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15 Signs That The Quality Of Jobs In America Is Fading Fast

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

Trying to find a job in America today can be an incredibly frustrating experience.  Most of the jobs that are available seem to pay very little, and there is intense competition for just about any job that is open.  But it wasn't always like this.  When I was in high school, I was immediately hired when I applied for a job at McDonalds because they were so desperate for workers that they would hire just about anyone that could flip a burger.  But in this economic environment, a single nationwide hiring event conducted by McDonalds resulted in a million job applications, and only a small percentage of those applicants were actually hired.  Our economy simply does not produce enough jobs for everyone anymore, and the percentage of "good jobs" continues to decline.  That means that it is getting really hard to find a job that will enable you to support a family, and a lot of people end up doing jobs that they are massively overqualified for.  But when times are tough, people are going to do what they have to do in order to survive.

One thing that we have seen in recent years is an explosion in the number of "temp workers" in America.  Even some of the largest companies in America are using them.  They like the flexibility of being able to bring in workers when they need them and of being able to dump them the moment they don't need them anymore.  Sadly, those that work in the "temp industry" often work in deplorable conditions for very little pay.  The following is a brief excerpt from an absolutely outstanding Pro Publica article...

In cities all across the country, workers stand on street corners, line up in alleys or wait in a neon-lit beauty salon for rickety vans to whisk them off to warehouses miles away. Some vans are so packed that to get to work, people must squat on milk crates, sit on the laps of passengers they do not know or sometimes lie on the floor, the other workers’ feet on top of them.

 

This is not Mexico. It is not Guatemala or Honduras. This is Chicago, New Jersey, Boston.

The people here are not day laborers looking for an odd job from a passing contractor. They are regular employees of temp agencies working in the supply chain of many of America’s largest companies – Walmart, Macy’s, Nike, Frito-Lay. They make our frozen pizzas, sort the recycling from our trash, cut our vegetables and clean our imported fish. They unload clothing and toys made overseas and pack them to fill our store shelves. They are as important to the global economy as shipping containers and Asian garment workers.

 

Many get by on minimum wage, renting rooms in rundown houses, eating dinners of beans and potatoes, and surviving on food banks and taxpayer-funded health care. They almost never get benefits and have little opportunity for advancement.

But these are the types of jobs the U.S. economy is "creating" these days.  Low paying part-time jobs are continually becoming a bigger part of the economy.  This is one of the primary reasons why the middle class in America is shrinking.

You can't support a family on what most of these part-time jobs pay.  But our economy is not producing many high quality full-time jobs these days.  The average quality of American jobs just continues to sink.

The following are 15 signs that the quality of jobs in America is going downhill really fast...

#1 The number of part-time workers in the United States has just hit a brand new all-time high, but the number of full-time workers is still nearly 6 million below the old record that was set back in 2007.

#2 In America today, only 47 percent of adults have a full-time job.

#3 Even though the U.S. economy created nearly 200,000 jobs in June, the number of full-time jobs actually decreased.

#4 There are now 2.7 million temp workers in the United States - a new all-time high.

#5 One out of every ten jobs in the United States is now filled through a temp agency.

#6 The U.S. economy has actually lost manufacturing jobs for four consecutive months.

#7 The official unemployment rate has been at 7.5 percent or higher for 54 months in a row.  That is the longest stretch in U.S. history.

#8 According to one recent survey, 76 percent of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.

#9 At this point, one out of every four American workers has a job that pays $10 an hour or less.

#10 High paying manufacturing jobs continue to be shipped overseas.  Sadly, there are fewer Americans employed in manufacturing now than there was in 1950 even though the population of the country has more than doubled since then.

#11 Today, the United States actually has a higher percentage of workers doing low wage work than any other major industrialized nation does.

#12 The U.S. economy continues to trade good paying jobs for low paying jobs.  60 percent of the jobs lost during the last recession were mid-wage jobs, but 58 percent of the jobs created since then have been low wage jobs.

