Author Explains Why So Many Young People Resign From Their Jobs And His Twitter Thread Goes Viral
About 4.3 million Americans left their jobs in August. “Quits”, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls them, are rising in almost every industry, especially in retail, food services, and hospitality.
We are living in what labor economist Lawrence Katz calls “a once-in-a-generation ‘take this job and shove it’ moment.”
Katz says there’s no perfect way of measuring what’s driving it but “what we do see is a lot of people asking about getting remote work, for example, and a lot of people questioning low-wage, high-turnover situations, and employers starting to respond, but pretty slowly relative to the expectations of workers.”
And while the economist thinks we still can’t know if it’s temporary or not, New York Times bestselling author, Kurt Eichenwald, believes it’s been long in the making.
In August, the number of workers who quit their job in a single month broke the all-time U.S. record
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The Great Resignation is, in fact, great
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In a recent Twitter thread, Eichenwald theorized that younger generations no longer have any faith in the idea of “the American dream” because for so many, it’s become too far out of reach.
The term “American Dream” was coined by writer and historian James Truslow Adams in his 1391 book The Epic of America. According to Adams, it’s a promise that “life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” regardless of social class or circumstances of birth.
But the idea of the American Dream has been around for much longer. You could probably even build a case that it’s inscribed in the Declaration of Independence, which says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
But Eichenwald claimed that Americans no longer have the inspiration of working toward a better future for themselves. Because there is none.
And bestselling author Kurt Eichenwald thinks it was long in the making
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So what happens now? While companies are scrambling to keep and attract workers, they are offering retention bonuses, allowing employees to work remotely forever, and providing new benefits to support workers’ personal and professional development.
Some are also saying they’re drawing up policies to help workers recover from burnout, whether it is a sabbatical, closing the business for a week, or shrinking the workweek from five days to four.
“Companies have to bend,” recruiting consultant Abby Kohut, founder, and president of Staffing Symphony, which focuses on the pharmaceutical industry, told CNBC.
Eichenwald’s thread sparked an interesting discussion
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What really really makes me furious is hearing wealthy people calling the poor lazy. I've seen how others are struggling. How can you sit by your pool in your beautiful garden, sip way too expensive booze knowing that you will be on your yacht tomorrow and actually think that others slaving away to make aaaaaall of this possible are lazy? Shame on you.
Yes I agree. Also the rich would never see them selves working at McDonald's or Walmart or any other job in service
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I work in customer service and discovered having a car was too expensive. I could only afford use, but they constantly needed repairs. We are constantly saying we are going to move out of rough neighborhood, buy it always ends up being next year...Working 40 hours leaves me with no sense of personal fulfillment.
I agree with you. Without hope of a better future the present is not good.
Load More Replies... He says people are now "...working just for survival...", but he doesn't mean "people", because the vast majority of the world's people work just for survival and have since work was invented... he means "middle-class people are now working just for survival". Anyone who has ever been able to take survival for granted and just work to attain personal goals is incredibly fortunate, and if that was taken as the norm for a while... we didn't appreciate how lucky we were.
The U.S. us the wealthiest, most powerful nation. American citizens shouldn't be struggling when billionaires can afford to have a space race.
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We also sometimes forget that it costs money to be ‘poor’. You can’t afford a new car so you drive a used one that requires constant service. You can’t afford to buy in bulk so you pay more in the long run for necessities. You can’t build credit so banks and loan agencies charge you higher rates. You can’t afford to take off work to visit a doctor so your health declines until the problem gets worse and more expensive. Ironically, it just costs more to be poor.
Do I want to "work"? Yes, or I'd sit home all day. Do I want to be worked for someone else's gain? No. Yeah, sure, their profits, blah blah blah ----- and they'd still be uber-wealthy if they paid people twice as much. And that's me with a medical degree. Imagine if you have something specialized, like the ability to take an order without screaming in someone's face. (And, yes, that's a special skill, deserves much more pay, people are twits. If you can smile at a customer, you deserve $20/hour just for that, IMO.)
As a GenXer, I honestly wish my eyes had been opened when I was younger. We were the first generation to largely be unable to realize the "American dream." Instead, most of us worked in toxic environments, never knowing there was an alternative. Capitalism is now breathing its last gasps...at long last. (Yes, regulated capitalism is perfectly fine for things people do not require to survive. Everything else should be run by the government, and paid for by sharply progressive taxes...and all income should be treated and taxed as earned income, including capital gains.)
As a fellow GenXer, I totally agree. I’m almost embarrassed that we just tolerated. I had so many soul crushing jobs that I became numb.
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You are absolutely correct, and it's getting worse, not better.
Load More Replies... America was built using slave labor and more or less continued that way
But now the slaves are paid $2.15 an hour with tips.
