order or do nothing but parrot a bunch of meaningless platitudes. The lion's share of them are of the boomer generation. Remember, boomers, it is these kids you disdain who will care for you in your dotage, but don't count on it!
Who says that doesn't happen now? In PA, one can be fired at any time for any reason if you're not in a union. "I just don't like you! You're fired!" I'm sure no employer is so stupid he's going to say, "I fired him because he's black" or "I terminated her because she's a Jew." They'll invent a reason like, "diminished performance" or "willful misconduct" even if it's far from the truth.
I can't envy the fresh graduates or kids today, for sure. No matter where they seek to work, chances are they'll have a more difficult row to hoe than even people of my or your generation.
Another issue will be delayed private sector retirements, which will limit job openings. With pensions and organization, I suppose that's one thing that isn't so much of an issue.
The master's doesn't give a wannabe leader much content either, from my experience.
They'll invent a reason like, "diminished performance" or "willful misconduct" even if it's far from the truth.
Where I work, sometimes they'll simply pull a stunt such as "your position is being eliminated". I've seen it happen a few times. I guess in a situation like that, the eliminate-ee can go on unemployment for awhile, since they technically weren't "fired". But, it still gets them out of the company's hair.
"Funny thing, a lot of the unskilled "leaders" now demand a masters as a prereq,when they themselves usually lack one, and often lack much skill at all - all based on climbing a ladder that doesn't exist anymore. "
IMO, that has more to do with it being a buyers (employers) market in many areas, and putting a Master's required on the job posting just makes it easier for the HR dept. to throw out a bunch of candidates. Just another part of the winnowing process.
Funny thing, a lot of the unskilled "leaders" now demand a masters as a prereq,when they themselves usually lack one, and often lack much skill at all - all based on climbing a ladder that doesn't exist anymore.
That ladder was being cut down long ago even in the 1960s at Bell telephone. When I went to work in 1961 you could get to 2nd level management coming up through the ranks. By the late 1960s you had to have a bachelors degree for first level. They were bringing in guys right out of college to supervise the technical staff without a clue. They could not do any of the jobs in the office. But they had a degree. When I bailed on Bell and went to Alaska the only non college people above craft were the field engineers.
Someone already mentioned it. It is the employers turn with more wannabe workers than jobs. The bright side is 10,000 boomers a day are going onto SS. That should mean some job openings from those that can afford to completely retire.
"Today's kids are facing a corporate ladder that has been cut off close to the bottom or has a lot of consecutive rungs missing"
I think some of that is due to technology...it seems that corporations no longer need as many layers of "management" (aka featherbedding) as they used to have in the last 50 years...with email, texting, smartphones, iPads, etc. information travels so much faster than it used to, plus corporate purchasing has radically changed...
My uncle used to travel, by car, to all the department stores that sold women's handbags, from North Carolina thru SC, GA, AL and into Mississippi...he brought samples, met with buyers, and took orders...3-6 months later, product was delivered and when it was paid, he made commission...
For better or worse, Walmart changed that...they went direct to the manufacturer, cutting out the middleman, and many other stores have followed that lead...you can see things, almost in 3D on the internet, so who needs the "traveling salesman" anymore???
I think it was about 10 years ago that I read an article, probably in Forbes, where Toyota had only 7 layers of bureaucracy between the factory floor and the CEO, whereas GM had 11 layers...those extra 4 layers for GM have probably been eliminated since their bankruptcy, but I would bet that "created" 1000s of (truly unnecessary) middle management jobs in Detroit and other places, hundreds of millions of $$$ of payroll that I would assume no longer exist...
It just seems that the world has changed, probably for the better, as companies realized they did not need all those "middle" jobs, and simply eliminated them, saving, collectively, many billions of $$$ in unnecessary payroll costs...and it will stay that way because those middle jobs were never necessary in the first place, and now that they are gone, there is no need to bring them back...
