From: Reason (reason@exratio.com)
Date: Sun Sep 01 2002 - 15:40:23 MDT
> But back to my original point? What has happened that the
> unemployed
> are no longer viewed as valuable assets? Why aren't employers &
> investors
> putting those people to work to make money for everybody?
> Sorry for the rant folks, but this thread is on my
> favorite subject --
> manufacturing. <G>
> Ron h.
But given a sufficiently tight labor market (for employers), they do. To
take an extreme example, look at what happened in the Bay Area, CA, over the
last five years. I think a fair 75% of the people I know here in my little
[not typically technical] subculture picked up web design, coding, or
graphic design and got jobs doing it because people with those skills were
in such demand. That was an unsustainable thing, of course, and a sizable
fraction of them are back doing other things now, but I offer this up as an
illustrative example of the process.
This happens in all markets that are modestly unregulated. If there aren't
enough workers, wages will rise, people/entities will take notice and
retrain, and companies will be more willing to take on people without
experience. Simple supply and demand.
I can see the flip side of this process in my industry, in my company. I'm
no longer willing to hire bright people without specific, long experience in
the particular branch of the telco industry I'm in. The market is flooded
with relevantly skilled telco layoffs, so cost of labor is low. That's a
signal to entities that retrain not to bring people into telecom. On the
other hand, it's a boon to have all these skilled people who can be
relatively easily retrained in their generic technical skill for other
industries.
Reason
http://www.exratio.com/
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