#13 Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs.  Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.

#14 At this point, an astounding 53 percent of all American workers make less than $30,000 a year.

#15 According to a study that was released by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, only 24.6 percent of all jobs in the United States qualify as "good jobs" at this point.  In a previous article, I detailed the three criteria that they used to define what a "good job" is….

#1 The job must pay at least $18.50 an hour.  According to the authors, that is the equivalent of the median hourly pay for American workers back in 1979 after you adjust for inflation.

#2 The job must provide access to employer-sponsored health insurance, and the employer must pay at least some portion of the cost of that insurance.

#3 The job must provide access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan.

All of this is absolutely heartbreaking.

Once upon a time, just about any adult that was willing to work hard in America could go out and find a good paying job that would support a middle class lifestyle.

Now those days are gone forever.

But different conditions exist in different parts of the country.

What are you seeing in your area?

Are good jobs difficult to find?

 

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Sun, 07/07/2013 - 14:14 | 3728396 paulbain
paulbain's picture

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Mike Snyder wrote:

Our economy simply does not produce enough jobs for everyone anymore

Bullcrap. There are plenty of new jobs, but the employers are giving nearly all of them to the immigrants, legal as well as illegal. In the last 20 years, America has endured essentially unrestricted immigration, largely because the politicians and employers conspired against the American worker in order to flood the country with cheap, immigrant labor. This influx has greatly suppressed wages and allowed employers to leave millions of Americans languishing in the unemployment line.

 

Furthermore, I am amazed that no other commentator hereon has pointed out this simple, obvious fact.

 

-- Paul D. Bain

PaulBain@PObox.com

 

 

 

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Sun, 07/07/2013 - 14:22 | 3728415 Lucius Corneliu...
Lucius Cornelius Sulla's picture

There are tens of thousands of six figure positions that cannot be filled in tech by locals because they are not qualified.  These jobs are being taken by recent immigrants, including many who come here for graduate degrees.  What is wrong with that?  For the most part these people are smart, hard working, ambitious and have decent family values.  If anything, these are the type of immigrants we want!

 

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 14:54 | 3728510 paulbain
paulbain's picture

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Lucius wrote:

There are tens of thousands of six figure positions that cannot be filled in tech by locals because they are not qualified.

More bullcrap. I am a highly skilled but unemployed IT professional. I have not had an IT job in years. I know, for a fact, that the primary purpose of the USA's immigration policies is to suppress American wages.

-- Paul D. Bain

PaulBain@PObox.com

 

 

 

 

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Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:25 | 3728604 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Exactly.

Those greedy MBA S.O.B.'s don't want to make a commitment to an employee or spend one penny getting them up to speed.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 17:04 | 3728872 Bear
Bear's picture

The crony conspiracy is between DC and Wall Street. Illegal immigration does suppress salaries, but you miss the primary driver behind it ....  politics ... the TPTB  figure that immigrants come down 70-30 Democrat, so more the merrier. Politicians make the laws and Corporations pay the politicians.

 

The current debate about 'comprehensive immigration' , is a completely bullshit meme and will only serve to destroy America as a great and sovereign nation. When Republicans cross the aisle (ala McCain, Graham), you know the fix is in. our Congress cares about itself, and it's members exclusively and not the American people.  

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:31 | 3728618 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

That is a tired hackneyed meme that just is not true.

They want Visa holders because they will work for less, and will work for a time before they go back home.

The Corporatocracy doesn't want to commit to U.S. Citiznes because they won't be able to skirt labor laws and don't want to have to pay health insurance or into a 401K or Pension plan.

It's the other component of letting immigrants, legal and illegal, save the Corporatocracy money and sell out U.S. Citizens.  It is the flip-side of the offshoring of production and Corporate cash.