Now, for those folks who lost those jobs, they may be in crisis, as the people seem to evolve slower than the company does...but they really have no choice, they must evolve into something else, I don't know what...
On the other end, as many unskilled jobs are either sent overseas (because you need the IQ of a moron to do the job) or done by robots (which only reinforces my thought of the moron concept), those folks growing up and drop out of school in the 8th or 9th grade, no longer have those unskilled jobs to go to, like they did from post-WWII until the new millennium...so they have to adapt or die, because you can't just count on the factory anymore to employ the illiterate...
Society, due to outsourcing and technology, has changed permanently...probably for the better, in the long run, but in the short run, (10-20 years???) there will be problems, until the "drop-out" generation realizes that no one will hire them for manual labor if they cannot read or write...
And majoring in college degree programs like "History of Greek Art from 50 AD to 250 AD" or "Underwater Basketweaving" will also become a thing of the past, as nobody now, or in the future, needs those (ahem) employment "skills"...
I'd say HR and academic inflation (buy your MBA) are the drivers. Doesn't seem to be producing any real results, as gains all seem to be coming from the cut and offshore ideals. Would be funny to make the prereqs retroactive for tenured folks, to see the reaction.
Definitely, bringing someone into a firm without background and elevating them to leadership seldom works well - I've seen it too, and seen it fail loudly. Of course, no penalty given to those pushing the button.
I don't know if I could call it an employer's "turn" rather than simple laziness.
Retirement is a real issue too, if openings aren't keeping up with population growth.
"I don't even think they realized they were building crap cars. There hatred for the Japanese would not allow them to get even close enough to see how much better they were put together. Even today in some of the D3 plants you cannot park a foreign car in the close up parking lot."
While in Detroit, it was about 1986, when we bought our 86 Accord Sedan...quite as a mouse, shut the door and it was solid as a vault...I tried to get a GM-UAW friend just to sit in it and tell me why we can't make anything so ergonomically friendly, and why our car doors rattle when you close them...like a child afraid of the dark, he could not walk within 20 feet of it, like Superman keeping his distance from Kryptonite...he just could not bring himself to check out the competition, altho the Japanese had not really started eating our lunch yet, but the quality difference was so obvious, a 4 year old could figure it out...
"Definitely, bringing someone into a firm without background and elevating them to leadership seldom works well - I've seen it too, and seen it fail loudly"
I don't see any of that in my place, though there's probably some. Everyone in my management chain all the up to our CEO have technical degrees of some sort. Most have come up through the ranks. Those that haven't were hired for technical reasons, then decided to move into management.
Our CEO is an MIT grad. Many/all of the high level managers, at the CEO level and two or three levels down have some sort of business training also, whether it's a formal MBA or a non-degree course of study though universities like Harvard.
This doesn't apply to the financial types (CFO, etc).
you're probably right about basket-weaving, but I just read somewhere that having a degree in History is actually a good employment card for recent grads. Can't remember where I saw that though....
I think Ambition is needed more than a degree. I see too many people sitting at home applying for jobs online and complaining when none come through. A friend that hires for Vons grocery says they post openings online. But always hire from those that come into the store and fill out the apps. They get to look at them right then and there and if they are slovenly dressed loaded with tats, they are round filed. Another friend desperate for a job applied everywhere she could think of. Michaels really wanted to hire her. They have a solid rule against visible tattoos and piercings. Employers can be very picky even with MW jobs today.
I can't see why history would be any better than political science or English, unless you apply to law school, as those are the 3 top majors for law school applicants, IMO...
Further, esp since so much history is now revisionist history, so no one coming out of public school has any real idea of the history of this country, but they sure know about global warming, which has not been happening for the last 15 years, and the polar ice caps, instead of melting, are larger than ever, se we have happy polar bears...:):):)
Haven't been keeping up with the Antarctic or the polar bears lately but apparently your news sources are shading their headlines. Arctic sea ice 6th lowest, but rebounds from 2012 (Anchorage Daily News).
