Job Retraining May Fall Short of High Hopes
Job Retraining May Fall Short of High Hopes
Date: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 5:36 PM
<<<<< JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER No. 2037 -- 7/08/2009 >>>>>
Sometimes it's interesting to see how a major newspaper like the New York
Times can do such good reporting and yet fail to mention the obvious.
Take for instance the story of Mike Hutchins, a 58 year old unemployed
automotive engineer. He went to a local community college to get some training
to be a civil engineering technician. The NYT noted that Hutchins has been
unable to find a job as a technician. Despite talking to labor experts the NYT
never came up with a good explanation for the problems Hutchins is having.
The reason is very simple: Given a choice, employers will never hire a 58 year
old for an entry level position when they can hire a 22 year old.
Employers no longer put a value on years of experience so the fact that
Hutchins has been in engineering for decades doesn't help him. If anything his
years of experience are detrimental because employers will worry that he might
leave to find a better paying engineering job.
As long as there are young people entering the labor market the odds are
against those like Hutchins who are hoping that some extra education will help
them to find a new job. While it is true that there is a limited number of
young people in the U.S. companies don't have to rely on local labor supplies
-- H-1Bs are mostly young and male, which is exactly what employers want. The
flood of young workers into the U.S. is a major problem for aging baby boomers
because age discrimination is very prevalent, especially in high-tech.
Government programs that attempt to educate people to "trade down" for lower
level jobs are doomed to failure. Even the NYT acknowledges that 60% of these
retrained professionals get jobs in something releted to their new education.
I included a Huffingtonpost blog where a jobless reporter is interviewed.
Her mistake is similar that of Hutchins -- she going back to school to get a
teacher's certificate at the age of 41. She will have the same problem as
Hutchins when it comes time to find a real job.
About Huffingtonpost
The Huffingtonpost website censors replies that are contrary to liberal dogma.
They have thought police that censor anything they deem to be politically
incorrect. As an example, I tried posting this as a comment but they wouldn't
post it:
It's rather ironic that a reporter for FT.com is unemployed
considering that magazine is a shortage shouter that advocates
offshore outsourcing and the importation of foreign guest worker
immigrants with visas such as H-1B. Jennifer West will have a
tough time finding a teaching job since schools are not
interested in hiring entry level teachers that are over the age
of 40.
I'm not sure, but the keyword that probably triggered the Huffingtonpost
censors was probably "immigrants" or "H-1B". If you want to test their system,
try posting a comment anywhere on the site with term "illegal alien" -- that's
a red flag alarm for the Huffington thought police. Using terms like "illegal
alien" or immigrant can actually get you banned from the web site!
It's unfortunate for Jennifer and the readers of that website that they aren't
allowed a diversity of opinion that could further their understanding of the
employment problems they are experiencing.
Huffingtonpost preaches "diversity" but practices something closer to fascism.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/us/06retrain.html?_r=1&ref=us
July 6, 2009
Job Retraining May Fall Short of High Hopes
By MICHAEL LUO
CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- For the second time in three years, Mike Hutchins,
a laid-off automotive engineer, is preparing to enroll in job retraining at a
local community college, this time to become a civil engineering technician.
But he has no idea if he has chosen the right path.
"I m fumbling around in the dark," said Mr. Hutchins, 58.
The industry where Mr. Hutchins worked for 25 years has shriveled. The courses
in computer-aided design that he finished last year in his initial effort at
retraining failed to lead to employment. "I m looking for a job that will give
me some type of a future," he said.
Tens of thousands of laid-off workers like Mr. Hutchins have turned to
retraining as a lifeline. Yet for all the popularity of these government-
financed programs, there are questions about whether they actually work, even
as President Obama s stimulus plan directs $1.4 billion more to retraining and
other services for people who have lost their jobs.
In Michigan, where the unemployment rate in May was 14.1 percent, the nation s
highest, 78,000 people are enrolled in the state s No Worker Left Behind
program and 7,800 are on the waiting list. At the Michigan Works job center
here, where Mr. Hutchins applied for retraining money, the wait to attend an
orientation session is up to two months.
Nonetheless, a little-noticed study the Labor Department released several
months ago found that the benefits of the biggest federal job training program
were "small or nonexistent" for laid-off workers. It showed little difference
in earnings and the chances of being rehired between laid-off people who had
been retrained and those who had not.
In interviews, the authors of the study and other economists cited several
reasons that retraining might not be effective. Many workers who have lost
their jobs are older and had spent their lives working in one industry. In
need of a job right away, many pick relatively short training programs, which
often have marginal benefits. Job retraining is also ineffective without job
creation, a point made by several economists who have long cautioned against
placing too much stock in it. Finally, workers trying to pick a new field
cannot predict the future of the labor market, especially in a time of
economic upheaval.
"I can t tell you with any degree of certainty, and I ve been doing it for 20
years, what the hot jobs are going to be," said one of the authors, Kenneth R.
Troske, an economics professor at the University of Kentucky.
An examination by The New York Times of one group of laid-off workers -- 36
people who finished their retraining at Macomb Community College just outside
Detroit at about the same time as Mr. Hutchins, from May to August
2008 -- found that at least 60 percent appeared either not to be working or to
be in jobs unrelated to their training.
Several had jobs but then lost them later, according to state wage records and
interviews. And a review of wages for several employed workers before and
after training showed that almost all had lost ground.
Kelly White, 55, spent 30 years in the printing industry before her job
disappeared because of automation. So in January 2007, about a year after Ms.
White was laid off from a small company, where she earned $16 an hour, she
began studying for an associate s degree at Macomb Community College to become
a repairer of electronic equipment.
