Where Are Those Jobs?

[rally2xs]

Well, here's one...


q13fox.com/2018/04/30/railroad-companies-desperate-for-workers-offer-hiring-bonuses-up-to-25000/

[No. 1 son]

This is a sign I saw in Tacoma/Seattle last week. Signs all over the place for help, but I saw a lot of young people just lying around the street in the day. They passed the $15 min wage a year ago, and no one is tipping, and the homeless problem is so bad that the state is going to use road tax money to try and help them. It seems like a perpetual cycle there. It's pretty sad. I don't know if $100k per year with benefits would get you through there in the housing market.

The goob will tell you that the unemployment rate is 3.? %, and yet the participation in the labor force rate keeps going down. I think this is due to the way they count people, not recognizing people that have given up. Just one more little misdirection from the bean counters. graph from zero hedge

[bobathon]

No, you're wrong Larry. Everything is perfect, now. Just perfect. Plenty of railroad jerbs, you just need to pack up and move to them. And hope self driving trucks never appear.

[No. 1 son]

Me work you long time. 

[bobathon]

And those guys even got paid.

[minx]

I clicked on the train opportunities to see what was out there.

The entry-level job for train crew requires re-location to Hinkle, OR - this is a small city about 200 miles from Seattle.
Pay is $40,000, but I couldn't get a good feel for what rent in that area was. The railroad is the largest employer, so if your job doesn't work out, you may be screwed.

The $25,000 bonus was for an electrical job. Among the requirements
Provide verifiable documentation of a minimum of 4 years of combined electrical education and work experience in electronics, control systems, AC/DC motors, OR 4 years of electrical work experience, OR a current journeyman's electrical card. So not entry-level by far.

I've noticed that a lot of these jobs that you read about offering huge bonuses are for positions that require a lot of skill and experience. And almost all of them require you to relocate at your own expense.

If I'm in my 20's, I can probably pack up and go to Hinkle, OR for that starting level job at 40K. OTOH, if I'm in my mid-40's with a family, I don't think it's going to be as easy.

[rally2xs]

Of course this supports my point that, as help becomes more scarce, employers will start competing with each other for help by offering more money. The railroads here are attempting to hire the skilled labor away from some other employer with a $25K bonus. Sooo... they're competing, like I said. Now, when the guy that's working in Texas moves to Oregon, what's going to happen in Texas? His former employer is going to have to try to get help for the empty slot. He's liable to offer a bonus, or just higher wages, or may elect to attempt to train someone into the position. Whatever it is, someone else is going to benefit.

Cost of living in Hinkle? Well, a place to stay is probably #1 on the expenses. Here's some examples:

www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8488-SE-Heritage-Ct_Clackamas_OR_97015_M22090-16500?view=qv

www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/32700-SE-Leewood-Ln_Boring_OR_97009_M29770-88393?view=qv

www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/8130-SE-Iris-St_Milwaukie_OR_97267_M15709-83488?view=qv

That's the low end of what's for sale with a dwelling on it, its manufactured housing, but that's still a step up from trailer park. 1200+ square feet is OK for someone starting out, which a relocator probably is doing, although an experienced electrician probably isn't. The experienced electrician might go for:

www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/17455-S-Bradley-Rd_Oregon-City_OR_97045_M18640-65605?view=qv

and then build something, waiting for the 2nd-year $60K bump-up.

I've read that railway engineers for long-haul get in the $70K's

The jobs are becoming more available. According to what I've read, there's north of 96 million people in the workforce which is more than ever before. Can you find people still goofing off on the street? Yeah, probably. I see lots of road crews apparently doing nothing, but I know they work like dogs when I'm not watching their coffee break.

I think MAGA is working. I'm hoping for more, and think we'll get it if the people don't f-up in November and elect Democrats which will block the prosperity, tax everyone to death again, and create more poor for them to give handouts to in order to buy their votes.

[bobathon]

Yep, plenty of Kool-Aid, if you like it.

[minx]

Just wondering how many single mothers would be able to afford to relocate to Hinkle OR
Also wondering how many of them UP would actually give serious consideration to, especially if they were in their mid-30s or older.

Seems like the industries that are hiring are all looking for employees who are able to do heavy physical labor, or are able to be away from home for weeks at a time.

Truck drivers are treated like shit for the most part, and don't make nearly enough for the hours they have to put in. Yeah, the company may pay for your training, but if you are a single parent, you can forget that job - even short-haul has you working close to 10 hours a day depending on the traffic.

And to be on the railroad crew, you need to be able to lift 50 pounds on a regular basis, and have the ability to lift up to 83 pounds on occasion. Definitely a job for the young, and not the middle-aged.

What I'm waiting to see is when the jobs for those who don't have the ability to do heavy physical labor are going to come back. I'm also waiting for the FT retail jobs to come back as well. There are a lot of good hard-working folks at places like Target who will never be given FT hours or benefits, let alone any chance at moving up. Those jobs are just as important as the manufacturing ones, yet they are all dismissed as jobs for teenagers, and the people who have to rely on several of them to pay the rent are dismissed as too stupid or lazy to do better.

[bobathon]

Yeah, there's no such thing as jobs for kids. Those kids are taking jobs away from adults.