The Corporate Machine is about maximizing executive pay and bonuses and parasitizing what is left of the U.S. middle-class.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:39 | 3728640 Andy Lewis
Andy Lewis's picture

You're a goddamn liar.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 22:35 | 3729646 plane jain
plane jain's picture

So where are you recruiting?  'Cause my husband has a degree and experience.  Title is system administrator, but he has done a variety of stuff.  

Seriously, post a link...he wants to move to Canada, but alternately good pay in a nice climate w/reasonable cost of living in the US will have to do.  If the sale of our house closes end of month we will be free to roll.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 14:14 | 3728397 alfbell
alfbell's picture

 

Government is too big.

Government is very stupid.

Government is too invasive in all sectors of life.

Government is oppressive.

Government only cares about power, size and taxes.

Government causes 90% of your troubles.

Government is completely covert in its actions and works under the false concepts of patriotism and the public good.

Government is your worst enemy.

Down with the US government.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 19:50 | 3729227 Ronaldo
Ronaldo's picture

So size does matter?  Shit!

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 14:35 | 3728423 newworldorder
newworldorder's picture

This article, although true, is a whisper in the wind. Most will not hear it nor could they do anything about it if they did. The majority of workers have hunkered down and are on a survival mode. Politicians, corporations, tax exempt foundations, think tanks and MSM control the high ground of thoughts, money and actions. The uneducated, uninformed and unemployed masses are all glad to have "government services." They will not suffer the loss of those services gladly.

A trully big shit storm has to hit on a grand scale, before you will start to see any change. When it does, you better not be living in one of the major cities.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 14:44 | 3728481 Northern Lights
Northern Lights's picture

Can you really be surprised by any of this.  Most people, including recent college graduates, aren't prepared to work at anything more than a McDonalds job.  The majority of them graduated with useless "Arts" Degrees.  An utter joke.

Let's face it, North America has become the "financial services" hub of the world.

Want a job? Get skilled in the "industry" that's fucking over the entire planet.  Lot's of jobs in that.  Especially the "accounting" kind.  Everyone's looking for someone creative enough to "dress-up" the bottom line.

Problem is, the last 2 generations of North Americans are too fucking math-averse.  I remember back in 1992 hearing a large majority of fellow students declaring that they wanted to take a degree in which ever programs offered the least likelyhood to require any mathematics.  There were a lot of students like this.  

Even in university it was like this in the business program.  The large majority of fellow students I associated with were doing a marketing, management, or hotel/hospitality major.  I was the lone student from the group with the accounting major.

I look at accounting as the "McDonalds" job in the financial industry.  Only difference is, I get paid more and there's more positions available to me.

Too many business students out there who were looking at managerial jobs because it was easier and because they expected it to be mostly business lunches, and gold-course/country club meetings.

I feel sorry for none of them.

 

 

 

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:10 | 3728568 expatincentam
expatincentam's picture

And so the U.S. continues to try to insert the square peg of a health care system based on employer provided health insurance, including the approaching Obamacare train wreck, into the round hole of an ever decreasing supply of well paid full time "good jobs"  Yeah... that's a smart policy decision.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 17:13 | 3728897 Lost Word
Lost Word's picture

NWO plan to make US like the EU, so that they can merged together into one government tyranny.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 20:30 | 3729295 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

No, they intend to take us to Zimbabwe.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:12 | 3728572 erkme73
erkme73's picture

What's up with all the "Top XX reasons for..."  I feel like I'm reading MarketWatch.com's front page.  Seems so cliche to make everything a top-10 list...

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:12 | 3728573 robnume
robnume's picture

"It is difficult for a man to understand a concept when his job depends on his NOT understanding it", Upton Sinclair. I am paraphrasing as best as I can remember the quote, but the quote does speak volumes.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:21 | 3728575 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Even more skilled jobs such as those in I.T. that used to be good pay full-time benefit positions are now being converted to 29.5 hours per week at $12/hour with no benefits.

Rather than make a commitment to one employee at 40-50 hours per week making $24/hour (~$50,000/year) with benefits - they split it into two people working 25 hours/week at $12 an hour no benefits.

