Laid-off workers growing desperate

Bergen Record ^ | December 7, 2002 | By KATHLEEN LYNN, CHARLES AUSTIN, AND ALLISON PRIES

[marbren]

I want to cut the taxes also.

[Benrand]

Odd that they only interviewed people in cyclic industries like landscaping and construction.

You mean there's no landscaping work in NY in December??? Oh no! That can't be!

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

you are pretty foolish...and ignorant too.

[marbren]

I sense you are very intelligent. How does an economy work without products to sell?

[marbren]

Remember when we were upset about a $10 billion monthly trade deficit? Last August it was $50 billion. Things are moving much faster than we think.

[sausageseller]

Dem wit talking points:Dorothy Boston, a staffing consultant at JSP Associates in Hasbrouck Heights, said she hasn't seen people this desperate in her 30 years working in human resources

Did she miss the Carter years?

[America's Resolve]

you are pretty foolish...and ignorant too.

The bunch of them are. It hasn't hurt them YET, so it's easy to sit back and laugh at the ones who are out of work and call them lazy.

I've been a professional computer consultant for over 18 years and have been out since March. I'm not even finding people willing to talk about interviews. And this is after getting a dozen calls a week during previous down times.

It's not the people that have the problem here. It's the economy. THERE AIN'T NO JOBS! Unless you wanna be a burger flipper.

[pabianice]

That's not an option for James Battle, a construction worker from Newark. He's a single parent with three children. "But I'll do anything," he said, "really anything, because I've got three little girls to support."

What about child support from his ex-wife? Oh. Sorry. I forgot. Only men have to pay child support...

[FITZ]

I think I have identified why this guy does not have a job. There are guys out there who will take any job at $12 an hour and even at $11 an hour. So if you were hiring who would you hire?

In this region I'm living in only one out of three jobs pays over $10 an hour and just as many pay minimum wage. Of course people making minimum wage usually qualify for food stamps, WIC, HUD and lots of other freebies. We should eliminate the minimum wage so people can work for $2.00 an hour.

[FITZ]

I want to cut the taxes also.

I do too ---there's no way I can live on minimum wage and pay my property taxes alone which here are very high for just an average house ---partially because we have so many jobless people that still have kids to send to school and don't pay taxes themselves. I don't see how we're going to cut taxes with so many people out of work unless we let them die. Jobs are leaving this country, for some reason people think it's good for us not to have jobs in the US.

[Koblenz]

IMPROPER GRAMMER ALERT

I don't watch Frasier, so I wouldn't know.

[another cricket]

What about child support from his ex-wife? Oh. Sorry. I forgot. Only men have to pay child support...

Sorry, women do have to pay child support. There have been quite a few cases. General rule is that non-custodial parent pays child support. At least in my state this is so, maybe New York is different.

a.cricket

[southern rock]

Now, where is this fellow's self-esteem? ...Why stop at merely an hourly demand? Why not insist that he'll accept any postion as long as it pays over 7 digits annually,....perks to be negotiated. /sarcasm off

Ummm... Could it be that he is actually an American citizen with a family and responsibilities, and not some illegal living in a garage? Just accepting any job, at any wage (as some suggest) doesn't do anything to solve people's financial problems

[Koblenz]

Unemployment of 6% isn't horrible, especially compared to previous economic downturns. Probably half of the 6% that are unemployed really don't need jobs: these are people that used to work in a job more for something to do than for the money, and their families are still provided for by their spouses. There are other people who are contemplating a career change and are currently unemployed, and others who are planning to go to Law School, Business School, etc., and either quit or lost their job before school starts.

There are of course many people who are unemployed and actively seeking work. Many of these people have more than adequate access to credit, and are probably holding out for salaries and/or positions that they probably aren't qualified for. They either reject or don't seek jobs that they don't believe are good enough for them, for whatever reason, and instead live off their Amex or Home Equity Line. Not all of course: some are genuinely productive and out of work, but it certainly isn't the entire 6%.

[JENINMO]

Most company lay-offs happen in November and December. Obviously, this means that you won't have a lot of job opportunity in those months.........

[another cricket]

In this region I'm living in only one out of three jobs pays over $10 an hour and just as many pay minimum wage.

Yep. When profits are down you hire as cheap as you can, (actually you do this when profits are up too). Bottom line is that something is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it not just what you are willing to sell it for. That is true of everything including labor.

I have a friend who will not take a job that pays less then $15.00 an hour. She has been unemployed for over a year now. I have steered a few jobs her way that pay $11-$12. She won't even consider them. She says that she is worth $15.00 an hour. I have no doubt that she is. But in this area and in her field and with her skills they aren't paying $15.00 an hour. And the longer you are out of work the less likely they are to hire you. Especially considering that she is an older lady with health problems.

a.cricket

[Nuke'm Glowing]

Sorry, but that 6% represents those that have filed for benefits. Contractors and independent businessmen who have lost it all are not counted in the unemployment figures. Add into that those that have used up their benefits and have not found work and we might actually begin to sort through the web of false statistics first created by the Klintoon Labor and Commerce departments. I think that we have a much larger problem. A nation which can not sustain it's own manufacturing base, especially in key industries, will become a hostage to those countries which have those industries. We have allowed ourselves to become hostages to OPEC oil for political reasons only (envirowhackos and so-called 3rd World stability). Be wary as we are exporting our service jobs at a frightening pace also. The so called hi-tech jobs which everyone gloated about being "secure" in the 90's are being auctioned out to the lowest bidder in India at a terrifying pace.

[chimera]

Unless you wanna be a burger flipper.

But, eventually, is it not true that even the burger flippers will disappear, if there is no one around with the money to eat at Mac's? The old saying about an ebbing tide lowering all boats seems to be true. If we become a society of insurance salesmen and lawyers suing the insurance salesmen, what happens when the lawyers put the last insurance saleman out of business, or, even if they don't, when we've sold all the insurance to each other that we can afford? Because of this, I've always questioned the theory that a transition to a "service economy" is nothing to worry about, because for a "service economy" to work, you always need something around that needs and can pay for "service". I'm not saying I believe its a zero-sum game, but there seems to be a need for a mix of relatively healthy and diverse sectors to grease the rails of a sustainable economy, with each contributing at least at some minimum level to the overall mix. Once a sector drops below that minimum level, everyone else seems to be dragged down. Big duh there, I know, but I'm not a trained economist...

[Nuke'm Glowing]

""I'll take anything as long as I'm making more than $13 an hour," he said."

Now, where is this fellow's self-esteem? ...Why stop at merely an hourly demand? Why not insist that he'll accept any postion as long as it pays over 7 digits annually,....perks to be negotiated. /sarcasm off "

The funny thing is if the idiot would bail out of New Jersey like many already have, he would find that $7.00 an hour in the south is the same as $13.00 in NJ. Too bad these idiots think that the government can solve all their problems. They've voted for the tax loving horndog politicians for 70 plus years in these states and then wonder why they can't get work because most of the industry has moved to the non-union southern states or overseas. Go figure.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Unemployment is ok as we have NAFTA, diversity and lots of love for just everybody.