Where did all the good jobs go? I know this is of off-topic but... welcome to the new real world

its not about how good a woodworker you are but how good you are to sell yourself
maybee thats the skill you need to train and work with

the person who is cable of selling there own mother is the one who get the job and it doesn´t matter
if he had only seen a one Chrismas tree been fitted to the foot as a little boy

sorry to say it but thats how it is no matter how skilled you are

good luck with the hunt and may you get a job fast

Dennis

This is just an internet article, I am not a professional woodworker just a hobbyist and I am not the guy in article, but the article make me think a lot about my job and my future….

Move to Canada they now have to import people from overseas to fill the jobs.

Misery loves company.

I know from personal experience. My background is in technology and during the tech bust I would pour over these types sites. They offered nothing of value other than everyone griping about the horrible job conditions and the import of cheap labor and outsourcing of jobs. My misery loved the company. I can honestly say it soured my attitude and probably cost me some jobs during interviews. I was laid off 3 times in two years in that downturn.

Reading material like this is a guaranteed way to never make it out of the doldrums. I’m sure the site owners aren’t hurting like those they write about. Their sites are getting a lot of traffic and website traffic = $$.

Besides, if the American dream is dead then why is the site owner selling iPads, iPhones, and other merchandise on his site??

I don’t disagree the economy is in the pits. I left a cushy corporate job in March of this year to pursue furniture making and construction. Right now I’ve got zero work lined up but I am working on my planning and execution for January. These types of sites point out the obvious and don’t offer any real solutions to the problem.

IMO the only solution is to get busy doing something, anything. Anything is better than sitting at home or the office reading this garbage.

ditto tncraftsman
The dream isn’t dead but we are on a tough path, and the road out is working not bitching – it can be therapeutic to vent but after hitting the ‘post’ button the world won’t have changed.

As a former boss (in academia no less) told us as students, “You should ALWAYS be looking for a job” not that you bounce around twice a year and keep looking for the slightly better deal, but keep your contacts fresh (send Christmas cards!!!), talk to folks and keep your ears active. In that way for ANY industry, you know what you are worth and what your options are. You have a better chance of bouncing back with a new (perhaps lower or higher paying) position that is relevant if you get layed off, and stand a good chance not losing your house over prolonged unemployment. Still not a 100% guarantee but it helps.

-- "_If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astonish ourselves_." Edison

I could go on and on about this. All I have to say is people living in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. (Delta 50-760 Country of Origin is where!?)

-- Manufacturer of fine quality sawdust since 1984. Comments and advice on my shop welcome. Check it out at http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop. Gladly accepting shop build donations!

CharlieL, what makes you think I am talking about you? Sorry if I am pointing out your hypocrisy… If you are going to stand on the soapbox of Buy American, don’t be half a—ed about it. If you want others to buy American, maybe you should fund the difference in cost…

-- Manufacturer of fine quality sawdust since 1984. Comments and advice on my shop welcome. Check it out at http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop. Gladly accepting shop build donations!

sorry this is for the coffee lounge but thats closed lol

-- cut it saw it scrap it SKPE: ANDREW.CARTER69

Now let’s put the finger pointing away and go back to high school economics shall we?

Why is it that jobs are going overseas? There are a LOT of reasons. Not the least of which is that certain of our elected officials brokered so called free trade treaties over the last 2 decades that have left the United States beyond crippled as far as manufacturing is concerned. There are HUGE financial benefits to outsourcing manufacturing, as well as support jobs to places that pay dirt wages instead of places like the United States where wages are comparatively high, and taxes are punishing. It is far cheaper for a company to produce a product and import it, than it is to manufacture here, and cut out the boats…

To quote the Dead Kennedys song “Holiday In Cambodia” about the matter of wages…

“You’ll work harder with a gun in your back for a bowl of rice a day…”

Just HOW are you going to compete?

You have GOT to produce something that buyers will be willing to pay more for. In the case of power tools, it should be obvious that we don’t. Simply put there is a tipping point between affordability and quality. That tipping point has leaned to the affordability side of the coin. Now with the drastic improvements in quality that the Asian tool factories have implemented over the last decade or so… It is very hard to justify paying extra for American Iron.

We can purchase and refurbish older American Iron. And yes that puts a little bit o’ cash in the American economy. But the guys that forged the castings, did all the machining etc… got paid 20+ years ago… You are effectively paying for borrowed time. Doing nothing more than garage sale shopping… Sure there is value to putting funds back in the economy that way, but it is in such a small scale as to be a mere drop of water in the ocean, and in the grand scheme of the economy, pointless.

So do you want American jobs back in America? How do we get them back?

Well I need to steer clear of politics, but let’s just say get up off your back pockets, find out what laws and treaties need to be changed, and get involved to change them. NOW and not later…

A word of warning though. If we stop importing our goods, where are our goods going to come from, and how can we afford them?

This is NOT a simple problem that crying, whining, moaning and screaming at people for buying foreign products is going to solve. Use your brains, and your voices and DO something, don’t just sit there and cry about it.

-- Manufacturer of fine quality sawdust since 1984. Comments and advice on my shop welcome. Check it out at http://lumberjocks.com/dbhost/workshop. Gladly accepting shop build donations!

America is full of “Temporary” workers from outside the USA. If they were deported much of the problem would dissapear. We have 6.1% unemployment here so one must be in the top 94% to hold a job. There are other places in the USA that have lower unemployment rates.

-- In God We Trust

Hahahaha very funny Jim Finn, I almost died laughing, Are you comedian?????

Unfortunately high end wood working is not a very big market in the US. There are those out there that do it, but you have to be lucky to be one of the few that make a substantial living at it. Cheap carpentry, home building, labor…things like that are still doable. This is coming from a US pharmaceutical chemist…all of my jobs are being shipped to China and India. They’re a lot cheaper than me.

We can’t all always buy American either. I have my 2007 Harley Davidson…I worked at the factory (York, PA) for several summers, my step dad worked there for 35+ years. My bike has been in for warranty once, and the latest oil leak is out of warranty. In America your Harley is just “marking it’s territory” when it leaks oil. These are the sayings we come up with for our shortcomings. My step dad just got rid of his bike…no Harley after 35+ years. If other’s can do it just as good/better and cheaper…how can we complain?!

At least American cars are making a turn around in quality and value.

-- some day I hope to have enough clamps to need a clamp cart!

When is the blue collar worker going to stand up and fight for his future in a america. The students in europe have the right idea fighting over higher tutions. Why can’t the rich pay equal taxes, 10 percent to everyone i bet there would be so much money left over, that they could reinvest in a american products.

-- A poor man has poor way's

We refused to make things for less than $25 (plus huge benefits) an hour even though those people had barely achieved a high school diploma… Since when is it a consumer’s job to pay more for inferior products? I’m very patriotic but haven’t drank the Kool-Aid that some people have.

-- some day I hope to have enough clamps to need a clamp cart!

The American dream is to work as little as you can for a high of a wage as you can and retire as soon as you can. Unions and their big demands and the greed of the American people are pushing companies out of business. Why wouldn’t someone from a foreign country do it for less? They’re happy with just a fraction of what we have. Also GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS are going to put this country belly up!

-- www.largewoodslabs.com Apple Creek, Ohio