And law school admissions are way down and profs are getting laid off, not to mention big firms shrinking.
And that's probably because there's less competition and it's easier money being a UAW member at the Big 3. :-)
Comments
Not sure that's relevant to the comment I made about markets adjusting themselves. It's not bought markets, it's the system of rules and constraints -- and the goal of a corporation to maximize profits. Certainly rules should be followed and infractions should be punished (although THAT's not happening lately - witness the GM BK as one example).
Those who don't like the established rules could try to constructively bring about change. Lots of whiners out there but nothing really getting done.
No it's not 300 times, but for example Alex Rodriguez earns about $30 mil/yr vs. the league minimum of about $500k. I think the average pro baseball player earns about $2.5mil. But Alex probably makes 300 times of those who work at the stadium or in the front office.
Funny, indeed.
UAW might die out, but the days of organized labor might not be dead yet.
When the golden rule remains the law of the land, pining to "constructively bring about change" is either a distraction or a deception, take your pick.
Lots of greedy old bastards out there who whine about whiners, the same generation who cried about social injustice and then became the problem instead of the solution.
Progress takes time EVEN WHEN standards exist. The "social market" is not efficient. Some European countries have legalized drugs and lower drug usage than us. That's a social standard - why aren't we shifting immediately? Because we are insular and our ideas die hard, and the moralistic wackos would want to continue to control social behavior.
Funny, in the '90's I was wondering why it wasn't obvious to everybody that GM was a disaster. And that the UAW was a disaster. And it took over 10 years and it was obvious, at least to me. But THEIR social adjustment never really took hold until they had absolutely no choice.
Some younger people also don't have to deal with shrews and devilspawn, which opens up more funds and time for leisure with savings at the same time
I am more alarmed about the taxpayer funded needless 100K salaries the offshoring generation won't attack than some autoworkers in hellhole city, Michigan.
I remember thinking for sure that the entire D3 was going to tank in the mid 1980s. I was really surprised that they didn't. I just didn't see it as sustainable.
Turns out I was just a little ahead of my time.
I don't think the UAW felt particularly good working for a bunch of second-raters. Would you?
Apples to oranges, which is to be expected from some people.
I can look at 90s GM cars simply by design and see the train wreck - I saw an early 00s Monte Carlo today and was thinking just that. A bunch of bumper installers and dashboard assemblers didn't greenlight that dumpy mess.
BINGO,
Entitled, the country owes me a living, the company is using me. Those are all words the Navy Yard murderer said to his friends just weeks before he killed all those innocent workers. The entitlement mentality I am seeing today is really not good. I don't know who is pushing it but they are not making life easier for those people to cope.
Glorified slave labor can make some industries much more viable.
I don't think they really cared as long as the paychecks were there and they were not getting laid off. Oh, I forgot they didn't get laid off back then. They went into a rubber room and watched TV and read magazines. All the while the company would pay them to go to school. Most didn't so they were unhappy when the downturn came around. Why the D3 were so stupid to go along with the jobs bank is a real mystery. Had to be a senior moment for management.
I don't even think they realized they were building crap cars. There hatred for the Japanese would not allow them to get even close enough to see how much better they were put together. Even today in some of the D3 plants you cannot park a foreign car in the close up parking lot.
That was the only profitable segment of the company if memory serves. Didn't Cerberus buy a big share to give GM more operating capital to keep afloat?
I guess you would have to lay him off to see if he goes postal on you....
I think the rank and file feel they are entitled to a higher wage than they are getting. I don't think they are as happy with their place in life as most of the transplant workers. I would hope there are people watching for warning signs.
The opposing view is that the parents of today are a lot more affluent in many cases than their parents were. So the kids of today have much bigger family safety nets than my generation did. They call those in their 50's and 60's the sandwich generation. Supporting both elderly parents AND grown kids. Not quite the utopia some would selfishly try to convey.
Apples to oranges, which is to be expected from some people.
