I guess you guys are saying unemployed should move to the oil fields because jobs are so lucrative. Sounds like the days of the gold rush. Boom then bust.
Here in Pa. we "had" a Marcellis shale gas boom. Quite a few of my coworkers left the company to go work the gas fields for some awesome wages. Drilling became so prolific they drove down natural gas prices to the point where companys were losing money drilling. They simply capped what wells they had and cut their drilling back. Lots of folks lost their jobs.
Further, our company decided to jump on the band wagon and bought trucks to work the fields, trucks that cost over $350,000. each...and they bought 4 of them. That doesn't include the new fleet of pickup trucks and other equipment to support the industry. That was last year. Now those trucks sit in the garage idle with no work, dragging our company down. A company we work with also bought new trucks to work in the fields and now they too are being waisted working in a mill running boxes of trash instead of making the big bucks they anticipated.
Being 57 years old and having enjoyed tough physical work most of my life, my body is falling to pieces. I have a hard time pushing a shovel or climbing 100 steps to get to a crane. I have torn muscles, a degenerating back and rapidly advancing arthritis. All this on top of having most of a lung removed back in 1999 and the other lung in need of surgery.
I can't retire for another 10 years and I know my body won't make it. But I plug on because I know SS won't pay my bills. And if and when I lose my job...McDonalds isn't going to pay my bills either.
The division I work for now supports the company and our other branches but our equipment is old and breaks down frquently. I don't believe the owner has any intentions of upgrading anything and is just squeezing every last penny out of us before closing the doors. I haven't had a raise in over 3 years because the company needs to stay competitive. Other companies are becomming very aggressive competetors with newer equipment and are slowly pushing us out because our customer is getting tired of all our breakdowns.
A lot of good unemployed simply cannot just pick up and move to another state. Their lives are invested, their savings are gone. Can the oil fields out their accomodate the millions unemployed? Maybe some young, unattached person may want to take a chance with a move like that with nothing to lose. But so many just can't.
A lot like myself that lose their jobs late in their lives, that lived week to week on crummy wages because we have pride and a sense of responsibility to our families...that have a strong work ethic and will do anything for a pay check. What do they do? Where do they go?
I see men my age now working McDonalds or Walmart that once had decent paying jobs and went the route looking for another decent paying job to pay their utilities and mortgages. Why do you think foreclosures are at a record high?
I cannot afford to save. Everything goes up except my wages and if you pay attention to the economy, many companies ask for concessions from their workers now. Ours did back in 2008! Take concessions or lose your job.
It's not all rosy, even with pink sunglasses.
It is sadly true, the longer people are unemployed, the less chance they have of getting another decent job. And for those of us that are older, we deal with age discrimination. Heck, I saw my own father try to find work back when the recession hit in the 80's. He went from a good welding job to working a parts counter for minimum wage because he was old.
When you've spent your life persuing the American dream, you simply cannot take some low paying job and not expect to see everything you've spent your life working for go down the drain.
The few options that people have listed are good...but few! Not nearly close to an answer to the crisis we have.
My 30 year old daughter went back to college. She and her husband have 4 children between them. He's a plumber and she's a waitress. She just changed her major because the field she wanted to get into now has a surplus of people trying to get into the same field. Too many people and not enough jobs...imagine that! My cousins daughter has a degree in the same field as my daughter was persuing and she is working as a waitress because nothing else is available. Go to college for 4 years, accrue educational loan debts, get a degree...and become a waitress.
This is not the American dream...it's the American nightmare.
Al
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