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I lost my job this year because my company moved the bar, suddenly in the "restructure" the job I had been doing, quite successfully, for almost 7 years required a higher degree level. They told me "oh your experience will matter outside the company" and "here we can transfer you into this role" that was basically going back in time 9 years. Suffice it to say I choose door # 3 and will figure it the hell out, it just wasn't worth it anymore to be so underappreciated.
Restructuring is code for The company needs to pay the shareholders more so they are going to cut the people who have a salary over minimum wage.
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6 figures in America means absolutely nothing this past year. Family of 3 with a low 6 figure here. I'm living the same now as I was making $50K. It's absolutely no wonder people making minimum wage would quit working- it simply does not work. You can't even pretend to afford to live on that.
Again another post on how the US has become a dysfunctional dystopian society. It won't change a thing when one half of the population keeps defending the rich "because they make the USA possible" and the other half keeps attacking them "because they make the USA possible". And the rich don't care, because they'll never know what people at the opposite of the spectrum have to do to survive. Frankly, I suspect that no rich person would survive a month if they had to live the life of the poor.
What pisses me off immensely is just how quick so many people have forgotten the start of covid and all the lockdowns and how they said it was going to be a game changer etc...... and just as quickly they've gone back to accepting the status quo of the old system and getting back into it. It was the best chance we've ever had so far to say 'hang on......... this ain't working...let's figure out something better.'......... and then the government and money men said 'ok.. everyone back to work as usual' and they just hung their heads, grumbled a bit, and just f****n gave in and accepted it.
At the start of lockdown here in the uk when you couldn't get a roll of loo roll cause of panic buying etc. and the majority of us were saying 'right........ we need a step change...... we need to pay nurses, carers, shopworkers etc what they're worth to us now the s**t has hit the fan'...... and yet now we've coped so far... they're backtracking and protecting just their own interests again. Like in the UK here.... even the royal family got out on a thursday night and did a little clap for the front line workers......... funnily enough you don't see any of them still banging on about proper wages for carers or shopworkers. No... now it's a case of 'well...... i clapped.for them'. Newsflash people........ claps don't pay the bills..... decent and fair wages do.
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People will work as good as you pay them. I get so mad when someone complains “you want $15 to flip burgers?!”. Yes, they do. And I want someone preparing my food to care! Pay someone enough that they’ll care and want to keep their job.
You can barely buy cat food for $15. People are stuck in the past where they think $20 is good money.
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Those of us paying more than a toddler salary don’t seem to have a problem keeping people employed.
Wanna know what is at the crux of all this? The lie that we have been telling kids... you need to go to college right out of high school for 4 years in order to be successful. That right there is the biggest fraud in American history. Not to say that you wont be successful either way... but you can absolutely still have the American dream if you execute your chosen path WISELY. But taking out loans is the most foolish thing anyone can do. Its like chopping off your toes before a marathon.
We need trade workers desperately. Simple 6-9 month training courses with hands on experience (mechanics, carpenters, roofers, electricians, hvac et al). With the pressure to attain higher education there are so many people I went to school with that got liberal arts/ journalism/ history and other similar 4 year degrees that cannot find employment in their field and owe tens of thousands for their education. Other friends from school went into trades and they now have way more work than they can keep up with and are paid VERY well.
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YES! This is how the FREE MARKET is supposed to work. Companies which pay their employees enough money to retain them thrive and expand, while those that don't die. But we've had a federal reserve which (falsely) believed (or at least asserted) that unemployment falling below 5% would destroy the economy. A sustained shortage of workers improves wages and drives innovation which allows companies to be profitable despite higher wages. This is why the labor movement used to oppose high rates of immigration. For 200 years, wage growth has ALWAYS been inversely proportional to immigration. Wanna be nice to people from other countries? Rather than take their workers, help them develop a middle class!
Free-market dynamics only work within a closed system!
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The pay discrepancy is world over. I have worked for the same company for 19 years but the pay is minimal. Most of it goes in paying bills, medical Insurance and school fees. End of the month there is nothing left to save. I have not been able to take my son and my wife on descent vacation. But productivity is always expected to be high. Take a high paying job, done that too, ended up working 11 hours a day.
And you know what sucks even more? Not a god-damn thing will change.
The American Dream was always a lie. The implication that everyone could be rich and have a wonderful life if they simply had the desire and worked hard enough is utter nonsense. Sadly though, such drivel has caused a large majority of the population to have a distorted view of what life should be and when it doesn't live up to those expectations they either throw the toys out of the pram or sink into depression.
Well, I'm glad i'm not the only late-millennial that feels jaded about the job market. I work 40 hours a week and it seems like that dream where you're running as fast as you can but you fall further and further behind.
Wholeheartedly agree. In the UK we have a class system: royal, aristocratic, upper, middle and working. The workers at the bottom, millions strong, are in thrall to royalty and the aristocracy. The media know it, politicians know it and the big corporations know it. They also know a people's revolt would destroy the established cartel. But who seriously has the heart for that? Britain went through its civil wars in the Middle Ages. Do we really want to be the new Middle East? So the status quo remains with everything that Kurt Eichenwald says all too true. Perhaps as 'consumers' (and doesn't that say it all) we need to resist the temptation to eat away at our own lives.
