[Edison]

5 years ago my company was 27k people worldwide with approximately 3k in the US. Today we are 27k people worldwide with 350 in the US. The rest of the jobs are in India.

When I get laid off I plan on learning a trade...electricans, plumbers and air conditioning jobs can't go to India and the plumber last week wanted 200+ per hour to fix a leak that was going to take 4-5 hours.

I'm feeling like organizing. Too bad we were all sold that bill of goods and are exempt employees in NJ.

Edison

[taxed2death]

Don't bother learning a trade. In my state in the N.E., all entry level trade positions in Heating / HVAC, Plumbing, Carpentry (framing, sheet-rocking, trim), auto body repair, automotive repair.....are being over run by illegal trespassers. The legit landscaping businesses in my state have been decimated by truckloads of beaners with an army of push mowers. Fifty feet away from me is a body shop with a half a dozen illegals working for the owner. When I talk to young kids who graduate from trade high chools, they all tell me the same thing, they cant get jobs in their chosen trades. All the jobs are glommed up by illegals.

Now, if you try to follow the law and hire American citizens, you'll simply be priced out of business. If you think this can't or won't happen in your state, you're dead wrong. Are these the people we want to give a guest worker card to? Are these the people we want to give "amnesty" in the new bill Kolbe and Mcain are pushing for?

Something seems wrong when American kids can't get jobs in their chosen trades and illegals are still swarming over our borders (between 4000 -6000 every 24 hours).

Yup, El Presedente' Jorge Bush is my man.

NOT.

[banjo joe]

When I get laid off I plan on learning a trade...electricans, plumbers and air conditioning jobs can't go to India and the plumber last week wanted 200+ per hour to fix a leak that was going to take 4-5 hours.

Here's praying we're both safe... but I'm with ya. I plan on doing my own "maid service". Clean your house, apartment, office, whatever. You can make a couple hundred in day (cash preferred, thank-you. hahahahaha!).

[vidbizz]

I just went to a local chamber meeting. In the area, we need 50 forklift operators, 34 electricians, 40+ assistant to said electricians, plus assorted other personnel. And that is just in our SMALL community! (But it is growing!)

[Myrddin]

I'm feeling like organizing.

What would you call it? Perhaps the "Unemployed Programmers Union". About the only thing you could strike is a match. Zero leverage.

The capital that is flowing to India is employing electricians and plumbers in India where the new construction is underway to house all the new employees. The electrician and plumbing jobs are outsourced too. There will still be maintenance work for those vocations in the U.S., but not lots of new construction. The quantity of abandoned, premium office space in the U.S. is astonishing.

In Pocatello, Idaho, we have lost most of the white collar and blue collar jobs. What remains is farmers, retail stores, restaurants, doctors, lawyers, a university and lots of government employees (city, county, state). AMI Semiconductor is the last large employer that contributes any sizeable payroll to the community. There is a limited amount of traffic left from Union Pacific railroad.

I work from my home office. My boss is in Beavercreek, Ohio. He suggested that he might close the physical office in Beavercreek soon and have all the staff work from home offices. That would enable us to drop our loaded rates into the $50 to $75 per hour range to be more competitive. The folks in San Diego are running at rates of $150/hour and they can't close any deals. They are simply too expensive to be competitive. Their San Diego real estate costs, utilities, taxes, disability insurance, etc are burdens that my work group can dodge.

I can offer one suggestion for a vocation that won't be sent offshore. Road maintenance in states where it snows. As long as cold winter weather destroys the roads, there will be a market to clean up behind the destructive efforts of mother nature. Police and fire jobs may also be suitable, but they are hard to get.

After visiting Yellowstone last Sunday, I can see a great opportunity for harvesting dead trees and selling the wood. It's work that needs to be done to clear the massive amounts of fuel from the forest areas. If only we could get rid of the stupid influence of the green commies. That wood is still suitable to burn for fuel and possibly still good enough for paper pulp. It is unsatisfactory for traditional lumber use.