Pew Research: Increasing Number of Americans Outside Labor Force Don't Want a Job

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Mai72

Lifer
Sep 12, 2012
11,578
1,741
126
Why work!!

I want to play video games, drink pop, and eat doritos!
 

Angry Irishman

Golden Member
Jan 25, 2010
1,883
1
81
The government will take care of all of them. Why work at all? Those evil employers are never going to pay them enough anyway. Everyone should start in high school at $20 bucks an hour. Even better lets just distribute income for free! The money can just be printed after all.
 

TheSlamma

Diamond Member
Sep 6, 2005
7,625
5
81
The government will take care of all of them. Why work at all? Those evil employers are never going to pay them enough anyway. Everyone should start in high school at $20 bucks an hour. Even better lets just distribute income for free! The money can just be printed after all.
And we have just the right amount of suckers to do the printing while everyone else sits back and complains about how "underwhelmed" they are with all the work everyone is doing.

If employers can't get the labor here it's going to just continue to head overseas even more than it already has and all we seem to have left now is service companies who are constantly backlogged.
 
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Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,752
4,562
136
The federal government spends so much money, and regulates so many businesses, that there is nothing left for a business owner. He's taxed, and regulated to hell and back.

Therefore his employees suffer. He has to get them as efficient as possible, to try and make a profit. He works them to the bone, but makes sure their hours are just under federal full-time regulations, so he doesn't have to insure them.

Fuck Government.

I don't want to work for you too.

-John

If only government deregulated big business more and dismantled full time workers guarantee to benefits the work would become less of a grind and the company would at last be able to devote itself to the needs of it's overworked employees like they've always wanted to, but never previously could. Because of government.
 

doubledeluxe

Golden Member
Oct 1, 2014
1,074
1
0
I can't read this on my phone but my first question is how do they decide this? On a surface level it seems to me just a way for the government to keep unemployment numbers down.
 

1prophet

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
5,313
534
126
Fuck you from all the people who work at Walmart as the best they could find and fuck Walmart for having a business model that takes advantage of the numbers of those without work to profit their bottom line.


And fuck all you who are responsible for the low pay because you are always looking for the cheapest (outsourcing and illegals), but when it's your turn you want the highest pay and benefits for the least amount of work.

Just like in the days of slavery when the north used to point a finger at the south for owning slaves but didn't think twice about the economic benefits they reaped from it.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,599
19
81
Hell, I don't really want a job either.



But I kind of need one to live the way I want to live, so I have one.



I do like the idea of a safety net that helps people who do have shitty luck in life. Plenty of life is reliant on luck, good or bad. I don't like the idea of giving everyone assistance for life if they just want to be lazy. You can be lazy if you choose. You're just not going to get a lot of money, and maybe you'll find yourself living in an unheated shack in the woods, or under a particularly comfortable bridge. Decisions have consequences.

Interesting times ahead though, with increasingly-capable automation available. Employers have shown that they don't want to hire people for manufacturing jobs. They want to have robots do the work. And the consumers have kept pursuing cheaper and cheaper options, which usually means a drive to cut costs, either by exploiting free trade stuff that seems designed to push labor offshore, or by using advanced automation.

I recently came across a video clip, I think it was posted in OT, of Mr Rogers showing a "how it's made" sort of thing on crayons. It must have been at least 20 years old. I was surprised by how slow the equipment was, and by how many people were in the factory. Watching How It's Made now, many of the factories making consumer goods have very few people, and thanks to vision systems and high-speed motion controllers, the equipment now moves faster than the TV cameras can adequately capture and it does in-process inspection.

I'm not sure that our society knows what to do with a bunch of well-educated people looking for jobs that'll be able to pay for the absurd cost of college.
 

unokitty

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2012
3,346
1
0

Alot. Everyone has been brain washed into thinking real work = for suckers...

US labor force participation rate hits lowest level since 1978
The share of US working-age adults who are in the labor force fell to the lowest level in 36 years, according to the monthly jobs report published Friday by the Labor Department.

While the economy added an estimated 248,000 jobs and the official unemployment rate fell from 6.1 to 5.9 percent, these headline figures hide a more fundamental reality. Six years after the financial collapse of 2008, the labor market remains stagnant and an increasing portion of the population has simply given up hope of ever finding work.
Work is for suckers? That's one explanation for the decline of people in the work force.

If the 1% can live off their investments; and the poor can live off of government programs; who does that leave?

And who is the government is targeting with their 'wealth redistribution' programs?

And they keep leaving the workforce?

Who'da thunk it?

Uno
 
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Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
Hell, I don't really want a job either.



But I kind of need one to live the way I want to live, so I have one.



