Gallup is out with another report on the unemployment rate. Unlike the government, they are not trying to make themselves look good in the face of bad news, so the numbers are not massaged to give a different result. What's interesting to note is how steady the rate has been for the last year, at a pretty constant level right around 10%.
Underemployment is running at 19.7% and has been holding pretty steady for the last year as well, which means there are a lot of part timers and people working below their training out there. The underlying problem with this is that in a lot of cases, if you don't keep your skills up-to-date, after a year, you become noticeably less employable in your preferred position.
I know in my line of work, employers always want 5 years experience using the current year version of the software.
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Don't forget the college dis-leveling. Many employers for non-college type jobs - won't hire someone that has been to college. We think wrong, we know too much background, we see implications - we have too many questions and expectations.
Being under-employed also raises the spectre - no employer wants to hire someone that is working at a 'more menial' job than the opening they are hiring for. So recapturing many of the currently underemployed will be a big problem, and most likely a permanent 'brain drain' on America.
Not to mention, if there are 20% under or unemployed - that means that 20% of employers and managers have cut back or lost their ability to do business as before - and that has to be rebuilt before any real jobs get created again. Manager get 'stale' after not working in the field just as craft and professional types do.
Whether manager, professional, or craft - letting anyone drop out of the economy either long term or permanently *wastes* the time, effort, resources, and money spend by the nation to develop and mature their talents and skills. That is money, energy, and time that can never be recovered.
This sure looks like someone has caused Grave Harm to the nation.
And the too-old to bother with. At 53 I have been out of work for over eight years with some financially insignificant consulting thrown-in the mix. Nobody has any interest in my or my obsolete skills and the people who hire for them do so from their own age-based peer-group and wouldn't consider me. My next job (if any) will probably involve wearing a paper-hat. I'm firmly in the 20%, but call my self a house-husband. My wife has a lifer-job, but she's getting pretty fed-up with all the self-righteous liberal crap the Big Private University doles-out too.
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