Expat Views from Thailand: real unemployment rate

A millionaire friend of mine use to send me jobs leads and I finally told him "I don't need job leads I need a job offer" Paul

"A similar hiring phenomenon has occurred in the U.S., and recently. When Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, was preparing to open two Washington, D.C., stores, it received 23,000 applications for about 600 associate positions. That crush of applicants to the stores in the nation's capital comes amid an ongoing debate about low-wage jobs in America — those paying the federal minimum rate of $7.25 an hour or a little above that amount." Interesting comments on this story see the link:

Tough market: 20,000 applicants for only 400 jobs — at Ikea

finance.yahoo.com

Like many countries around the world, Spain has been hit hard by recessionary conditions in recent years, and its unemployment rate currently stands above 25 percent, more than three times that of the United States.

Like · · Share · Stop Notifications

Ann Thai likes this.
Paul Rainwater From the 1940s through the sixties there had been a shortage of American workers. That's when there were lots of jobs available and wages were climbing for American workers. During the 70's that started to change with much more women entering the workforce, more immigration and automation. Then advances in technology in the 80s and 90s made it possible to use less workers and to employ workers anyplace in the world. Then we had a huge increase in outsourcing for low wage workers in the early 21st century. Then in 2008 came the financial meltdown. Are things going to get better for American workers? The trajectory doesn't look good, does it?

18 hours ago · Like
Regina White Rockwood No Paul it doesn't. One of the problems our kids are experiencing is that many of them believe they should step out of college into a very high paying job and those jobs just aren't there. They expect a standard of living that parallels that which th...See More

8 hours ago via mobile · Unlike · 1
Regina White Rockwood ... what they need to do to survive. One thing is clear and that is we don't need more people for low paying low skilled jobs like those at Wal Mart and Ikea. What do we need? While I am confident that our kids will think of things that are beyond my imagination that will help, for the moment there are jobs available for which employers can not fill the positions because no one is applying for them as they lack the required skills. How do you find these jobs and figure out what you need to do to qualify for them? Try on line versions of The Occupational Outlook Handbook, the Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance, DISCOVER, SIGI 3 (VALPAR) all of which provide occupational information about the jobs where workers are needed and information about the skills required to help people know the type of training they can invest in that will pay off. I hope this helps.

7 hours ago via mobile · Like
Paul Rainwater I have friends from the UK and they tell me the same things are happening there and this Ikea story is from Spain. As far as solutions and blaming big government, I think it's more complex than that, this is a world wide phenomenon in western developed countries. But one thing for sure is many of the older workers (like myself) who had mid level management or executive type jobs making a good living 10-15 years ago are now in the crowd lining up for these low paying jobs out of desperation. One of the only western developed countries that is still doing well is Australia, I have 2 friends from there and they tell me things are pretty good, but now it is starting to affect them as Ford is shutting down a huge plant there and moving it here to Thailand or somewhere in Asia:http://www.bloomberg.com/.../ford-to-close-australia-car...

Ford to Shut Australia Plants After Nine Decades on Costs
www.bloomberg.com

Ford Motor Co. will stop making cars in Australia, nine decades after founder He...See More

41 minutes ago · Like · Remove Preview
Paul Rainwater "Ford is pulling out of Australia at the same time that it is closing plants in Europe, another region that has become unattractive for auto production because of high costs and stagnant economies. The company last fall said it would close assembly plants in Belgium and the U.K. Meanwhile, Ford and other auto makers are scrambling to add plants in markets where auto sales are expanding rapidly and labor costs are low. In China, Ford is spending $5 billion to open four new plants with a joint-venture partner over the next several years. It also is expanding output in India, Thailand and Russia. Many other auto makers are following the same path. General Motors and Volkswagen are spending billions of dollars to add new plants in China. GM is also closing a car assembly factory in Germany ": http://online.wsj.com/.../SB10001424127887324659404578501...

Ford Shift Shows New Power of Car Centers
online.wsj.com

Ford is planning to close two plants in Australia and end production there by 20...See More

28 minutes ago · Edited · Like · Remove Preview
Paul Rainwater Lastly, the way the US government calculates unemployment rate is very deceptive I think this says it all with this phony bologna unemployment numbers: "The calculation is based on the number of Americans who are actively seeking employment but failing to find a job; it does not include those who aren't searching." But the “official” unemployment rate doesn't count people like me — discouraged workers who have settled for part-time jobs or have practically given up looking altogether. Tracking those individuals, under what’s called the “U-6″ rate, gives a very different measure of the nation’s unemployment rate: 14.3% and some say up to 30%:http://www.forbes.com/.../why-the-real-unemployment-rate.../

Why The 'Real' Unemployment Rate Is Higher Than You Think
www.forbes.com

The unemployment rate, after accounting for broader underemployment. Source: BLS...