This is why our Forefathers had the Boston Tea Party but I guess a lot of people nowadays forget that and want to become Royalty!! Nothing against today’s England but there are reasons why this country was set up the way it was! Rich Americans seem to forget about that!
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Yeah, I spotted that. I like to think it's not a typo, but such an insightful work that was so groundbreaking it predates the printing press.
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I was right there with him until he blamed "boomers". Stop generalizing generations. Not all boomers are jerks just like not all gen Xers or millennials are one thing or another. Do you want to blame someone? Blame corporate America. The rich get richer but don't support their employees. It is not sustainable and finally, people are realizing this. We need to take care of each other as a society and stop categorizing people because of their age, race, sex, or employment status.
I worked for one US company and never again. They appear to care little for their employees and yet bark on about one vison one goal etc etc avoiding investment wherever possible. Europe may not be as rich but it's certainly holds a more content workforce in comparison
Ya, those great “Mission statements” from most us companies are a major lie!!
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Fun fact: GQP still spreads the fear of communism, socialism and Marxism while fascism is the new cancer in the US. They are just helping the rich getting obscene rich, but their propaganda utilizes the uneducated, weak minded, brain dead, easy to fool dumbheads to vote for them even they won't bring them any positive result.
Except the GOP encourages going into trades which pays a f**k ton more than most jobs. But yes lets blame the party that fights to lower taxes for companies which gives them more income to pay better wages. People like you are why Pop Tarts come with instructions.
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Companies should be fined for inflating prices above the value of their products. A can of food that should sell for under a dollar now costs three. Anybody remember when the Big Mac was on the Dollar menu? It was. $.99 Big Mac. Now it's $3.99 for the same amount of food. That's a 400% increase. Cost to McDonald's today for two 1/8 pound patty's and a twice cut bun? Maybe $.05. 4/.05? 80 times it's actual value. And that's just one product from one retailer.
He's right. I understand that in the US, these issues are way worse than over here in germany ... I work as an engineer. I have to support parents, due to insufficient retirement income, and, in this situation, barely get by ... if I was alone for myself, with just me and the cat, I'd get by pretty decent, but I wouldn't be able to, like, buy things like a new car or so, for years to come - and that is, being in the best-educated group in one of the wealthiest and socially securest country of the world. Minimum wage isn't gonna make anyone thrive here either, but the situation the US is throwing an entire generation into is just insane. The boomers got the freeest ride of them all - boozing away their parents' wealth, while leaving the shatters and shadows for their own offspring - and on top, THEY invented all the stuff they now love to complain about.
And to think- ten or so years ago, I was told that my generation would be the one to make the world a better place… And now, as a legal adult (18M), I’ve come to accept that the world is beyond fixing.
I have a question. Is America the only country identifying people as "boomers, busters, Gen X" etc? I try to find out as much as I can about other countries but don't seem to find people labeled as we are. BTW, don't blame all "Boomers" for today's problems. There are many of us who got the shaft as well.
As a younger gen x-er married to a baby boomer that actually uses the line "okay boomer" I can tell you this- feel free to join if you're getting the shaft like the rest of us are. It shakes people up a LOT. I don't use the phrase, personally, but I snort/ laugh when the hubby does. He's even used it on younger entitled people. Take back the word and change the meaning. If it sticks in your friend circle too eventually it may catch on.
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I think that the American Dream started in 1931 - not 1391 as it says in the article. It wasn’t true then either.
This is all so true, the rich should be helping the country, not sitting on their money and making the workers their slaves. I've had ads appearing on Facebook, about jobs available in USA, I just laughed! So glad I'm retired in South Africa, in a retirement village, a pension, AND a Medical Aid.
It's not just young people who are feeling hopeless. I'm 42, in the food industry, and this all totally resonates. Personally, I'm GLAD this is happening. We in food service have been feeling this way for YEARS. Maybe now, things will FINALLY change for the better.
I can't understand why we haven't revolted yet, against all of this, against the crimes governments and corporations are perpetuating on our environment, on us. I am baffled when millions turn out to rally against wearing masks in a pandemic (which makes sense) but being paid minimum wage and having our food dipped in chemicals (if we can afford food) and shitting all over our planet and no protest? Come on, the 18th Century French would have had their guillotines out by now. Stop following the misinformation on Social Media (Q-Anon etc) which governments encourage (if not instigate) to distract people from the real issues. Governments, corporations, capitalism and "democracy" have had their time - time for them to move over (and if they won't, they need to be shoved over).
