"Only two jobs? Why you lazy lima bean."
Posted on 12/02/2009 10:40:56 AM PST by central_va
For Richard Crane, the "new normal" in the labor market began when he was laid off from a New Jersey battery plant in the summer of 2006.
Mr. Crane had been earning more than $100,000 a year operating heavy machinery at Delco, a former unit of General Motors. He worked there for 23 years, since graduating from high school. But when he lost his job he was thrust into a netherworld of part-time gigs: working the registers at Taco Bell, organizing orders at McDonald's, whatever he could find.
"I thought it would be temporary," says Mr. Crane, 49 years old. Three years later, he is selling outdoor furniture by day and pumping gas by night, while worrying about his skills atrophying and spending scant time with his teenage son. He makes about a third of his former pay.
Mr. Crane is part of a growing group of underemployed -- people in part-time jobs who want full-time work or people in jobs that don't employ their skills. Since the recession began two years ago, the number of people involuntarily working part-time jobs has more than doubled to 9.3 million, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, the highest number on record.
The proliferation of underemployed could represent a profound reordering of the employment structure. Many people who had comfortable full-time jobs with benefits and advancement opportunities now are cobbling together smaller jobs often at lower pay, in a shift that economists say could become permanent for many individuals stuck in the cycle. Underemployment, along with unemployment, is widely seen as a force slowing the economic recovery.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Machine operator making $100K???
I heard janitors were making over $65K
Then they wonder why the japanese are making better cars cheaper...AND WHERE THEIR JOBS WENT
"Only two jobs? Why you lazy lima bean."
“Machine operator making $100K???”
This may be an extreme case, but I agree with the article, the lack of high paying jobs is hurting the recovery along with a number of other causes, real and imagined.
Ok, Do we feel sorry for him? Not sure.
I had two Bachelors and 20 years experience before I started making above 100K.
Sounds like he needs a third job.
Same here. Not quite as much as my husband made but close. Four career changes later...not by choice..no health insurance no retirement. Back to school ...two more degrees later a total of four degrees.. He’s in his mid 50’s. No one wants to hire a fifty plus year-old. Age discrimination.Employers afraid of health issues. How do you prove it? Crazy isn’t it....
p4l
“I had two Bachelors and 20 years experience before I started making above 100K.”
Assuming you have a service job, it is to be expected that in the short run, people in manufacturing do better, it should be in the long term though that you will exceed them in earning power.
Sumpin’ don’t add up. He’s 49. Lost his job 3 years ago. That would make him 46 at that time. Worked there 23 years since he graduated high school. So he graduated at age 23?
Ok, go to college (twice) and end up the same place as an euipment jockey.. looks like in the long term we ended up the same. I am pretty coordinated(private pilot) I guess I could learn his job skill in about two hours...tops.
LOL, maybe. A machine operator can mean a lot of things.
I sure hope he’s been socking some of that away in some form.
I know a guy who was earning $100k in a Ford engine plant in 1988! Drilling holes. That included overtime.
How do you prove it??? You can’t. Best of luck you and your husband.
“Machine operator making $100K???
I heard janitors were making over $65K
Then they wonder why the japanese are making better cars cheaper...AND WHERE THEIR JOBS WENT”
That was exactly my thought. High school graduate makes 6 digits. No wonder we are not competitive.
Under-employed now, or over-employed then? Bet it was a union job that is done for half in non-union plants.
maybe 4 yrs in the service.
He might have been a tool & die maker. Try to explain that to a reporter and it comes out "machine operator".
This guy is not just a machine operator. He is a heavy equipment operator. This is a skilled job and requires a lot of experience and the ability to work your way up through the ranks, and survive a dangerous job, working with heavy equipment, lead dust and battery acid. I am sure a lot of those hours were OT.
With out a lot of shipping or building there is little need for his skills.
I don’t have degrees, but I have been working on computers for 20 years. I make 1/2 of what this guy made and am happy to get it rather then trying to scrape by on fast food wages.
depending on state-In NYS,100k salary is pretty much going to be 55k after taxes. Yes,you should save something but its alot less than the topline number makes one think it should be.
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