The Theory of “Structural” Unemployment and the Jobs That Aren’t Coming Back

[Joanne98]

Is there any hope for the unemployed? Apparently not. Many, says Chrystia Freeland, global editor-in-chief of Reuters news, are people “on the wrong side of history.” The comment came last Saturday during one of CNN’s innocuous chats about the state of the economy where people of note sit around and try to spell out what has gone wrong. Freeland, 32, a Harvard graduate and Rhodes Scholar, was explaining how the stubborn joblessness in the U.S. wasn’t necessarily the result of the recession but is rather “structural,” that is, the result of those looking for work and not finding it lacking the requisite skills for today’s economy. Her fellow panelists seemed to agree, one of them, Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of Economic Cycle Research Institute, saying that most of the jobs being wiped out daily “will not come back.” Then, the moderator read the words of some Republican politician putting responsibility for the jobs crisis on President Obama saying, “I smell the coming of midterm elections.” They all giggled.

Frankly, I couldn’t find anything funny about it. The actions of those in Congress that have held up the extension of benefits to the long-term unemployed are not only politically reactionary but also morally repugnant. It’s easy to understand their continued assault on the concept of empathy; they don’t have any and don’t think anyone else should. And, as far as working women and men being on the “wrong” side of history, well that depends on who’s making it. The fellow who said the jobs are not coming back failed to say where they went.

It’s all so cynical and so much hogwash.
Yes, some of the unemployed would have a better shot at finding work if they had great technical training, and yes there are vacancies in some skilled positions. But there are skilled workers in the ranks of the jobless. I recently ran across the words of one a 42-year-old Army veteran who used his GI Bill to get a Computer Science degree. After 12 years of working as a programmer, he told About.com, he was laid off. He said that for a year he had submitted resumes and been interviewed seven times but “sadly there are too many programmers who are also out of work, there are always more than 60 other computer programmers applying for the same job.”

http://www.laprogressive.com/economic-equality/structural-unemployment/

[inna]

1. Excess supply of labor is great for corporate profits. Keeps wages down and workers in check.

"It’s a dream come true for corporations that have pushed for 30 years to turn America’s middle class into a demoralized, low-wage, and submissive workforce."

[izquierdista]

2. Until...

....the numbers become so vast that a few of those decide to organize and take up some new jobs:

Maybe by 2017 the workers of the USA will be ready.

[WingDinger]

3. This is why we are not allowed to screw with the business cycle.

And why Rick Santelli, who invented the Tea baggers, said that the frugal, as evidenced by their economic health, should be able to buy up all the belongings, of the dispossessed. That being the way of "the world"! The extreme volatility of the business cycle, is the engine they use to grind our bones, to make their BREAD. And the Fed Chairman is there, to guarantee that the working man comes out on bottom.

[OHdem10]

4. Globalization Crisis added to Financial Crisis. The goal of Globalization

is to have more equitable standards of living among all countries
of the world.

Misdirected and ill-regulated and poorly enforced Trade Policies
have put us in the position of Wealthier Countries having to
harmonize downward our living standards rather than having
very poor countries harmonize upward. Therefore, in our Country
the Middle Class have seen salaries fall or they are outright
losing their jobs.