Posted on 11/28/2011 9:40:09 AM PST by SeekAndFind
I wonder if UP is going to the WSJ to complain so they can make a case to get Congress to allow them to bring in foreign slave labor. I’m not surprised that they treat their employees like rented mules.
Mostly in the IT space. They would take resumes and then tweak the job description so they could say there were no qualified applicants. Changes had nothing to do with the actual job they needed filled.
They needed people in seats, and senior managers would not authorize salaries for the going rate. Instead of taking less qualified people they decided that H1Bs were the answer. Of course in most cases the H1B person wasn’t any more qualified but they lied well on their resume.
And you have to have the money to pursue it, which the unemployed often do not have. So, a lose-lose/no hope situation.
Sorry but that is just not true. I interviewed for one of those kinds of jobs. you have to have a pristine internet connection (if youre throttled/capped, FORGET it). The kind they have in South Korea. Most ISPs in the U.S. are capping or throttling (mandatory, no way out of it) their customers to price-gouge them.
That was well said. Some thirty years ago, a lot of people looked down their noses at me because I chose military and trade school over a 4-year college that many of my high school classmates went on to (usually to major in some vague area of study such as "liberal arts" or "communications").
Instead of college, I went straight to the U.S. Marine Corps after high school and got four years of electronics training and experience. I then went to a 10-month trade school for electronics and computer repair (this was back in the mid 1980s) and before I even finished that school, I was recruited for a full-time job and had to finish my trade school at night.
So I never got the sheepskin to hang on my wall, nor do I have fond memories of college keg parties and Saturday football. However, I can say that I have no idea what it is like to be unemployed. I've never been fired or laid off and if I wanted a better job than the one I had, I had no problem finding one (while I was still employed at my old job). Haven't made less than six figures in over 15 years. Zero school loans and Zero credit card debt. Just took a two-week trip to Hawaii and Las Vegas that I paid cash for. No I'm not rich but I'm in better shape then most of those college graduates who think they are too good to work blue collar jobs. The sad reality is however, that most of those college grads are not qualified to do skilled work (i.e. electrician, plumber, carpenter) and now that they've moved most pencil pushing and computer jobs overseas, they don't know what to do with themselves.
Dude, if you consider that a a tough work schedule, all I can say is you work for the government....
Yep. You work oilfield, I work oilfield. 60-70 hours a week, I finally found a company that is DOT hours....70 hours max. $18 an hour and time and a half over 40 is GOOD money, apparently FR is littered with old coots with government jobs and hippies....
Must be nice to skip over the rest of the work conditions that are listed as part of the job.
Pass a dope test....outside work....safety glasses, ear plugs and hardhat....have to travel down tracks....welcome to one of the best blue collar jobs in America.....the railroad isn't the Marines.
I saw this article but couldn’t post until now. I have a pending application with UP for a train crew position at a terminal less than 2 miles from where I live. I am fully aware that that job involves risk and that serious injury or death can occur. They were also up front on the application that this job will involve totally irregular hours and an “on call” routine. I am more than willing to take my chances because this is something I’ve wanted to do since I was little. My kids are all grown up and the irregular hours won’t be a concern as far as that’s concerned.
The flip side? I’m 40 and have been working at lower level accounting clerk positions for the last 17 years (I have an associates degree), but do have prevous manufacturing experience. The HR people will probably think I’m nuts for wanting to make that kind of change but I’m hoping to at least get the chance to interview.
? Bro. I'm 50 and was laid off from Lockheed (engineering) after 17 years. Got a CDL and drive in the oilfield now...you'll love it. You aren't going to die....enjoy....;)
Thanks for the encouragement. Unfortunately an out of state move isn’t possible at this time. Another thing I forgot to mention is that I’m blind in my right eye (since birth) but just had cataract surgery on the other eye and can now see better than I ever remember.
Here in NJ, a lot of that work has either dried up as building stopped or been farmed out to illegals (1 skilled Yanqui with a crew of illegals). Workers who worked in those trades could always move to a part of the country where a boom was underway, but that hasn’t been the case in the “he”-cession; the slowdown is national.
“I find a lot of these employer complaints are from companies wanting something for nothing above their idea of market value.”
You’re right; a lot of them want workers who will settle for the “new normal” wage of working for food.
“That is why most on construction sites do not speak English. This is a ploy. The goal is to justify hiring illegal aliens.”
You’re absolutely right; it was done to justify the import of Asians for tech work (leaving many skilled Americans unemployed), and now it is being done with the skilled trades (since they’ve finished removing Americans from the unskilled labor pool). Someone pointed out that this work couldn’t be done from Brazil; it will instead be done by Brazilians imported into the US to keep wages down.
“you throw in an obsolete programing language and a combination of talent/skills that are unlikely to be all in one person.”
A close friend working as a programmer explained the exact same thing to me; just another gimmick to avoid hiring an American.
“This type of scheduling is wreaking havoc on the health of these people, and any planning they do for family events is always tentative. They are not earning that much money to go through this.”
This nonsense has now spread into the part-time job market. Rather than supplementing a standard income, a lot of part-time positions don’t allow for any other work; the hours (both working and “on-call” make it impossible.
Not sure which ISP’s you’re referring to, but the thousands of people my employer employs had no trouble getting the right speed connection.
Change in shift at the last moment. Change of location to anywhere in their system at the last moment. Constantly away from home. Work outside in the snow and ice. I'd rather work in the oil fields with similar requirements (a bit better in my opinion) for three times the pay.
During the housing building boom, contractors around here would often let go an American who was a trained and experienced electrician/plumber/etc. because he would hire on an illegal who underbid the American.
I think some employers were spoiled into thinking that 3rd world pay scale was the norm and thus can’t find anyone willing to train and work for that wage level.
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