May payrolls report really about McJobs

[xchrom]

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/may-payrolls-report-really-about-mcjobs-2011-05-29

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — For over two decades, the term “McJob” has been used as code word for the kind of low-paying, low-skilled employment that all too often has characterized the opportunities available in an economy with an eroding manufacturing base.

But the May payrolls report, due Friday from the Labor Department, really will be influenced by hiring from McDonald’s /quotes/comstock/13*!mcd/quotes/nls/mcd MCD -0.24% .

On April 19 — about a week after the government conducted its survey for the April jobs report — the hamburger chain ran a promotion designed to hire 50,000 workers. In fact, the fast food giant hired 62,000, most of whom will receive just little above the federal minimum wage.

Given that economists polled by MarketWatch were expecting May payrolls to slow to 180,000 from 244,000 in April, there’s a possibility that McJobs will account for a big slice of the jobs created by the U.S. economy during the month.

[Donnachaidh]

1. but the McJobs angle will be conveniently left out of the *glowing news*

We'll just get the cheerleading about how the economy is improving. :puke:

[xchrom]

3. see post #2. nt

[OhioChick]

5. I think some people started drinking early today n/t

[Starry Messenger]

20. +

[Aerows]

31. Maybe some people

should have started drinking early today.

[Donnachaidh]

8. yeah -- that seems to be the latest meme

Be happy you have any crumbs at all you peasant..... If you're really good we might consider giving you something better down the road.....

Desperation brings out the best in some, eh? :rofl:

[BuelahWitch]

23. Back in '92, Dan Quayle proudly posed with a Burger King "Help Wanted" sign

with the caption "They're hiring!" I remember the scorn he got from Democratic groups on Usenet. My how times have changed!

[xchrom]

25. looks we have plenty here who agree with dan quayle. nt

[DCBob]

2. I guess its not really surprising in an economy that is recovering from a near collapse.

Perhaps give it a bit more time then the higher paying jobs will begin to return.

[Donnachaidh]

7. .....

:wow: :rofl: :rofl:

un-frigging-believable.....

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DCBob]

24. .................

ok so I guess you dont need therapy... sorry about that. But you really should take this issue more seriously. Its not a laughing matter.

[Donnachaidh]

33. ooh -- the 2nd time you.don't.get.it

thanks for playing :rofl: :rofl: :wow:

[DCBob]

36. this not a game..

sorry you see it that way.

[FreakinDJ]

9. Those "Higher Paying Jobs" are gone for good - Outsourced

Wall St is always right

[DCBob]

19. Not really... I just got one.

and there are lots more out there in some regions and cities depending on your skill set.

[FreakinDJ]

30. Above 125K

AS in electronics
Certified Network Eng
Certified ISA Instrument Tech

because all I am getting is "Low-Ballers" wanting my skill set for 60 - 75K

[DCBob]

32. close.. I am happy with it.. I even make a bit more now than my job I lost 2 years ago.

But this is DC area and I know much of the rest of country is very different from here. My point is there are some decent jobs out there in some cities depending on skill level and experience.. and more are on the way.

[fujiyama]

39. I've had at least two offers over the past two months

and one pending one that I'm waiting to see if it pans out. And that's mainly by just having my resume online.

The economy in certain areas is not the way people on DU make it out to be. But then again, I guess I'm just "settling" for offers over 75k...Yes, some are contract and you to pay for benefits, but rates are picking up again and the offers are over 10k more than I was making a year ago.

And for all the talk of outsourcing, I don't feel threatened at all, because I'm comfortable and confident in my skill sets that I will find work. This isn't to defend corporate America's strategy over the last few years, but all my engineering friends that I graduated with five years ago are gainfully employed. So the degree counts for a lot.

[DCBob]

41. Engineering is no doubt one of the "marketable" degrees now.

good luck with your job search and decision.

[NNN0LHI]

10. Going to take more than time

When people conclude that they would rather have their own pay patterned after union wages instead of non-union wages, higher paying jobs will begin to return.

Not before.

Don

[BuelahWitch]

26. McJobs will not help the economy recover

if we are a consumer economy. If you can manage to have your needs met (food, shelter, utilities) there is little to nothing left over for discretionary spending. These jobs were great back in the day for kids who were living at home, not so great for an adult who doesn't have a Mom and Dad paying the bills.