Who else is tired of their employer explaining why raises were so low this year, or why they've done away with bonuses because the profit margins were lower than expected, or why they switched health insurance companies that force you to pay the same for fewer benefits, or why they imposed new rules to "promote safety" when they really mean to prevent more workers comp claims. Just stop being so patronizing and tell us its because you want a higher salary and you literally don't care if we die.
it's not just America either, it's exactly the same here on the other side of the pond too
You know, these write-ups, tirades, truth-spreading informative threads about jobs and why people should make better wages, they're all great, and true and inspiring, BUT, what ever gets done? Do you think employers read these things and think:" yeah, you know, they're right! We should change things!"? No, nothing changes, especially in large corporations. While these things are great to read, and they inspire people to put their collective feet down, what does it accomplish? Unfortunately, not much. I'm only saying that I love to read these, because they're true, and people are finally understanding, but I'm pessimistic about employers actually listening. It's depressing really...
If consumers stop buying their products, it will effect their bottom line, stop buying products that they outsource to China and 3rd world countries and they will notice!! Money always makes an impression and if they are not getting it, it will get their attention. They all think we need their junk & will buy it willingly but I think we are capable of making or doing more things ourselves then we give ourselves credit for! Homemade is not a monster anymore and we can assure quality from what we make ourselves.
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For the vast majority of us, the "American Dream" was never a reality. We dealt with that and did what we needed to do to survive. Younger generations seem to be unable to do that.
What was once taken seriously as ''The American Dream'' was actually an illusion of the affluent half living at the expense of colored people and recent immigrants. The immigrants put up with it in the hope of securing a better future for their children and African Americans + Mexican farm labourers had no choice. The US is still creating horrible living conditions for people in South and Central America so as to attract an army of desperate less-than-minimum-wage salves, who can be locked up in cages.
If you’re gonna write a whole essay please don’t do it on twitter. Trying to read that gave me a headache.
The American Dream never existed. The USA is a third world country and has been since colonisers first stepped on the sacred land
I can't help but think of France and their revolution because of the same reasons!
Tom Brokaw did not have a college degree. 90% of corporate jobs entry level do not require one. Americans need to wake up to the College myth and financial trap that has become College
Tom Brokaw didn't have a college degree. Peter Jennings dropped out of 10th grade.
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Opportunity is not not dead... and that is what the "American Dream" is really about. I know several immigrants who came to this country with little (and in one case, nothing) and who became very successful.
Not only that. The world is in the business of making humanity obsolete. How many jobs have been outsourced to automation? How many manual labour roles no longer exist? Yet global population increases at a rate where we may soon run of work for humans to physically do. What happens when - in maybe an aeon from now, maybe less - there is no physical jobs for humans to do because the machines can do it better? This is no 'the Terminators are gonna get us', more a question on are we making ourselves redundant? It's a question that may play into Kurt Eichenwald's observations.
"Finally, we have our reason 'not to go to work.'" I'm middle class and it just discourages me to hear/see this sentiment. So how will you get income? Work has purpose outside of pay (I do believe people should be paid fairly). Capitalism is the best system for all. Every other system caves or actually needs there to be a capitalistic base to function. It's not ok to throw up your hands and say, "I'm not working because what's the point?". You can do it, but you will be making someone else in the middle class (me, your mom or dad etc.) haul your weight for you. That kind of imposition (from your boss/company) was exactly the same imposition that made you quit your job. Even before The Fall, God gave Adam jobs. Subdue the earth. Name all the animals etc. God never intended for Adam to just sit back and do nothing. Work has purpose.
You can’t just guilt people in poverty into slavery though, just because it makes the burden on you higher. Talk to the government and stop blaming the poor. Lots of them are opening their own businesses or just collecting unemployment which they’ve been paying into and have earned anyway. Most people don’t believe in that god stuff and it isn’t a compelling thought process.
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I agree on a very basic level with this article. How come those that are not getting the pay and benefits they want in the food service industry are not moving to skilled trade jobs where they can get those things? Like electrician, plumbing, construction? Most of these type of jobs will pay you as you learn??? I had a friend who did this very thing because he was in desperate need of a good job to pay rent. He left a crap retail job and is now driving for public transportation.
But why is that needed? Clearly there is need for careers in retail and food service for everything to stay open and run properly. Why shouldn't those people at least get a liveable wage, especially when their employers are swimming in money?? Work is work.
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$20 an hour is still close enough to poverty. Any company that deserves to be in business can easily pay it. This isn’t 1940, remember? Money is different now versus whatever era you’re thinking of. $20 isn’t good money. It’s bad. You don’t get to just say “well I have a higher skilled job so anyone with a shittier job than me BETTER NOT make more.” You’re both poor. Stop blaming the person who is just like you but with one less dollar. I don’t blame the rich either, and I don’t owe anyone shít but money is money. And $20 won’t get you far. If it were as easy as making different choices, you’d have done it yourself.
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You can't move up if a job or jobs won't let you. I was born in 1980 it's come to a point where moving up isn't an option for many people, no matter how hard they try.
