Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Unintended Consequences :The End of Entry Level Jobs
View Single Post
 
Old 05-14-2016, 06:28 PM
Guest
n/a
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Guest View Post
When I came out of college in 1972 there was a major recession underway and the War was slowly winding down .
There were about 1,100 graduates in my college class . On graduation day as we lined up some students took a survey and reported that out of all of us in line only 16 had jobs lined up . Some 100 however had been ordered to report to the military most were put thru Basic Training and then literally sent home because they were not needed .

Most of us took very low paying entry level jobs in order to have the opportunity to " move up " . I did and within a few years I was on a management track and a few more years I was a senior executive . I ended up with a great career but I never lost sight that I had to get and hold that entry level job at minimum wage in order to get started .
Forcing a $15 minimum wage is taking away a similar pathway for many young Americans because at that cost it becomes more desirable and cost effective to automate many entry level jobs .

All ready hotel chains are testing robotic self-serve desk clerks to check in guests and issue them keys . Other hotel industry robots are holding and then delivering guest luggage to their rooms . And in the hotel bar a machine is taking and mixing drink orders .

Wendy`s and Mc Donalds are now testing robotic devices which cook the food , make the sandwiches , cook and prepare the fries and also take the orders .
Yes you can argue that this was inevitable . However the result of politicians thinking that they can legislate and dictate to the corporate world is to speed up the end of the entry level job market . Once again they have managed to " outsmart themselves ".
When I came out of college in 1972 I took a similar path. No Medical Technology positions where a available so I worked first as a glassware washer in a lab, drawing blood, then part-time spilt shifts and finally a full-time position on nights. Wages were frozen and I earned $3.10 per hour. I had $3,000 in college loan debt which I paid off in full in half the time required. I ended up making 6 figures working for an IVD company.....

Labs no longer have glassware washers, the vast majority of them are automated and results review is done by computer. Lab staffs are very small now.

I doubt I could follow the same path today.

I worked flipping hamburgers for $1.10 an hour in the summer while in college. McDonald's is no longer a entry level job for most people. But we contribute to this situation when we shop at discount stores for goods made in Asia. Manufacturing is gone....