Archive for the ‘Unemployment’ Category

Musings of an Unemployed Tech Part 2.0

Friday, August 27th, 2010

They are banging at my door to get in.

I guess there signs the economy is getting better or maybe not. I am getting more and more calls from temporary firm recruiters digging for temporary contract gold; sadly, many of these firms are bottom feeders with low balling wages and no benefits. The line is the same. “We are a national staffing firm and are currently seeking a (insert position) for a prominent client of ours.” This may sound great but one may want step back before saying yes.

I would like to leave the following advice when the call is coming in. First, of all most important unless you know the company, do not automatically accept the offer to submit; some companies are good other companies are just bottom feeders looking to get their feet in the door. May of them will lowball the wage and offer squat for benefits. The second equally important is to know thy company. Get to know the client company; some have exclusive relations with a staffing firm. Find which staffing firm has people located at the client’s campus. Important is many bottom feeding temporary agencies will flat out lie and say they have an exclusive relationship when the film are only are third party submitters. Finally keep good records of each submission. The last thing you need is disqualification from a position you are applying to due to a double submission.

I going to split my thoughts on the economic and retraining into separate post.

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Employers on Strike, Is Atlas Shrugging?

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

This period of joblessness is the worst I ever had. Last year, seven months was bad but this was the weirdest period of unemployment. Last year was a single contact this year In the way of work I had three one-day contacts and one five-day contact.

Three jobs I had start dates were canceled 24 hours before start time.
Two jobs I applied for I told I was no longer in contention, not because somebody else got the job but the company decided not to fill the position.

I may have found the reason. WSJ reported in an article Employers on Strike, with uncertainty of ObamaCare and looming tax hikes companies are sitting on the cash.

“Almost everything Congress has done in recent months has made private businesses less inclined to hire new workers. ObamaCare imposes new taxes and mandates on private employers. Even with record unemployment, Congress raised the minimum wage to $7.25, pricing more workers out of jobs. The teen unemployment rate rose to 26.4% in May, and for those between the ages of 25 and 34 it rose to 10.5%. These should be some of the first to be hired in an expansion because they are relatively cheap and have the potential for large productivity gains as they add skills.”

As a result, the Obama economic meddling is hurting the ones they claim to help. The Unemployed like me. We all should remember this in November.

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Doing Jobs Americans Will Not

Monday, July 5th, 2010

What is going on here?  A Brewster Washington farmer is flying in 300 Jamaican farm workers to pick crops. The issue started during an INS paper check forcing the farmer to let go hundreds of Mexican workers. Conservative statist commentators were dancing in the street that now the farmer forced against his property rights, has to hire real American workers at around $11.00 dollars an hour plus room and board and transportation, not a bad deal for an unemployed native worker.  The farmer tired and the result was no takers. Needing to find workers, he had to look elsewhere.  I do not blame the farmer, he played by the rules.

(more…)

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Musings of An Unemployed Tech Part 1.

Monday, June 28th, 2010

(Based in a replay I made to another blog)
I am a republican I was unemployed from January 2009 to Aug 2009 and again from Mar 2010 to now. I think Unemployment should not be a permanent lifestyle. Furthermore, like government stimulus, unemployment does nothing to create jobs but rob job growth by taking business capital that could go to job creation. Rep Jim McDermott likes to say, “Every dollar spent on unemployment benefits generates a $1.64 increase in economic activity,” That is not true. Government does not and cannot produce wealth; government can only consume and redistribute via tax revenue from the private sector produce. If government takes one dollar from the private sector and give it to me and I spend it on the private sector, the result will be a total of 0.00 in return -$1.00 (taxes ) + $1.00 = zero.

Welfare state only exist to keep people alive and voting Democrat. I only make around 260 a week and have to VA for healthcare. I collect bottles for gas in my tuck then in turn go to estate sales to find stuff to make a profit on Ebay. I could receive food stamps but Unemployment is more of the indignity of being dependant is more I have to stomach for.

The democrats are trying to pass and extension of unemployment beyond 99 weeks; the problem I have is unemployment payments do dissuade people from making the hard decisions in finding work and independence. These decision include could mean moving and seeking work elsewhere, including rural areas and overseas. One may need to walk way from an unaffordable, mortgage and find a one-room apartment for ones family or better yet open a home a boarding house for some who will have to take a lower wage job to survive. $300 to $400 for two hots and a cot do not seem bad.

A note to all you liberal and conservative fools who think all the jobs are shipping to China I have to say this. Get you but off the couch turn of the TV and stop listen to conservative talk radio and read a good book on economics. Basic Economics 3rd Ed: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy by Tomas Sowell is a start. We are not losing job but shedding and shifting the job market from a manufacturing base to a service base. (Design and managing products from development to delivery)

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