Considering that healthcare insurance premiums from employer can be $1,000 per month and 401K matched contributions could be say $250 per month, the Corporatocracy (and Government) can save $15,000 per year by shafting employees.

Gone forever is the productive society where employers and employees make a commitment to each other to accomplish something.

Dog-eat-dog tapeworms in the stomach fleas and ticks on the skin downward spiral of parasitism.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:18 | 3728587 robnume
robnume's picture

Will someone please tell me if ZH is owned by Mickey and Goofy? I would think that someone out there would be able to give me an answer. Please help!!

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:21 | 3728596 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

From bottom of page:  "ABC Media, LTD"

What?  You think the economy and employment are doing well?

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:20 | 3728592 A Cruel Accountant
A Cruel Accountant's picture

Wanted

Someone to mow my lawn. Pay Negotiable

Any Makers?

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 15:59 | 3728683 Getting Old Sucks
Getting Old Sucks's picture

For many years, TPTB capitalized on the rest of the world and kept the U.S. Empire's citizens as an example to show how they too can be prosperous.  Since the rest of the world have woken up to their lies, and the U.S. middle class had accumulated too much of their wealth (after all, they do own the world), time has come to capitalize on the U.S. middle class and take it all back.  Dark days are coming for millions of Americans.

"Now those days are gone forever."

Very true!

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 16:08 | 3728706 robnume
robnume's picture

Thank you, ebworthen. I'm sure that you think I'm lazy or stupid, but I liked ZH enough to "not wanna hear it", so I didn't do the research. When I saw ABC media holdings, I knew deep inside what it meant. I've been posting comments on this site for years and I noticed that many of the people whose posts I'd been reading for years, no longer appeared here. Man, it seems like EVERYONE is selling out, big time. Yet another crushing blow for "we the people". FUCK!!!

Mon, 07/08/2013 - 01:04 | 3729959 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

No, no - don't think you are lazy or stupid, just ribbing you a little.

No worries, at least we can comment and talk to each other.

There is palpable frustration and desperation out there.

Best.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 16:14 | 3728720 moneybots
moneybots's picture

"4. Immediately implement a cutoff for Social Security. "For 40 and below, you better start saving for retirement."

 

By the time you retire, Wall Street will have bailed in your retirement fund.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 16:31 | 3728779 EclecticParrot
EclecticParrot's picture

#16 - The fact that the list has > 5 items.  

Many years ago, no one could have come up with that many, nor would anyone have had the downtime to read through them.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 17:01 | 3728861 Vendetta
Vendetta's picture

I guess the founders of the nation had no idea what they were doing when stated in Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution:

"The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;"

 

I fail to see where what is called 'free trade' fits into that.  Please explain

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 17:59 | 3728999 dolph9
dolph9's picture

None of us matter in America.  You are completely replaceable; either your livelihood will go to a third world country where it will be done cheaper, or endless immigration from the third world will eliminate you at home.

But of course we must have growth at all costs, right?  So we will grow to 400, then 500 million people, we will become a very poor, crowded country in the process.

Do you protest this?  Then you are negative, cynical, racist.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 18:24 | 3729039 lakecity55
lakecity55's picture

Duh.

When the PTB allow uncontrolled illegal worker invasions of 30 million or whatever taco people, no wonder there are no jobs.

My first trade as a youngster is now all taco people. It was about 25% black, 70% white, and 5% US Indians at one time. There were a few hotheads, but in general, every man respected the other as tradesmen. A man could make a living and feed his family and own at least an F150 outright. I will never forget my first F150 and the hideaway area behind the bench seat. Had a toolbox on back too.  No moar. These Fuckers want our Dignity, not just all our Stuffs!

We are on the way to a national socialist USSA, and these collectivist gigs ALWAYS end in mass deaths, genocide, and theft of all private property. I saw this coming 25 years ago. I have hated these bastards at least that long. No Moar. LC, originally a good ole redneck, is fighting back- by NOT fighting back. I have moar devious means to use, as do we all. None involve violence. They involve Creativity. Get to work, Bit-Chez! Kill the Beast 666!

