Tuesday, August 03, 2010

It's a Jungle Out There

I recently attended a briefing about a company here in the Rochester area that I'd like to work for. They are a relatively new company with a great product. I've read recently that the economy is - slowly - turning around, but I've also heard that so far this is a "jobless recovery."

There's a phrase that belongs in the Oxymoron Dictionary.

In any case, the HR director for this company stated that for every position they post an opening for they receive between 150 and 250 applications. That is not out of line with what I've heard from other companies in the area.

So here's a question: Can there really be such a thing as a "jobless recovery?" How sustainable are corporate profits when so many of the consumers they depend upon for those profits are unemployed or under-employed?

4 comments:

Steve Bates said...

To this, I have just two words to say (well, OK, one name): Paul Krugman.

Glad to see you back on the blogs, Charles.

Charles Perez said...

Good to be back, Steve! And yes, Paul is always a voice of sanity and reason. Too bad there are not more like him in the SCLM.

Anonymous said...

Charles -- thought you'd just gotten tired of it -- glad you're back (both here for our common sanity and also, more importantly, in the world -- long painful rehab is a real test and glad you're feeling few ill residual effects -- OK, jobs -- well the BIG Wall Street, Repugnican feces-flinging outrages (jeez these guys get outraged by everything except human suffering) is removal of an existing tax-break to companies that send jobs overseas. Yeah, the Bush-wah people made it profitable -- MORE profitable -- for companies to unemploy thousands of workers...

The supposed "corporate profits" have been largely on paper and designed to get execs their golden stock options etc... the positive evolution we've had toward higher productivity per worker has been good for the companies, some of them, but, of course -- unintended consequence or not -- made obsolete and irrelevant the number of workers on the payroll. But I also hope that Obama does not ignore the line (very wobbly these days) and push the angry greedheads over it into their racist little world where their fantasy is shooting the prez.

I have done business with botanical companies in the PRC and have no love for the social, economic, or political system of China, but once in a while -- when I find out that killing a panda or committing economic fraud are death sentence felonies there, I think "Well, maybe not ALL of their social control elements are ALL bad."

The difference between amusing oneself with happy thoughts of wall street bankers jumping out of high-rise windows (no longer ones that open) or the old adage "Hang 'em from the lampposts", (except the post WWII lampposts are so high can't throw a rope over them) is that as long as it's happy thoughts, you're still sane -- (HL Mencken said it well: " "Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -- the key element here is having a rich fantasy life and ONLY being TEMPTED) but in the world of people smarter than I seeing what's going on, there was an observation by Upton Sinclair I often like to use as an email sig:
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on not understanding it."

I hope there are people intelligent and tough enough to make things change for the better, more humane society. I remember, when he ran, the prez of the U of Chicago said of Obama "The first time I saw him walk into the room, I thought 'That's the most intelligent man I've ever seen." And since then I keep thinking "Oh I hope he's right because we're going to need at least as much REAL brainpower to equal the stupidity or totally bogus imitation of brainpower (Wolfowitz, Rove, and the rest).

The constant chatter of TV pundits (who worry about whether or not Obama is lying when he said he doesn't know who snookie is" makes me -- finally -- to say, about the above 2 comments "Absolutely," but throw in Noam Chomsky to include someone who is actually viewing the world from the left with an immensely functioning brain.

Glad you're back

Saintperle

Anonymous said...

America needs to start working again. LiUNA (Laborers’ International Union of North America http://bit.ly/9ZVcaM) estimates 1.5 million men and women in the construction industry are jobless. That's unacceptable, somethings gotta be done. Send a letter to your Congressman and tell them what we really need are more jobs http://bit.ly/aOWRPM