Some people see analogies, while others are unable to...
They say the ability to analogize has strong correlation with problem solving.
That likely describes the average autoworker. The problems has been with the losers who can't be fired. They give the guy/gal who puts in an honest day and shows up on time a bad name.
I have several friends that are union, whether it be the trades or steel mills. They consistently complain about co-workers who are worthless.
My cousin is a union iron worker and he told me during his training and apprenticeship nearly 1/2 his class washed out (he's about 10 years younger than me and finished his apprenticeship about 5 years ago). Mainly due to not showing up and/or not being able to handle the math. And that is for a $30/hr+ job.
And the same complaints from workers whether in union or non union shops.
I could link you to many online complaints posted by anonymous Tesla employees, for instance.
Whatever abuses the UAW came up with, they did for a reason in the first place.
If GM, Ford and Chrysler were workers' paradises, there never would have been unions.
The D3 spawned the so-called demon they ended up having to deal with.
Fixed it for ya!
Whether or not he'll find work when he's done remains to be seen.
That's one of my biggest issues with unions. That and cumbersome job restrictions.
Most of us wouldn't be employed long if we started calling off every day the sun was shining.
I used to sell structured wiring a while back. If we were installing cable/wire at a union location, it often met taking twice as long to get anything done.
While that's true, I'll contend that the inability to fire incompetents as compared to non-union positions isn't something that should be ignored. As an example, our KIDS are being taught by teachers where the bad cases are nearly impossible to fire.
Also, having to work with obvious incompetence around you brings down the morale of the entire workforce.
Apples to oranges, again, think about it.
And maybe for being a bad parent. If anything, those affluent boomer and silent generation parents do a disservice - coddling their devilspawn, who are of course making it via "merit" with parental largesse funding free rides, cars, housing, faux jobs, etc well into adulthood. Many of those parents are delusional. Of course, parenthood isn't forced, open the can of worms and have fun keeping them together.
Funny thing, a lot of the unskilled "leaders" now demand a masters as a prereq,when they themselves usually lack one, and often lack much skill at all - all based on climbing a ladder that doesn't exist anymore.
Might be similar for UAW newbies 40 years ago vs the new hires today.
I still remember some old timer telling me about trying to find work in the 1930s on the Golden Gate Bridge. They would stand on the shore every day, waiting (but not hoping of course) for someone to fall off the bridge, because then there would be a job opening.
He was on the psychotropic drugs, like most of the other mass shooters were on. The media doesn't want to offend the drug companies by noting that fact.
I don't think the average UAW worker is on Zoloft, Paroxetine, Prozac, or other SSRI drugs that seem to fuel the mass shooters. Hmmm.
http://www.infowars.com/was-navy-yard-killer-on-anti-depressant-meds/
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Another issue will be delayed private sector retirements, which will limit job openings. With pensions and organization, I suppose that's one thing that isn't so much of an issue.
The master's doesn't give a wannabe leader much content either, from my experience.
Where I work, sometimes they'll simply pull a stunt such as "your position is being eliminated". I've seen it happen a few times. I guess in a situation like that, the eliminate-ee can go on unemployment for awhile, since they technically weren't "fired". But, it still gets them out of the company's hair.
IMO, that has more to do with it being a buyers (employers) market in many areas, and putting a Master's required on the job posting just makes it easier for the HR dept. to throw out a bunch of candidates. Just another part of the winnowing process.
That ladder was being cut down long ago even in the 1960s at Bell telephone. When I went to work in 1961 you could get to 2nd level management coming up through the ranks. By the late 1960s you had to have a bachelors degree for first level. They were bringing in guys right out of college to supervise the technical staff without a clue. They could not do any of the jobs in the office. But they had a degree. When I bailed on Bell and went to Alaska the only non college people above craft were the field engineers.
Someone already mentioned it. It is the employers turn with more wannabe workers than jobs. The bright side is 10,000 boomers a day are going onto SS. That should mean some job openings from those that can afford to completely retire.