I do like the idea of a safety net that helps people who do have shitty luck in life. Plenty of life is reliant on luck, good or bad. I don't like the idea of giving everyone assistance for life if they just want to be lazy. You can be lazy if you choose. You're just not going to get a lot of money, and maybe you'll find yourself living in an unheated shack in the woods, or under a particularly comfortable bridge. Decisions have consequences.

Interesting times ahead though, with increasingly-capable automation available. Employers have shown that they don't want to hire people for manufacturing jobs. They want to have robots do the work. And the consumers have kept pursuing cheaper and cheaper options, which usually means a drive to cut costs, either by exploiting free trade stuff that seems designed to push labor offshore, or by using advanced automation.

I recently came across a video clip, I think it was posted in OT, of Mr Rogers showing a "how it's made" sort of thing on crayons. It must have been at least 20 years old. I was surprised by how slow the equipment was, and by how many people were in the factory. Watching How It's Made now, many of the factories making consumer goods have very few people, and thanks to vision systems and high-speed motion controllers, the equipment now moves faster than the TV cameras can adequately capture and it does in-process inspection.

I'm not sure that our society knows what to do with a bunch of well-educated people looking for jobs that'll be able to pay for the absurd cost of college.

Easily the most insightful post in this thread. Thank you.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136



US labor force participation rate hits lowest level since 1978
Work is for suckers? That's one explanation for the decline of people in the work force.

If the 1% can live off their investments; and the poor can live off of government programs; who does that leave?

And who is the government is targeting with their 'wealth redistribution' programs?

And they keep leaving the workforce?

Who'da thunk it?

Uno

I do love all the well propagandized assumptions in that POV.

You do realize, I hope, that there wouldn't be any more people employed today at a higher labor force participation rate- there would just be a higher reported unemployment rate.

If blaming the victims is what you need to do to wear your smug, you'll obviously find a way.
 

rudder

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
19,441
86
91
Standard right wing bullshit. It's like getting a flight when all the airlines are booked & overbooked. It doesn't change the number of seats available.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2014/nov/12/study-skilled-worker-shortage-hurts-nevada/

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles...y-skills-gap-could-compromise-competitiveness

When you give so many incentives for people to stay put on government benefits this is what you get. Why move out of Chicago when you have subsidized rent, food stamps, welfare, etc.
 

OverVolt

Lifer
Aug 31, 2002
14,278
89
91
I can't read this on my phone but my first question is how do they decide this? On a surface level it seems to me just a way for the government to keep unemployment numbers down.

Unemployment is a rolling 4 week period of persons without a job who have applied for a job. People really are applying less for jobs.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2014/nov/12/study-skilled-worker-shortage-hurts-nevada/

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles...y-skills-gap-could-compromise-competitiveness

When you give so many incentives for people to stay put on government benefits this is what you get. Why move out of Chicago when you have subsidized rent, food stamps, welfare, etc.

No, it's what you get when employers have enjoyed decades of downsizing in technical trades, exploiting an abundance of qualified boomer labor to hold down wages & eliminate in house training. It's what happens when you trade in tomorrow for short term gains, for 30 years. It's what happens when you offshore & automate what were previously entry level jobs as part of abandoning training entirely. It's America's financial elite whining about a situation they created, and chumps like you buying into it in that self righteous way that only Righties can master.

It's not the govt benefits, it's the fact that employers still want journeymen at apprentice wages & all the journeymen are getting old because employers didn't train their replacements. Move from Detroit to Texas? Why? They won't hire you there, either, because you're not a journeyman.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,681
136
Unemployment is a rolling 4 week period of persons without a job who have applied for a job. People really are applying less for jobs.

And the difference between 5 people applying for 1 job and only 3 applying affects overall employment in what way, exactly? Do more applicants automagically create more jobs? Does U6 change when more people are actively seeking work that isn't there?
 

DrDoug

Diamond Member
Jan 16, 2014
3,579
1,629
136
Get some skills and aim a little higher than Walmart and minimum wage.

If everybody did that, who would do those jobs? Would the reduced number of available workers for those jobs drive up wages, thereby attracting people back to those jobs? Another question is if the increased number of educated workers will depress the wages of the fields they are entering, or will those educated workers be forced into low paying jobs because there are no positions open for them.

We need these workers at the bottom, don't we? They are going to exist, no matter what, because the demand is there. If we need them don't you think they should be paid enough to not qualify for government benefits while working a 40 hour work week? The taxpayers are subsiding the wages of employees at places like WalMart. IOW, even though you don't want to pay them more at their job, you are paying them in government benefits. One way or the other, you are paying. Why not make the companies pay that extra money and fight for your business through pricing, competing against each other.

That's the way to reduce the welfare rolls and you can decide where to put your money.
 

ivwshane

Lifer
May 15, 2000
32,324
15,123
136
If everybody did that, who would do those jobs? Would the reduced number of available workers for those jobs drive up wages, thereby attracting people back to those jobs? Another question is if the increased number of educated workers will depress the wages of the fields they are entering, or will those educated workers be forced into low paying jobs because there are no positions open for them.