Load More Replies... Your little rant neatly highlights the problem. Your big fat zero is not the fault of the newly graduated teen getting their first McJob. Nor should you blame them for wanting better. Youre bitter that they are advocating for themselves in a way you have failed to do for yourself. And yes, there will be crappy low paid jobs. But only comparatively. If you pay a living wage to the person cleaning the toilets, then pay the person who does the accounting for the toilet cleaning firm more. And so on. And (this is the important bit) only what is left at the end - actual profit - goes to the corporate owners. Suddenly, instead of a $10million a year bonus, they only make $5million? Isn't that better for everyone? Otherwise we keep going until someone works out how to disable the "return" option on the billionaire rockets and we shoot them all into space one way. That'll help even things out too
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And work harder than most Americans and pay more taxes too and Build shít you can’t. Jealousy is such a redneck trait.
Load More Replies... What really really makes me furious is hearing wealthy people calling the poor lazy. I've seen how others are struggling. How can you sit by your pool in your beautiful garden, sip way too expensive booze knowing that you will be on your yacht tomorrow and actually think that others slaving away to make aaaaaall of this possible are lazy? Shame on you.
Yes I agree. Also the rich would never see them selves working at McDonald's or Walmart or any other job in service
Load More Replies... I work in customer service and discovered having a car was too expensive. I could only afford use, but they constantly needed repairs. We are constantly saying we are going to move out of rough neighborhood, buy it always ends up being next year...Working 40 hours leaves me with no sense of personal fulfillment.
I agree with you. Without hope of a better future the present is not good.
Load More Replies... He says people are now "...working just for survival...", but he doesn't mean "people", because the vast majority of the world's people work just for survival and have since work was invented... he means "middle-class people are now working just for survival". Anyone who has ever been able to take survival for granted and just work to attain personal goals is incredibly fortunate, and if that was taken as the norm for a while... we didn't appreciate how lucky we were.
The U.S. us the wealthiest, most powerful nation. American citizens shouldn't be struggling when billionaires can afford to have a space race.
Load More Replies... We also sometimes forget that it costs money to be ‘poor’. You can’t afford a new car so you drive a used one that requires constant service. You can’t afford to buy in bulk so you pay more in the long run for necessities. You can’t build credit so banks and loan agencies charge you higher rates. You can’t afford to take off work to visit a doctor so your health declines until the problem gets worse and more expensive. Ironically, it just costs more to be poor.
Do I want to "work"? Yes, or I'd sit home all day. Do I want to be worked for someone else's gain? No. Yeah, sure, their profits, blah blah blah ----- and they'd still be uber-wealthy if they paid people twice as much. And that's me with a medical degree. Imagine if you have something specialized, like the ability to take an order without screaming in someone's face. (And, yes, that's a special skill, deserves much more pay, people are twits. If you can smile at a customer, you deserve $20/hour just for that, IMO.)
As a GenXer, I honestly wish my eyes had been opened when I was younger. We were the first generation to largely be unable to realize the "American dream." Instead, most of us worked in toxic environments, never knowing there was an alternative. Capitalism is now breathing its last gasps...at long last. (Yes, regulated capitalism is perfectly fine for things people do not require to survive. Everything else should be run by the government, and paid for by sharply progressive taxes...and all income should be treated and taxed as earned income, including capital gains.)
As a fellow GenXer, I totally agree. I’m almost embarrassed that we just tolerated. I had so many soul crushing jobs that I became numb.
Load More Replies... You are absolutely correct, and it's getting worse, not better.
Load More Replies... America was built using slave labor and more or less continued that way
But now the slaves are paid $2.15 an hour with tips.
Load More Replies... I lost my job this year because my company moved the bar, suddenly in the "restructure" the job I had been doing, quite successfully, for almost 7 years required a higher degree level. They told me "oh your experience will matter outside the company" and "here we can transfer you into this role" that was basically going back in time 9 years. Suffice it to say I choose door # 3 and will figure it the hell out, it just wasn't worth it anymore to be so underappreciated.
Restructuring is code for The company needs to pay the shareholders more so they are going to cut the people who have a salary over minimum wage.
Load More Replies... 6 figures in America means absolutely nothing this past year. Family of 3 with a low 6 figure here. I'm living the same now as I was making $50K. It's absolutely no wonder people making minimum wage would quit working- it simply does not work. You can't even pretend to afford to live on that.
Again another post on how the US has become a dysfunctional dystopian society. It won't change a thing when one half of the population keeps defending the rich "because they make the USA possible" and the other half keeps attacking them "because they make the USA possible". And the rich don't care, because they'll never know what people at the opposite of the spectrum have to do to survive. Frankly, I suspect that no rich person would survive a month if they had to live the life of the poor.