[Nye Bevan]

4. McJobs are better than no jobs.

If you get an entry level job in McDonalds, show up every day and perform well you *will* advance to a better job.

[xchrom]

6. ...

:rofl:

[Nye Bevan]

21. 33 years ago, Jan Fields stopped at a McDonalds to buy a coke.

She saw a sign advertising job openings, interviewed with the manager and started working at the french fry station the next day making $2.65 an hour.

She went on to become President of McDonalds USA.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/jobcenter/workplace/kay/2011-04-11-food-services-can-be-viable-career_N.htm

[xchrom]

27. from 1998

http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/rollingstone1.html

The rapid growth of the fast-food industry has been driven by fundamental changes in the U.S. economy. The hourly wage of the average American worker peaked in 1973 and then steadily declined until last year. Women entered the work force in record numbers, often motivated less by feminism than by a need to help pay the bills. In 1975, about a third of American mothers with young children worked outside the home; today about two-thirds of such mothers are employed. As the sociologists Cameron Lynne Macdonald and Carmen Sirianni have noted, the entry of women into the nation's work force has greatly increased demand for the types of services that housewives traditionally performed: cooking, cleaning and child care. The fast-food industry has benefited from these demographic changes, supplying at low cost the meals no longer prepared in the home and hiring at low wages millions of young women in need of extra income.

The McDonald's Corp. has become a powerful symbol of America's service economy, the sector now responsible for ninety percent of the country's new jobs. In 1968, McDonald's operated about 1,000 restaurants. Today it has about 23,000 restaurants worldwide and opens roughly 2,000 new ones each year. An estimated one of every eight Americans has worked at McDonald's. The company annually trains more new workers than the U.S. Army. McDonald's is the nation's largest purchaser of beef and potatoes. It is the second-largest purchaser of poultry. A whole new breed of chicken was developed to facilitate the production of McNuggets. The McDonald's Corp. is the largest owner of retail property in the world. Indeed, the company earns the majority of its profits not from selling food but from collecting rent. McDonald's spends more money on advertising and marketing than does any other brand, much of it targeted at children. A survey of American schoolchildren found that ninety-six percent could identify Ronald McDonald. The only fictional character with a higher degree of recognition was Santa Claus. The impact of McDonald's on the nation's culture, economy and diet is hard to overstate. Its corporate symbol - the Golden Arches - is now more widely recognized than the Christian cross.

Almost twenty-five years ago, the farm activist Jim Hightower warned of "the McDonaldization of America." He viewed the emerging fast-food trade as a threat to independent businesses, as a step toward a food economy dominated by giant corporations and as a homogenizing influence on American life. Much of what he feared has come to pass. The rise of the fast-food industry has been accompanied by important changes in how America's food is produced. The centralized purchasing decisions of large restaurant chains and their need for standardized products have given a small number of corporations an unprecedented degree of power over the nation's food supply. Moreover, the success of the fast-food industry has encouraged other industries to adopt its business methods, filling America's main streets and malls with Gaps and Coconuts, Maid Brigades, Pawn Marts and HobbyTown USAs. Franchises and chain stores have in the last twenty-five years gained a forty percent share of all retail spending in the United States. Almost every facet of American life has now been franchised. From the maternity ward at a Columbia/HCA hospital to an embalming room owned by the Houston-based Service Corporation International - "the world's largest provider of death-care services," which since 1968 has grown to include 3,012 funeral homes, 365 cemeteries and 156 crematoriums, and which today handles the final remains of one of every nine Americans - a person can now go from the cradle to the grave without spending a nickel at an independently owned business.

Almost twenty-five years ago, the farm activist Jim Hightower warned of 'the McDonaldisation of America'. He viewed the emerging fast-food industry as a threat to independent businesses, as a sep toward a food economy domainated by giant corporations and as a homogenizing influence on American life. Much of what he feared has come to pass.





me: you really should want better for your country's economy and your fellow citizens than this.
that 'it's job attitude' is insulting and not very well conceived -- we're not coming very far from 1998.

[Nye Bevan]

28. So would it be better if McDonalds completely shut down

to eliminate all of those horrible McJobs?

