Unintended Consequences :The End of Entry Level Jobs
 

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 ".

"Outsmarting" a politician may be one of the easiest tasks one could ever wish for in life.

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....

Maybe I'll eat there again after it's automated. The NASTIEST people work at fast food places, I won't eat anything they make.

Don't count on it...

When I came out of college in '72......ah nope, scratch that. In '72, I finished my first enlistment in the USMC and was still in shock of how the country changed while I spend two tours in Vietnam. I didn't finish college until much later. I was confused at how liberal our country had become and how much hate liberals had for the military and conservatives in general. I had a job within three days of returning home, not given to me but one that I searched for and took to pay my bills. It wasn't the dream job that everyone wants, but a job to pay the bills until I could find a better job. I passed a written exam for the Secret Service but was turned down due to a disability I sustained in combat. The VA said they would guarantee ALL veterans a job, so I contacted them to see if I could improve my employment status. I was told they had two jobs that I was welcome to, an elevator operator job and a delivery boy job at a very low GS scale. I was embarrassed but determined. Later, I noticed that Carter was giving amnesty to all draft dodgers that returned from Canada and took gov jobs to pay back the country for their leaving when it needed them. Those jobs started at more than I made in two years. But, I did not let that get to me. I never took welfare or food stamps, even when I qualified for them. I took three jobs in order to support my family, until I could better myself. I did and I finished college, put three daughters through private schooling, and two through college. You can start at the bottom and rise if you have motivation. Motivation is not the responsibility of the government. It is your responsibility to motivate yourself. The gov takes motivation away from you when they give you welfare when you are capable of doing without it. The gov becomes a leach that sucks your will from you.

You were fooled, we didn't need to be there. It WAS a political war. Jane Fonda was right.

But I agree with self responsibility.

The government is a leech...period. It takes and gives SOME to others. Mostly, it takes and the money goes into peoples pockets.

First of all this patriot may have been drafted and opted to join the Marines . Secondly this was a War started and expanded by the Administrations of JFK and LBJ .
So don`t dump on this man by acting as if he did not realize that he had been used by the Dems .
I thank you for your service sir and also salute the life you managed to build for you and your family .

Thank you.

Jane Fonda should have been convicted of treason and executed.

For speaking the truth? Like you want to do to Snowden? Assange? These are the patriots, exposing the corruption, the needless death and destruction. And you call for their death?

Did Jane go about it wrong? sure, but she WAS right. We shouldn't have been there. We shouldn't be in the ME either.

Absolutely correct ! She is a disgusting traitor and her actions
resulted in direct harm to our POWs !
She should still be prosecuted .

POWs tried to slip her notes indicating that they were being tortured . She handed the slips of paper to the NVs .
This earned our POWs severe beatings and perhaps at least one death .
So explain to us again who are educated on her actions how she is a heroine ! Idiot !!

Oh, the ignorant rabble, always so fervent about falsities. You'll believe nearly anything. Fantasies about all kinds of things. Religion. Government. Races.

Here ya go: Jane Fonda and American POWs in North Vietnam : snopes.com

Word to the wise, believe very little, it's mostly propaganda.

snopes have more than demonstrated itself to be a false spinner of information . They were even prosecuted in one or two cases .
Find a much more credible source and then I will listen to you .
No less than Se. and former POW John McCann has much to say why Jane Fonda should be held liable for treason .
I suppose that you consider him to be a liar .
You are a very sad case . Liberal arse .

It is time for minority peoples to be exempted from toiling at menial jobs . They already suffer enough by having to live in a society which constantly devalues them . Menial work further erodes their sense of self-worth .
On the other hand such jobs should be filled by the children of the privileged class because it would teach them empathy for the underclasses and a sense of humility instead of entitlement .