What pisses me off immensely is just how quick so many people have forgotten the start of covid and all the lockdowns and how they said it was going to be a game changer etc...... and just as quickly they've gone back to accepting the status quo of the old system and getting back into it. It was the best chance we've ever had so far to say 'hang on......... this ain't working...let's figure out something better.'......... and then the government and money men said 'ok.. everyone back to work as usual' and they just hung their heads, grumbled a bit, and just f****n gave in and accepted it.
At the start of lockdown here in the uk when you couldn't get a roll of loo roll cause of panic buying etc. and the majority of us were saying 'right........ we need a step change...... we need to pay nurses, carers, shopworkers etc what they're worth to us now the s**t has hit the fan'...... and yet now we've coped so far... they're backtracking and protecting just their own interests again. Like in the UK here.... even the royal family got out on a thursday night and did a little clap for the front line workers......... funnily enough you don't see any of them still banging on about proper wages for carers or shopworkers. No... now it's a case of 'well...... i clapped.for them'. Newsflash people........ claps don't pay the bills..... decent and fair wages do.
Load More Replies... People will work as good as you pay them. I get so mad when someone complains “you want $15 to flip burgers?!”. Yes, they do. And I want someone preparing my food to care! Pay someone enough that they’ll care and want to keep their job.
You can barely buy cat food for $15. People are stuck in the past where they think $20 is good money.
Load More Replies... Those of us paying more than a toddler salary don’t seem to have a problem keeping people employed.
Wanna know what is at the crux of all this? The lie that we have been telling kids... you need to go to college right out of high school for 4 years in order to be successful. That right there is the biggest fraud in American history. Not to say that you wont be successful either way... but you can absolutely still have the American dream if you execute your chosen path WISELY. But taking out loans is the most foolish thing anyone can do. Its like chopping off your toes before a marathon.
We need trade workers desperately. Simple 6-9 month training courses with hands on experience (mechanics, carpenters, roofers, electricians, hvac et al). With the pressure to attain higher education there are so many people I went to school with that got liberal arts/ journalism/ history and other similar 4 year degrees that cannot find employment in their field and owe tens of thousands for their education. Other friends from school went into trades and they now have way more work than they can keep up with and are paid VERY well.
Load More Replies... YES! This is how the FREE MARKET is supposed to work. Companies which pay their employees enough money to retain them thrive and expand, while those that don't die. But we've had a federal reserve which (falsely) believed (or at least asserted) that unemployment falling below 5% would destroy the economy. A sustained shortage of workers improves wages and drives innovation which allows companies to be profitable despite higher wages. This is why the labor movement used to oppose high rates of immigration. For 200 years, wage growth has ALWAYS been inversely proportional to immigration. Wanna be nice to people from other countries? Rather than take their workers, help them develop a middle class!
Free-market dynamics only work within a closed system!
Load More Replies... The pay discrepancy is world over. I have worked for the same company for 19 years but the pay is minimal. Most of it goes in paying bills, medical Insurance and school fees. End of the month there is nothing left to save. I have not been able to take my son and my wife on descent vacation. But productivity is always expected to be high. Take a high paying job, done that too, ended up working 11 hours a day.
And you know what sucks even more? Not a god-damn thing will change.
The American Dream was always a lie. The implication that everyone could be rich and have a wonderful life if they simply had the desire and worked hard enough is utter nonsense. Sadly though, such drivel has caused a large majority of the population to have a distorted view of what life should be and when it doesn't live up to those expectations they either throw the toys out of the pram or sink into depression.
Well, I'm glad i'm not the only late-millennial that feels jaded about the job market. I work 40 hours a week and it seems like that dream where you're running as fast as you can but you fall further and further behind.
Wholeheartedly agree. In the UK we have a class system: royal, aristocratic, upper, middle and working. The workers at the bottom, millions strong, are in thrall to royalty and the aristocracy. The media know it, politicians know it and the big corporations know it. They also know a people's revolt would destroy the established cartel. But who seriously has the heart for that? Britain went through its civil wars in the Middle Ages. Do we really want to be the new Middle East? So the status quo remains with everything that Kurt Eichenwald says all too true. Perhaps as 'consumers' (and doesn't that say it all) we need to resist the temptation to eat away at our own lives.
This is why our Forefathers had the Boston Tea Party but I guess a lot of people nowadays forget that and want to become Royalty!! Nothing against today’s England but there are reasons why this country was set up the way it was! Rich Americans seem to forget about that!
Load More Replies... Yeah, I spotted that. I like to think it's not a typo, but such an insightful work that was so groundbreaking it predates the printing press.
Load More Replies... I was right there with him until he blamed "boomers". Stop generalizing generations. Not all boomers are jerks just like not all gen Xers or millennials are one thing or another. Do you want to blame someone? Blame corporate America. The rich get richer but don't support their employees. It is not sustainable and finally, people are realizing this. We need to take care of each other as a society and stop categorizing people because of their age, race, sex, or employment status.