[xchrom]

29. huh -- you have the most intetersting take on this -- that america's failing

it's people -- and they should be grateful for crumbs.

they are underpaid to begin -- let alone that's one industry providing such major job growth.

there is NO GOOD in that.

want more more -- want better for people.

and the numbers are what they are -- and they're not good -- and you can't spin it into good with 'at least it's a job' platitudes.

[blue_onyx]

34. No

but it's insulting to act like a job is a job. A job where one works full-time (if they're lucky enough to get a full-time position) and still can't support themselves is a shitty job. Must be nice to be able to look down on the unemployed and say "be happy with what you're given."

[Nye Bevan]

35. I've worked my share of low-paying boring jobs

so no, I don't "look down" on those folks. At the time I was happy to get a job at all.

[blue_onyx]

42. It's pretty bad...

when people with college degrees flipping burgers is seen as acceptable. People were told to go college if they wanted to get a good job. Now, that isn't even true. Anyone trying to put a good spin on the state of the economy is in deep denial.

[Dokkie]

37. you are making the republican arguement

This is what they use to defend sweat shop jobs. Would it be better if those jobs left _____ 3rd world country? These crappy jobs are used to pad the unemplyment number to hide the fact that the recovery is non existent.

[999998th word]

44. I agree

[FreakinDJ]

11. What - "Slow Death is better then Quick Death"

Can't afford a home - health care - retirement

I rather go down fighting then pretend a McJob will suffice

[OhioChick]

14. What.....

Grill to the cash register?

:eyes:

[Donnachaidh]

15. or maybe make the grand leap to the take out window?

:rofl:

[Nye Bevan]

22. 75% of McDonalds managers started out making fries or taking orders.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/jobcenter/workplace/kay/2011-04-11-food-services-can-be-viable-career_N.htm

I guess they *could* just have stayed home, whining that "McJobs" were beneath them.

[ChromeFoundry]

43. Sure...

Maybe 15-20 years ago you could start as a grill cook at McD's and work your way up through management.

I don't think anyone ever stated that working in food service was beneath them, I think it is more inline with the BS these low-rung workers must deal with to earn their minimum wage. BS floats up from the customers and back down from the Managers. If you have a thick skin, sure, maybe you could gain a shift manager position after several years. If you kiss ass and are able to be put on the schedule for more than 20 hours/week, you may even be able to get some form of benefits.

Sure, any job is better than no job (unless the job is not a safe one, eg: Foxconn and hexane poisoning), and I don't think that anyone here will argue that point.

Maybe you could shed some positive light on the topic by offering up your current McDonald's Employment Experiences. If you don't currently work there, and haven't worked there in the past 10-years, you probably don't really have a leg to stand on while pimping the McD's employment experience.

[KG]

16. !

:rofl:

[MadHound]

38. Really?

I know folks who've shown up every day, performed well, and they have not advance beyond the job they had in the beginning.

Before becoming known as "McJobs" these jobs were called "dead end jobs" because there was little opportunity for advancement, no matter how well one did. These McJobs are still dead end jobs, will little chance for advancement, no matter how perfectly one performs it.

[Dulcinea]

12. It's better than being unemployed.

At least they'll be able to check the "YES" box next to the question, "Are you currently employed?" while looking for a better job. Sad but true, there are a lot of employers who won't even consider the jobless. (That should be illegal, but that's another topic.)

[xchrom]

40. For allthe anecdotal evidence, the rise to management for a few -

You describe the experience of most.

And it's very bad for the economy.

[xchrom]

13. QE2 was a bust

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/qe2-was-a-bust-2011-05-21

BOSTON (MarketWatch) — It‘s cost $600 billion of your money. And it was supposed to rescue the economy. But has Ben Bernanke’s huge financial stimulus package, known as “Quantitative Easing 2,” actually worked as planned?

QE2 is being wound down in the next few weeks. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said it has left the economy “moving in the right direction.”

But an analysis of the real numbers tells a very different story.

Turns out the program has created maybe 700,000 full-time jobs — at a cost of around $850,000 each.

House prices are lower than before QE2 was launched. Economic growth is slower. Inflation is higher.

[ChromeFoundry]

17. This works out well for Goldman Sachs

You lower the unemployment number and get the MSM to get everyone believing that the economy is roaring back.
People start spending again.

A volatile market creates churning that brokers need... the share price doesn't matter... the buying and selling does!

This will help the rich get richer. In a year, the middle class will be even worse off.