We need these workers at the bottom, don't we? They are going to exist, no matter what, because the demand is there. If we need them don't you think they should be paid enough to not qualify for government benefits while working a 40 hour work week? The taxpayers are subsiding the wages of employees at places like WalMart. IOW, even though you don't want to pay them more at their job, you are paying them in government benefits. One way or the other, you are paying. Why not make the companies pay that extra money and fight for your business through pricing, competing against each other.

That's the way to reduce the welfare rolls and you can decide where to put your money.


I don't know why people don't understand this. Businesses don't have incentives to pay their low wage employees more when the employee can get benefits from the government? Especially when their jobs are the only game in town (I don't mean that literally but when it comes to supplying low wage jobs walmart has the most).
 

OverVolt

Lifer
Aug 31, 2002
14,278
89
91
And the difference between 5 people applying for 1 job and only 3 applying affects overall employment in what way, exactly? Do more applicants automagically create more jobs? Does U6 change when more people are actively seeking work that isn't there?

Its a percentage of the population who have applied for a job within the last 4 weeks. Doesn't matter if 6% of the population sent out 1 application each or 100 each.
 

michal1980

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2003
8,019
43
91
If everybody did that, who would do those jobs? Would the reduced number of available workers for those jobs drive up wages, thereby attracting people back to those jobs? Another question is if the increased number of educated workers will depress the wages of the fields they are entering, or will those educated workers be forced into low paying jobs because there are no positions open for them.

We need these workers at the bottom, don't we? They are going to exist, no matter what, because the demand is there. If we need them don't you think they should be paid enough to not qualify for government benefits while working a 40 hour work week? The taxpayers are subsiding the wages of employees at places like WalMart. IOW, even though you don't want to pay them more at their job, you are paying them in government benefits. One way or the other, you are paying. Why not make the companies pay that extra money and fight for your business through pricing, competing against each other.

That's the way to reduce the welfare rolls and you can decide where to put your money.

want higher wages at the bottom? Stop allowing unlimited illegal immigration. Create a worker shortage.
 

Bowfinger

Lifer
Nov 17, 2002
15,776
392
126
Its a percentage of the population who have applied for a job within the last 4 weeks. Doesn't matter if 6% of the population sent out 1 application each or 100 each.
I think you are missing his point. Assume our economy has 100 jobs and 200 potential workers. If 106 people want to work at those 100 jobs, we have ~6% unemployment. If 200 people want to work, we still only have 100 jobs so we have 50% unemployment. Either way, we only have 100 people working. Increasing the workforce participation rate does not magically increase the number of jobs available, and thus does not increase employment.
 

Matt1970

Lifer
Mar 19, 2007
12,320
3
0
If everybody did that, who would do those jobs? Would the reduced number of available workers for those jobs drive up wages, thereby attracting people back to those jobs?

Yes, as a matter of fact it would.
 

Subyman

Moderator <br> VC&G Forum
Mar 18, 2005
7,876
32
86
Graph seems weird. Does that graph include retired people? All it says is 16 and over. Baby boomers are retiring, so of course the number is going to go up if it isn't corrected for the retired populace.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
72,685
6,195
126
want higher wages at the bottom? Stop allowing unlimited illegal immigration. Create a worker shortage.

Great idea michal, destroy competition. While we are at it, we need a law that says only I can do the job I do. But I think, using your special mental gifts, we could do the same thing by lowering the work week to one hour. This will put lots more money into the economy, and give people vastly more leisure time to spend. No double dipping allowed though. Anybody found working more that one job would have to be killed. And by leaving the borders open we will have lots and lots of new folk here to fight the politicians wars. The only hitch I can see is that it might take almost a million people to make one M16. Eh, we'll find a way. The government is used to inefficiency.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
72,685
6,195
126
If everybody did that, who would do those jobs? Would the reduced number of available workers for those jobs drive up wages, thereby attracting people back to those jobs? Another question is if the increased number of educated workers will depress the wages of the fields they are entering, or will those educated workers be forced into low paying jobs because there are no positions open for them.

We need these workers at the bottom, don't we? They are going to exist, no matter what, because the demand is there. If we need them don't you think they should be paid enough to not qualify for government benefits while working a 40 hour work week? The taxpayers are subsiding the wages of employees at places like WalMart. IOW, even though you don't want to pay them more at their job, you are paying them in government benefits. One way or the other, you are paying. Why not make the companies pay that extra money and fight for your business through pricing, competing against each other.

That's the way to reduce the welfare rolls and you can decide where to put your money.

What a joy to see some folk around who can actually think.
 
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