I wonder if all this underemployment is a goal in and of itself for the GOP. Cause

[applegrove]

Last edited Sat Dec 14, 2013, 10:19 PM - Edit history (1)

it used to be you got a job with your level of education and stayed there for a career. And you did not go out and get a better job that suited your improving talents. And corporations benefitted from that over-qualification of many employees. It made for more productivity.

Now with the unemployment rate high, and the GOP is no hurry to fix it, people are forced to take jobs that don't pay as well, that don't use all their skills. More productivity for CEOs. Just a thought.

It really is class warfare.

[RedCappedBandit]

1. They want people to be desperate.

Desperate people have less agency over their lives. Desperate people will take what they can get in terms of employment, no matter how shitty the wages and benefits.

[2naSalit]

9. ...or conditions nt

[rickford66]

10. it's called cheap labor

The bottom line of everything the GOP stands for is cheap labor. Think it through.

[rurallib]

2. Absolutely - the larger the labor pool, the less management must pay for labor

That includes the part timers and other under employed.
Think about how expanding the labor pool by bringing in undocumented workers helped bust unions.
Add in how expanding the pool to worldwide labor and pitting our wages against countries where the y are paid $1 a day.

Then add in what will happen when SS is destroyed and starving 70 year olds are competing with their kids and grandkids to wait tables at Pizza Hut.

Yep - it ain't no accident.

[applegrove]

3. I'm not talking so much wages & salaries, as I am talking talent being put in jobs

beneath optimal. That extra talent is pure producutivity for the CEO. We know that as wages fall that is more $$ for the corporation. And that they'll do anything for a employers market where they get to lower wages. But until the last few days I had not thought about the extra talent the CEOs get for free by hiring people who are overqualified. That just adds to the attraction of keeping unemployment hight for the right.

[rurallib]

4. true also - sorry I misunderstood

I used to work with an electrical engineer putting orders together in the warehouse. He would be called over by the electrical group for an opinion on what they were about to do about once a week. No extra money.

[applegrove]

5. That's it exactly. They get it for free. Why wouldn't they want unemployment to be

massive?

[rurallib]

6. yep - there is an incredible amount of talent in coffee shops

restaurants, bars and retail stores being wasted.

[applegrove]

7. But there is also talent being used and not paid for. Used by the CEOs

to make profit but not paid for. Like your example.

[okaawhatever]

8. I don't think underemployment is a goal for the CEO's. Unless there is a sustained job shortage,

underemployment leads to turnover, decreased job satisfaction and employee morale issues. I think in some circumstances it might be beneficial, but as a whole underemployment becomes full employment when the economy rebounds. During that same time, workers will be in higher demand placing the CEO in a position where they have to restaff in a more competitive market and pay higher wages. I do think it contributes to the overall desperation and devaluing of our workforce, but I don't think the general underemployment issue is by design.The CEO's want an oversupply of talent to drive down wages, but underemployment doesn't necessarily create that. That is why they would rather offshore some of their jobs, bring in extra workers, have fewer worker protections to keep workers desperate and in fear of termination, but not underemployed. Also, most managers and companies don't want to suppress wages and treat their workers poorly. They want bright capable mature men and women who can be counted on to do their jobs and make the manager's job easier and the product they sell more valuable. Much of the worker hurting legislation is being done by neo-cons as a way to promote a bigger agenda that requires desperate workers competing at world average wages and without job protection. The companies just help pay for it because it benefits them in the long run.

[applegrove]

11. For sure some corporations are following. I'm obviously talking about

Last edited Sun Dec 15, 2013, 12:12 AM - Edit history (1)

the social engineering the powerful GOP types do. And being a follower is no excuse.