I worked for one US company and never again. They appear to care little for their employees and yet bark on about one vison one goal etc etc avoiding investment wherever possible. Europe may not be as rich but it's certainly holds a more content workforce in comparison
Ya, those great “Mission statements” from most us companies are a major lie!!
Load More Replies... Fun fact: GQP still spreads the fear of communism, socialism and Marxism while fascism is the new cancer in the US. They are just helping the rich getting obscene rich, but their propaganda utilizes the uneducated, weak minded, brain dead, easy to fool dumbheads to vote for them even they won't bring them any positive result.
Except the GOP encourages going into trades which pays a f**k ton more than most jobs. But yes lets blame the party that fights to lower taxes for companies which gives them more income to pay better wages. People like you are why Pop Tarts come with instructions.
Load More Replies... Companies should be fined for inflating prices above the value of their products. A can of food that should sell for under a dollar now costs three. Anybody remember when the Big Mac was on the Dollar menu? It was. $.99 Big Mac. Now it's $3.99 for the same amount of food. That's a 400% increase. Cost to McDonald's today for two 1/8 pound patty's and a twice cut bun? Maybe $.05. 4/.05? 80 times it's actual value. And that's just one product from one retailer.
He's right. I understand that in the US, these issues are way worse than over here in germany ... I work as an engineer. I have to support parents, due to insufficient retirement income, and, in this situation, barely get by ... if I was alone for myself, with just me and the cat, I'd get by pretty decent, but I wouldn't be able to, like, buy things like a new car or so, for years to come - and that is, being in the best-educated group in one of the wealthiest and socially securest country of the world. Minimum wage isn't gonna make anyone thrive here either, but the situation the US is throwing an entire generation into is just insane. The boomers got the freeest ride of them all - boozing away their parents' wealth, while leaving the shatters and shadows for their own offspring - and on top, THEY invented all the stuff they now love to complain about.
And to think- ten or so years ago, I was told that my generation would be the one to make the world a better place… And now, as a legal adult (18M), I’ve come to accept that the world is beyond fixing.
I have a question. Is America the only country identifying people as "boomers, busters, Gen X" etc? I try to find out as much as I can about other countries but don't seem to find people labeled as we are. BTW, don't blame all "Boomers" for today's problems. There are many of us who got the shaft as well.
As a younger gen x-er married to a baby boomer that actually uses the line "okay boomer" I can tell you this- feel free to join if you're getting the shaft like the rest of us are. It shakes people up a LOT. I don't use the phrase, personally, but I snort/ laugh when the hubby does. He's even used it on younger entitled people. Take back the word and change the meaning. If it sticks in your friend circle too eventually it may catch on.
Load More Replies... I think that the American Dream started in 1931 - not 1391 as it says in the article. It wasn’t true then either.
This is all so true, the rich should be helping the country, not sitting on their money and making the workers their slaves. I've had ads appearing on Facebook, about jobs available in USA, I just laughed! So glad I'm retired in South Africa, in a retirement village, a pension, AND a Medical Aid.
It's not just young people who are feeling hopeless. I'm 42, in the food industry, and this all totally resonates. Personally, I'm GLAD this is happening. We in food service have been feeling this way for YEARS. Maybe now, things will FINALLY change for the better.
I can't understand why we haven't revolted yet, against all of this, against the crimes governments and corporations are perpetuating on our environment, on us. I am baffled when millions turn out to rally against wearing masks in a pandemic (which makes sense) but being paid minimum wage and having our food dipped in chemicals (if we can afford food) and shitting all over our planet and no protest? Come on, the 18th Century French would have had their guillotines out by now. Stop following the misinformation on Social Media (Q-Anon etc) which governments encourage (if not instigate) to distract people from the real issues. Governments, corporations, capitalism and "democracy" have had their time - time for them to move over (and if they won't, they need to be shoved over).
Who else is tired of their employer explaining why raises were so low this year, or why they've done away with bonuses because the profit margins were lower than expected, or why they switched health insurance companies that force you to pay the same for fewer benefits, or why they imposed new rules to "promote safety" when they really mean to prevent more workers comp claims. Just stop being so patronizing and tell us its because you want a higher salary and you literally don't care if we die.
it's not just America either, it's exactly the same here on the other side of the pond too
You know, these write-ups, tirades, truth-spreading informative threads about jobs and why people should make better wages, they're all great, and true and inspiring, BUT, what ever gets done? Do you think employers read these things and think:" yeah, you know, they're right! We should change things!"? No, nothing changes, especially in large corporations. While these things are great to read, and they inspire people to put their collective feet down, what does it accomplish? Unfortunately, not much. I'm only saying that I love to read these, because they're true, and people are finally understanding, but I'm pessimistic about employers actually listening. It's depressing really...