I think some of that is due to technology...it seems that corporations no longer need as many layers of "management" (aka featherbedding) as they used to have in the last 50 years...with email, texting, smartphones, iPads, etc. information travels so much faster than it used to, plus corporate purchasing has radically changed...
My uncle used to travel, by car, to all the department stores that sold women's handbags, from North Carolina thru SC, GA, AL and into Mississippi...he brought samples, met with buyers, and took orders...3-6 months later, product was delivered and when it was paid, he made commission...
For better or worse, Walmart changed that...they went direct to the manufacturer, cutting out the middleman, and many other stores have followed that lead...you can see things, almost in 3D on the internet, so who needs the "traveling salesman" anymore???
I think it was about 10 years ago that I read an article, probably in Forbes, where Toyota had only 7 layers of bureaucracy between the factory floor and the CEO, whereas GM had 11 layers...those extra 4 layers for GM have probably been eliminated since their bankruptcy, but I would bet that "created" 1000s of (truly unnecessary) middle management jobs in Detroit and other places, hundreds of millions of $$$ of payroll that I would assume no longer exist...
It just seems that the world has changed, probably for the better, as companies realized they did not need all those "middle" jobs, and simply eliminated them, saving, collectively, many billions of $$$ in unnecessary payroll costs...and it will stay that way because those middle jobs were never necessary in the first place, and now that they are gone, there is no need to bring them back...
Now, for those folks who lost those jobs, they may be in crisis, as the people seem to evolve slower than the company does...but they really have no choice, they must evolve into something else, I don't know what...
On the other end, as many unskilled jobs are either sent overseas (because you need the IQ of a moron to do the job) or done by robots (which only reinforces my thought of the moron concept), those folks growing up and drop out of school in the 8th or 9th grade, no longer have those unskilled jobs to go to, like they did from post-WWII until the new millennium...so they have to adapt or die, because you can't just count on the factory anymore to employ the illiterate...
Society, due to outsourcing and technology, has changed permanently...probably for the better, in the long run, but in the short run, (10-20 years???) there will be problems, until the "drop-out" generation realizes that no one will hire them for manual labor if they cannot read or write...
And majoring in college degree programs like "History of Greek Art from 50 AD to 250 AD" or "Underwater Basketweaving" will also become a thing of the past, as nobody now, or in the future, needs those (ahem) employment "skills"...
I don't know if I could call it an employer's "turn" rather than simple laziness.
Retirement is a real issue too, if openings aren't keeping up with population growth.
While in Detroit, it was about 1986, when we bought our 86 Accord Sedan...quite as a mouse, shut the door and it was solid as a vault...I tried to get a GM-UAW friend just to sit in it and tell me why we can't make anything so ergonomically friendly, and why our car doors rattle when you close them...like a child afraid of the dark, he could not walk within 20 feet of it, like Superman keeping his distance from Kryptonite...he just could not bring himself to check out the competition, altho the Japanese had not really started eating our lunch yet, but the quality difference was so obvious, a 4 year old could figure it out...
I don't see any of that in my place, though there's probably some. Everyone in my management chain all the up to our CEO have technical degrees of some sort. Most have come up through the ranks. Those that haven't were hired for technical reasons, then decided to move into management.
Our CEO is an MIT grad. Many/all of the high level managers, at the CEO level and two or three levels down have some sort of business training also, whether it's a formal MBA or a non-degree course of study though universities like Harvard.
This doesn't apply to the financial types (CFO, etc).
Further, esp since so much history is now revisionist history, so no one coming out of public school has any real idea of the history of this country, but they sure know about global warming, which has not been happening for the last 15 years, and the polar ice caps, instead of melting, are larger than ever, se we have happy polar bears...:):):)
And law school admissions are way down and profs are getting laid off, not to mention big firms shrinking.
And that's probably because there's less competition and it's easier money being a UAW member at the Big 3. :-)