Saturday, September 15, 2012

Labor Day and Jobs

In my book, 5 Words and Then Some, I have a section on holidays and I suggest that we try and reflect, at least for a few minutes, what the meaning of those holidays really are. I start with Martin Luther King's birthday and go all the way through to Christmas. Here is what I said in my book about Labor Day:

" These days, I think of all the jobs that are being outsourced to other continents, how medical benefits are being cut, pensions are being eliminated or changed in midstream to the employees' disadvantage, all the layoffs being made to make companies "more profitable," and how the people that are left have to do the work of those who were laid off. I have always believed that you cannot have delighted customers without delighted employees. Take care of your employees, and they will jump through hoops for you. And companies will still make a profit."

Today we have over 20 million workers who are not employed, who are under employed or who have just stopped looking for work. But its not about just any job. How do we create careers and not just jobs. How do we create jobs with a decent salary that you can live on and start a family  and raise a family? And that has decent benefits that both the employee and company contribute to? There was a recent study for the National Employment Law Project that said that 60% of all the jobs created since 2008 have hourly wages between $7.69 and 13.83. That's better than not having a job but is that a career?

Well, I have some ideas on how to create some good  paying jobs that could result in a career. They deal with our infrastructure and energy. And I have even have some ideas on how to pay for them! That column is coming up shortly. Thanking you for your time, this time, until next time,  Regards, FRAN