If consumers stop buying their products, it will effect their bottom line, stop buying products that they outsource to China and 3rd world countries and they will notice!! Money always makes an impression and if they are not getting it, it will get their attention. They all think we need their junk & will buy it willingly but I think we are capable of making or doing more things ourselves then we give ourselves credit for! Homemade is not a monster anymore and we can assure quality from what we make ourselves.
Load More Replies... For the vast majority of us, the "American Dream" was never a reality. We dealt with that and did what we needed to do to survive. Younger generations seem to be unable to do that.
What was once taken seriously as ''The American Dream'' was actually an illusion of the affluent half living at the expense of colored people and recent immigrants. The immigrants put up with it in the hope of securing a better future for their children and African Americans + Mexican farm labourers had no choice. The US is still creating horrible living conditions for people in South and Central America so as to attract an army of desperate less-than-minimum-wage salves, who can be locked up in cages.
If you’re gonna write a whole essay please don’t do it on twitter. Trying to read that gave me a headache.
The American Dream never existed. The USA is a third world country and has been since colonisers first stepped on the sacred land
I can't help but think of France and their revolution because of the same reasons!
Tom Brokaw did not have a college degree. 90% of corporate jobs entry level do not require one. Americans need to wake up to the College myth and financial trap that has become College
Tom Brokaw didn't have a college degree. Peter Jennings dropped out of 10th grade.
Load More Replies... Opportunity is not not dead... and that is what the "American Dream" is really about. I know several immigrants who came to this country with little (and in one case, nothing) and who became very successful.
Not only that. The world is in the business of making humanity obsolete. How many jobs have been outsourced to automation? How many manual labour roles no longer exist? Yet global population increases at a rate where we may soon run of work for humans to physically do. What happens when - in maybe an aeon from now, maybe less - there is no physical jobs for humans to do because the machines can do it better? This is no 'the Terminators are gonna get us', more a question on are we making ourselves redundant? It's a question that may play into Kurt Eichenwald's observations.
"Finally, we have our reason 'not to go to work.'" I'm middle class and it just discourages me to hear/see this sentiment. So how will you get income? Work has purpose outside of pay (I do believe people should be paid fairly). Capitalism is the best system for all. Every other system caves or actually needs there to be a capitalistic base to function. It's not ok to throw up your hands and say, "I'm not working because what's the point?". You can do it, but you will be making someone else in the middle class (me, your mom or dad etc.) haul your weight for you. That kind of imposition (from your boss/company) was exactly the same imposition that made you quit your job. Even before The Fall, God gave Adam jobs. Subdue the earth. Name all the animals etc. God never intended for Adam to just sit back and do nothing. Work has purpose.
You can’t just guilt people in poverty into slavery though, just because it makes the burden on you higher. Talk to the government and stop blaming the poor. Lots of them are opening their own businesses or just collecting unemployment which they’ve been paying into and have earned anyway. Most people don’t believe in that god stuff and it isn’t a compelling thought process.
Load More Replies... I agree on a very basic level with this article. How come those that are not getting the pay and benefits they want in the food service industry are not moving to skilled trade jobs where they can get those things? Like electrician, plumbing, construction? Most of these type of jobs will pay you as you learn??? I had a friend who did this very thing because he was in desperate need of a good job to pay rent. He left a crap retail job and is now driving for public transportation.
But why is that needed? Clearly there is need for careers in retail and food service for everything to stay open and run properly. Why shouldn't those people at least get a liveable wage, especially when their employers are swimming in money?? Work is work.
Load More Replies... $20 an hour is still close enough to poverty. Any company that deserves to be in business can easily pay it. This isn’t 1940, remember? Money is different now versus whatever era you’re thinking of. $20 isn’t good money. It’s bad. You don’t get to just say “well I have a higher skilled job so anyone with a shittier job than me BETTER NOT make more.” You’re both poor. Stop blaming the person who is just like you but with one less dollar. I don’t blame the rich either, and I don’t owe anyone shít but money is money. And $20 won’t get you far. If it were as easy as making different choices, you’d have done it yourself.
Load More Replies... You can't move up if a job or jobs won't let you. I was born in 1980 it's come to a point where moving up isn't an option for many people, no matter how hard they try.
Load More Replies... Your little rant neatly highlights the problem. Your big fat zero is not the fault of the newly graduated teen getting their first McJob. Nor should you blame them for wanting better. Youre bitter that they are advocating for themselves in a way you have failed to do for yourself. And yes, there will be crappy low paid jobs. But only comparatively. If you pay a living wage to the person cleaning the toilets, then pay the person who does the accounting for the toilet cleaning firm more. And so on. And (this is the important bit) only what is left at the end - actual profit - goes to the corporate owners. Suddenly, instead of a $10million a year bonus, they only make $5million? Isn't that better for everyone? Otherwise we keep going until someone works out how to disable the "return" option on the billionaire rockets and we shoot them all into space one way. That'll help even things out too
Load More Replies... And work harder than most Americans and pay more taxes too and Build shít you can’t. Jealousy is such a redneck trait.
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