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The Jerbs nobodys tooking

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by Invisible Fan, Aug 13, 2018.

  1. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    The big picture: The American industries that can't find workers

    Amid the country's booming economy, currently in the midst of its longest-ever streak of job growth, some American industries are having problems finding workers to fill their openings.

    The big picture: Many of the struggling industries pay well and provide ample benefits, so it seems strange that they'd be stuck with so many job vacancies. However, they're physically demanding or mentally stressful — often a combination of both — leading many millennials, who are likely to be more educated than the generations before them, to seek employment in other sectors.
    • Construction has been seeing a labor shortage because young U.S. workers aren't interested in replacing the aging workforce, even though it's a well-paid industry that often doesn’t require a college degree, reports the Wall Street Journal. Also potentially to blame: many businesses aren't willing to put in the time to help young people with on-the-job training.
    • Farmers in Washington are having experiencing a shortage of workers to bring in their harvests, McClatchy reports. That’s because very few American workers want agricultural jobs — and the federal government's guest worker program is too expensive for growers and useless for some farmers.
    • Truck drivers are facing a shortage of 51,000 this year, and that's projected to rise to 100,000 by 2021, USA Today reported earlier this year. Baby boomers are retiring from the truck driving business, but millennials have been unwilling to replace them, given the grueling hours and travel associated with the job.
    • 911 dispatchers are in short supply in cities all around the United States. Some factors, per the WSJ: small centers, the lack of resources to train and pay workers, and the unwillingness of many job-seekers to deal with the position's life-or-death consequences.
    Go deeper: Jun 5 - There are now more job openings than people unemployed
    The latest figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that there are now 6.7 million job openings in the U.S. and 6.35 million people counted as unemployed — making 2018 the first year on record that the U.S. has had more available jobs to fill than people looking for jobs.

    The big picture: Axios Future Editor Steve LeVine points out that the labor force participation rate has fallen steadily over the past decade, and now sits at 62.7%. So while it looks like there are more unfilled jobs than available workers, in fact millions of working-age Americans are not currently employed. That is one speculative reason why wages have remained flat despite the skills and worker shortage.​
     
  2. Cohete Rojo

    Cohete Rojo Contributing Member

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    Higher wages and automation. Nothing wrong with that.
     
  3. Buck Turgidson

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    Construction and agriculture? Who could have guessed that?
     
    pirc1 and conquistador#11 like this.
  4. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    They better build floodgates on those damn walls Messico's payin fer.
     
  5. juicystream

    juicystream Contributing Member

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    We aren't seeing higher wages despite the market need was the point of the article.
     
  6. dmoneybangbang

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    Is it trickling down to Trump country?
     
  7. JuanValdez

    JuanValdez Contributing Member

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    Truck driving is about to be replaced by robots. Nobody should be jumping into that industry now.
     
    Nook likes this.
  8. Exiled

    Exiled Member

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    when i found out that a plumber charge a minimum of 89$/15 minutes , felt like I wasted my life by having a career into something's else
     
    Kim likes this.
  9. conquistador#11

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    Robofarmer task force!
     
  10. dmoneybangbang

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    I think AI making medical decisions on a commercial scale will happen sooner than “driverless” commercial fleets. We have a critical shortage of truck drivers, especially in the Permian Basin.
     
  11. No Worries

    No Worries Contributing Member

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    If only coal miners in WV could figure out a stick ...
     
  12. Senator

    Senator Member

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    Seriously? With all the auto pilot Tesla crashes ..
     
  13. Amiga

    Amiga I get vaunted sacred revelations from social media
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    Tesla semi autopilot 18 wheelers in luxury style might just do the job attracting new drivers.
     
  14. cml750

    cml750 Member

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    I can confirm that there is a shortage of truck drivers. It has impacted the business I work for. We are having to try to forecast and order raw materials early and get our customers to place orders early enough to schedule drivers to help ensure the deliveries are on time. Probably the biggest part of that has to do with the trucking industry being forced to use an automated logging system that records movement electronically via GPS. The truck drivers can no longer "cook the books" with the driving hours. Once their daily allotment of on the road hours are reached, they have to stop. Based on what we are seeing in our business, there was a lot of pencil whipping going on with the truck drivers books.

    This shortage will drive up wages in this industry which will increase the cost of shipment which will then be shifted to the end consumer.
     
    #14 cml750, Aug 14, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2018
    dmoneybangbang likes this.
  15. glynch

    glynch Contributing Member

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    Also truck driving was one of the common jobs in which a person was not supervised by their boss every minute. No more pulling off for unauthorized breaks to nap,. stretch out your old injured back etc.
     
  16. Kim

    Kim Contributing Member

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  17. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Contributing Member

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    stop telling everyone to go to university. stop subsidizing loans for people who should be truck drivers and not engineering school dropouts
     
  18. dmoneybangbang

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    Why hasn’t the private sector stepped up? They have more money to invest in training now.
     
  19. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Contributing Member

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    why would I sign up for training (and work) if I can get fully funded by the federal government to go to university and drink with my friends?
     
  20. dmoneybangbang

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    A lot of these job shortages were the same under Obama. The issue in America is the lack of skills and training needed to fill these new technical jobs.

    I think we pushed college too much, but no entity stepped in to meaningful impact skills and training.
     

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