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High tech skills for a low tech person

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by zqueser1

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With the contracting of companies in other countries for technical support, clothing manufacturing, and work from many other industries, what jobs can expected to remain in the U.S.?

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by oz_media

A good question. I assume that ANY job where people are willing to work for nothing will stay in the US. As companies become more competetive and the industry more saturated, prices need to become more competetive too. Outsourcing to third world countries has made WalMart an enormous corporation. Although they employ many Americans to work in the stores, thousands of jobs are farmed out to third world companies due to lower wage requirements and longer working hours. If this outsourcing was to be kept in the USA, WalMart would be one of the largest employers out there. However, in a quest to become the bigest and cheapest, they have denied thousands of Americans employment, yet they are still favored as the best way to shop, go figure.

This is just a mere example of a single company that exploits the workforce of another country while reducing the need for skilled labourers in its own country. How many others are there doing this same thing?
I bought REAL Canadian Maple Syrup for my associates the last time I went to England.
The cute little beaver shaped(the Canadian mascot you pigs!)bottles were SOOOOO Canadian that they were made and filled in China, with legitimate Canadian Maple Syrup of course.

I guess I'd rather employ a Chinese person who needs to eat than have my own kid work for $1.25 hour, he can always work for me and I'll see he gets paid accordingly.

Wierd topic that has me fuming at some of the issues and not caring at all from another angle.

I still wouldn't spend a single dime in WalMart, glad they voted 'nay' to them opening up here. In Vancouver,when I worked as a mechanic, I watched all the prices go up as WalMart took over Woolco and advertised "Watch out for falling prices". Now THAT"S marketing!

by thechas

Management;

Food service;

Retail;

Hospitality;

Construction;

Military;

Law Enforcement;

Government

There are still a few items where the cost of shipping exceeds the cost savings from off-shore manufacturing, so some manufacturing will stay in the US.

Chas

by oldefar

and it never stops.

Step back for a minute and consider. What happened to the workers who watched their labor outsourced to cheap labor markets in the US, Canada, and Australia 100 years ago. What happened to ship wrights when the construction moved to the source of raw material. What happened to the sailors as steam replaced wind, and crew sizes dropped. What happened to the builders of railroads.

One of the key issues in the US up through even today has been the issue of job movement. Factories moving from north to south in pursuit of lower costs.

What I think we are seeing is this now carried out on a global basis. Production moves to lower labor costs. That loss is offset by new products where skill justifies the highercost. Automation and experience allow a lower skill set, and that production again moves pursuing lower labor costs.

Of course, when you are personally caught in the wrong part of the cycle, training for a skilled job that moves as you enter thejob market, it is frightening. Your world collapses and you can lose all hope.

by oldefar

I wish I had a crystal ball to say what the next big thing will be. My guess is it will involve alternative energy in some fashion, since that is a spot that will obviously have a demand. Water is another area that will generate new approaches in the near future. Both may be linked to waste disposal as well.

The direction will not be simply based on best approach. Best marketing and best return on investment will be key factors. It is why we have primarily gasoline engines in automobiles, and why we have PC, and why those use MS OS and applications predominately.

As for traditional high tech (ICT) it offers about as much hope for employment as radio, TV, and recording equipment. Margins are shrinking on services - over 90% in my location for long distance service this year alone.

Best bet on an individual basis is to stay well rounded, stay curious about everything, and be willing to ride whatever wave can lift you up. Anymore, the ride will be short.

by admin

The military isn't going to be outsourcd anytime soon, in fact, as those around the world make more and more goods for us to buy, we will increasingly need to have more workers in our military to keep our producers in all areas safe.

by oz_media

I used to teach Dale Cranegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People" course and this was NOT what it taught me.

The American army is being used as the government's replacement for welfare. If people receive a poor education and are out of luck after finishing grade school, they simply invite them to join the army. This way they get a proper education and a paycheck while still holding some pride in knowing that they have become the country's fighting force.
This way, the givernmentcan outsource EVERYTHING they want at a lower cost and sell it to a consumer driven society.
Sorry, I heard that in a bar a while ago and it just kinda stuck.
I think that, despite past remarks, soldiers that are willing to fight for ANY country, whether they agree with it or not are simply the bravest men and women alive. How much bravery do you think it took for all those Afgan and Iraqi soldiers to sit in hunger and fear for months while attempting the futile protection of their country, whether they belived in the orders and motives or not. Even though they gave up as soon as they could, some even tried to surrender BEFORE the war was officilly declared, they still have some Gargantuan Kohonas !!

That could be a new ACDC song,"We've got the bigest Gargantuan Kohonas of all !!"

by admin

Get me some high-tech skills for a low-tech person
got to keep those payments up on my modular home
my pick-up truck cost more than
my dad paid for the ranch
and my sweetheart is starting to roam...

So I got a beer and some x-10 cameras
gonna find out who's cheatin with my girl
I got a laser sight mounted on the old 30-06
and I'm gonna take that cowboy out for a whirl

then I'll get a job-training gig
down at the prison
and get out for good behavior with some skills
in the high-tech world I'm gonna make a clean livin' and
on the internet gonna find me a new girl.

from the idaho rangelands...... :)

by oz_media

Sorry but I REALLY don't know what your aiming at. I must be getting dumber and dumberer in my old age, that's about the fourth post this week that's made NO sense to me at all.
I assume your just poking back but at least make it fun for the challenged.

OM

by admin

My fault really... all I was saying is that you don't want to emulate Dale Carnegie TOO much in todays world or someone is going to really really take advantage of you. Still, good tools to have. :)

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