Thanks, evil joo NWO and non-joo Vichy collaborators.

Bite My Crank.

 

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 21:49 | 3729522 saunhi
saunhi's picture

Our corporate 'leaders' WANT to offshore huge swaths of U.S. business units, to regions that allow subsistance wages and no insurance protection.

There were articles in the media two years ago that described how these traitors to our own citizens, were taking the massive govt stimulus and growing their little empires offshore. Numerous corporate campuses now exist in Hyderabad, Bangalore, etc.

They are attempting to say that MIT, Notre Dame, Berkley, Carnegie, Penn, Pitt, Michigan, Cal, Texas, Florida, Georgia Techs and secondaries are not creating enough technologists [with no citizen rights] to meet demand.

Sun, 07/07/2013 - 21:58 | 3729552 americanspirit
americanspirit's picture

Just offer a bounty on anyone - $1000 per body, no questions asked. Before long, problem solved. Plenty of jobs, plenty of apartments, no traffic jams. Landfill space might be a bit of a squeeze, but hey - no pain, no gain.

Mon, 07/08/2013 - 03:20 | 3730081 dunce
dunce's picture

I do not think the data presented showed what % of the "good " jobs were in the govt. sector and the % of "good" jobs in the private sector. I doubt that there are any "bad" jobs in the govt. sector unless you count the military where compensation is not really comparable. What is fair for being in Afghanistan with a a gay commander trying to romance you? Have sex with him or be on every really dangerous assignment. Not being able to practice your Christian religion because some find it offensive.

Mon, 07/08/2013 - 08:11 | 3730270 MagicMoney
MagicMoney's picture

I have no idea why Micheal Snyder believes that employers "must" pay for health insurance to qualify as a good job. Why not pay for car insurance, home insurance, and all other insurances? Employer sponsored health insurance is really a product of the tax code.

 

Yes Americans live paycheck to paycheck as Micheal Synder has pointed out. They don't save. Even working americans with good wages don't save. Americans become the consumer of the world, thus it makes sense to focus selling to the american consumer from a business prospective. Savings is necessary for investment.

 

I don' t know if Micheal Snynder knows this, but we are still in a depression. There is more delinquent mortgages today than before precrisis housing bubble bust. It's just the cheap money that is keeping the economy elevated, and preventing restructuring (a economic contraction, reallocated investments) from happening.

 

All of this can be attributed simply to large government. Not just federally, but across the board state, municipal, etc which includes, taxes, regulations, and cheap money policies of the Federal Reserve. The more less liberal the economy becomes, the less wealth it produces. This is not shocking at all. The more liberal a economy becomes, the more wealthier it becomes. When I say liberal, I mean liberal in the classical sense, not the mainstream current socialist liberal. For Micheal Synder, until you can address this underlying problems, which are structural, you will only see worse. I will guarantee it. Tyranical government and central banking decays a society over time. Economist are arguing where this recession is structural or cyclical. This is obviously structural. So much so it slaps you in the face with it.

 

 

Mon, 07/08/2013 - 22:13 | 3732879 BigSpruce
BigSpruce's picture

I have a full time job with a large corporation. The pay is very good for industry and regional standards. Although grateful for it during these tough times - I hate the corporate environment. The leaders and middle managers tend to be "swinging dick" types who have large egos, a relentless desire to wield power yet devoid of talent. Colleagues tend to be either sycophants or beta male drones. Its really pretty depressing.

The only saving grace is that my job keeps me out in the field ( away from the toxic office environment) and it gives me a lot of flexibility. The flexibility has allowed me to run a business on the side that throws off a substantial amount of both active and passive income. Simultaneously I am working on starting another business that will also be a passive income generator. My long term goal is to get to a point where the soul sapping, creativity squelching, corporate hell hole can be ditched.

 

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