Plenty of Factory Jobs, but Now Too Few Applicants

The article mentioned the job is an apprenticeship with 'No experience necessary, apprentices willing to hire, willing to train.' , $10 to $12 an hour sounds about right for this kind of skill level.

 

10$ a hour * 40 Hours = 400$
Unemployment >400$ a wk
That >400 is with no gas pay to get to work . . .No paying for lunch .. .cleaning day care .. .etc


That is basic capitalism folx . . . don't be mad at capitalism

That 10$/hr comes with a bunch of auxillary expenses.

Rocket River

 

Am I missing the sarcasm here?

 

nope.
Seriously . . .
You will work harder
Pay more expense
be more inconvienced
for
the privilege of getting less money

That is uncapitalistic to work harder for less pay

Rocket River

 

Yes.... I agree

Also, people need to realize that $400 a week BEFORE taxes ($300 after taxes) is NOTHING in Chicago. There is no doubt you are very poor. So people will next say, that we need to cut unemployment to an EVEN lower amount.... but I do not think that people realize how little money $400 a week is in a place like Chicago... you are just getting by, nothing more.

 

Question then about unemployment.

Does somebody lose it 100% as soon as they find a full time job? I'd rather keep someone on unemployment benefits if they accept an entry job to learn a new skill rather than just slash it entirely. This would help people transition into new roles & learn a new skill...like a temporary income subsidy.

If it comes down to a choice between sitting & home for 60 weeks and getting paid rather than going to work and earning a living, then I'm thinking there's a structural problem with unemployment.

 

Entry level people would not be getting >400/week.

 

True
I think we need to see more info on who these people
telling him they would rather stay unemployed are

Rocket River

 

If it was this simple, why aren't all the people out there making minimum wage and not getting unemployment benefits or being lazy applying for this 50% raise?

 

You have to be employed for a certain amount of time before you get benefits. You also only get a percentage of what you made before. People making 1600 aren't getting 1600 from UE. People making 6-7k are better off trying to make 6-7k than 1.6k a month.

 

I didn't read they were being offered that .. . . I read they were offered 10~12
which is 1600 ~ 1920 a month. and that is not TAKE HOME

Rocket River

 

Keep in mind that this is entry-level apprenticeship pay. Their pay is likely to go up rather quickly after the first year. If you are 18-22 without a college education, this is a really good job to get to start your career. Many factory jobs pay very well after a few years of experience..more than many entry-level college degree required jobs. You could be 22, no college loans and making 50K or you could be 22 fresh out of college with $25,000 in debt making $30,000. For people who don't feel like they were cut out for college, some of these factory jobs are really really good opportunities for a career.

 

I hate agreeing with RR. But I like this post.

I don't know how to fix the problem. The fact is, the government nipple tastes better than working.

Maybe drug testing or community service might change the flavor?

 

I wish you would try it and report back to us.

It's too bad that this thread has taken an interesting problem and turned it into a tired list of platitudes being dully trotted out.

 

Are you really advocating drug testing for unemployment benefits?

If someone is busy doing community service for their unemployment benefits, when are they supposed to look for a job?

Wow.

 

The better fix would be for people to offer living wages for jobs. Then government checks wouldn't be so tempting. When people offer crappy wages, it shouldn't be too surprising that they don't get the workers they need.

That's how capitalism works.

 

Why aren't people offering better wages?

 

I don't think there's one answer. Greed, poor economy, misinformation, not enough capital, etc.

 

I understand that but . . . Alot of the unemployed don't fit this mold.
Just starting out type folx

Rocket River

 

Which would be nice for unemployment benefits to work in conjunction with a job like this so people could get trained up on new skills without taking a massive pay cut. Get maybe $500 UE [underemployment in this sense] + the $12/hr until the apprenticeship is over. Guarantee you any small business owner here would invest in somebody in that situation if they knew they were getting somebody for the long term & pay them better than they would the 22 yr old DFW mentions at the conclusion of the apprenticeship.

Does the govt even offer underemployment benefits? That's a true safety net with dignity. Otherwise, we all lose.