Before enrolling in classes, Ms. White checked state labor market data and
found that hers was a field where jobs were expected to grow robustly -- a
requirement for Michigan Works to pay for up to $10,000 in classes over two
years.
But after finishing her degree in May 2008 with a 3.45 grade-point average,
she found the market for electronics service technicians to be smaller than
she had expected. She believes that it has also become saturated with
unemployed people who have more experience than her.
"Unfortunately, by the time I graduated, the whole economy, especially here in
southeast Michigan, went south," Ms. White said. In the Detroit area, the 10-
year projection for her field by state analysts now shows a 1.2 percent
decline.
After several months of unsuccessfully seeking work related to her degree, Ms.
White landed a part-time job driving a school bus. It pays $13 an hour.
Andy Levin, deputy director of the Michigan Labor and Economic Growth
Department, pointed out that the state s economic woes made it hard to judge
its retraining efforts. But Mr. Levin said he believed the state s focus on
longer-term training for occupations showing growth would bear fruit.
"My position is this: Unless you have a highly educated work force, you really
don t have much of a chance," he said.
Mr. Hutchins lost his $86,000-a-year job at an automotive supply company in
late 2005 and, after being unable to find work for two years, took classes in
a computer system used by designers in the auto industry and elsewhere.
Even though the auto industry has imploded, industrial design is still listed
as a "demand occupation" and is eligible for training money. (Case managers at
the job center here said they often scratched their heads over what
occupations state labor market analysts identified as "high growth.")
After he finished training in May 2008, Mr. Hutchins actually landed a job as
an automotive engineer, unrelated to the classes he took. But he was again
laid off in October.
He has since sent out as many as 15 risumis a day but has had no interviews.
The design jobs he has found seem to require at least two years experience.
The No Worker Left Behind program normally gives participants one chance at
retraining. Desperate, Mr. Hutchins s wife, Jill, wrote a letter to Gov.
Jennifer M. Granholm of Michigan, attaching his risumi and asking for advice.
In part because of help from Ms. Granholm s office, Mr. Hutchins won approval
for additional training. But what should he study this time?
Hearing about efforts to attract the film industry to Michigan, the couple
wondered if he might become a grip, adjusting sets and lighting. They
concluded that there were probably not enough jobs to be had.
They seized upon the stimulus program s investment in public works as a place
for job growth. But Mr. Hutchins confessed he was uncertain whether those jobs
would still be around in a year and a half when he finished his civil
engineering classes.
"It s a crap shoot," he said. "You re gambling with your life."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/06/down-not-out-laid-off-jou_n_224120.html
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First Posted: 07- 6-09 09:05 AM | Updated: 07- 6-09 09:47 AM
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Read More: Cobra, Down Not Out, Health Insurance, Layoffs, Unemployment,
Unemployment Benefits, Business News
Jennifer West lost her job as an editor over a year ago. She couldn't find a
new gig. Now she's in school to get a master's degree in childhood special
education. The Huffington Post called her up to find out what's happening.
I don't have any income except for unemployment. This is my third extension,
so I've been very lucky. It runs out in September. My health insurance runs
out in November. The prices for private insurance are astronomical. I'm
covered with COBRA till November. It's roughly $450 a month.
How'd you lose your job?
I never saw it coming. I was the night news editor for FT.com. Then I was
called into the conference room by my managing editor. I'd just been talking
to a colleague of mine about how I'd lost my dog, and so I was getting all
weepy. So I said, "You'll have to excuse me. My dog just passed away." And she
said, "Well, I've got some more bad news for you."
All I heard was the word recession, recession, recession. I'm sure there were
words and sentences, but that's all I heard.
Did you get a buyout?
Because it is a European company they're generous in terms of the buyout
package. They were amazing, so for an entire year I didn't have to worry about
money. The only income I've had is unemployment, which is $430 a week.
So how's it been?
Story continues below
It's been a hideous, hideous horrible year emotionally, because my self-esteem
plummeted. I took it personally even though I know they got rid of my
position. For a year I spent some days just in the fetal position in bed. I
got a new dog in March. If not for my dog I had to walk I wouldn't have gone
outside.
How was the job search?
I was getting interviews. I just wasn't getting the job. I'd never been in a
position like that ever. I thought very highly of myself. When I first got
laid off I took the summer off. I thought, "I'm Jennifer West!" When I came
back, the joke was on me. That's when the market completely sank to the
bottom.
How did you decide to go to school?
Right around my one-year anniversary of unemployment, three people I really
respect kept talking about going into teaching. My mom was a schoolteacher.
There was one day it just clicked and it made sense to me, and I had to hustle
and registered for class two days before class started. In May, toward the end
of the month, I did the whole application process. I was very lucky.
I went from horrendous to back to myself again and that's just because I have
hope. When I graduate my debt is going to be like $50,000. But I will graduate
with an MA in education.
What are you going to do for money?
It's a really good question. I might do a work study. I'd rather focus purely
on my education. I don't know what I'm going to do for money. I'm going to
have to do something.
What about freelancing?
I refuse to work in journalism ever again. It's turned its back on me.
But I called you.
But you're not going to hire me.
That's true.
I'm 41. Trying to get back into journalism -- I was booted out and I'm looking
in and I'm seeing 26-year-olds and 25-year-olds interviewing for the jobs I
want. They ask everywhere for one to three years experience.
What happened to 20? Nobody wants that. I'd look around when I interviewed.
A lot of people were really young. The imprint that it made on me. The age
thing. I'm very happy with my career change.
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