Is it just me, or is the face of American Employment Opportunities, subtly changing?
Has the Dignity of an Honest Day's Work -- suddenly become a "Luxury", that as a country, we can no longer afford?
Or is it simply that the Toothpaste of "Cheap Labor", has been squeezed out of the Tube -- and it's such a mess now, there is no easy way to put it back to where it used to be.
Is the Job Market going through a permanent "structural change" -- one where the employment landscape will look totally different, after the all the Great Recession dust has cleared?
Economies, Job Markets, Shops, and Trade, are Living Organic systems.
They grow and expand. They shrink and contract.
They thrive and give life. The wither and take that life away.
And sometimes there are "radical shifts" in those dynamic systems -- where the entire Landscape changes. And individual Life-giving Employment opportunities are lucky to survive, when such a major structural change strikes.
Being ready to adapt helps -- but not always.
Mississippi River Basin
Water: Science and Issues, (2003) by Christopher J. Woltemade
Preventing Natural Channel Change.
Like all rivers, the Mississippi naturally changes course over time. As lower reaches of the river flow through the delta, sediment deposition slowly reduces the river's slope until the channel breaches (breaks) its banks and establishes a shorter, steeper route to the Gulf of Mexico.
Shifting Like A Snake: Ancient Mississippi Courses
Frank Jacobs on November 21, 2007
When looking at this map and seeing the jumble of ancient riverbeds -- imagine all those shifts sped up: the Mississippi is like a shifting snake, twisting to find its easiest way down to the Gulf.
Sometimes Employment Markets shift like the mighty Mississippi -- When the Levee breaks, it's usually best to get out of its way.
Quietly waiting, clinging to hope, that the River will soon return to previous course, can be a difficult experience. If your livelihood depends on that River, you may need to move yourself, instead.
Pining away for what used to be -- won't make it happen, if the Change is Structural in nature, and not just the "seasonal flood" -- soon to recede.
Structural Changes: The Economy, Unemployment and Inflation
John Mason, SeekingAlpha -- May 04, 2009
A new concern about the economy has surfaced recently.
[...] that of the world, is currently going through a transitional change that only occurs once or twice every century. This is the transition that takes place in the productive structure of the economy -- a sort of "tipping point".
There is no doubt that the structure of automobile production is going to be different in the next ten years from what it was over the past fifty years or so. This shift will affect dealers, suppliers, and many other companies that are peripheral to the car-making process. But, changes are also taking place in the way that different forms of energy are going to be provided. Information technology continues to change and we still don’t know what the future looks like in this area. And, these are just a start.
The point is that the world has changed. People that are facing unemployment due to the collapse of the auto industry are not going to find the same employment opportunities in the future that existed in the past, even if the stimulus and bailout packages work. There will be a different focus in energy with new types of jobs becoming available and the old types being less plentiful.
[...]
The bottom line is that the changes that have taken place in the United States economy are structural in nature and must be dealt with as such.
Getting New marketable Skills is usually a good idea -- but they have to be NEW Skills that are actually IN DEMAND.
And if the Profit-munching Organism, has moved on to Greener Cheaper Pastures -- getting the 2.0 version of the "same old skills" probably won't help much, to reverse the Landslide of Global Outsourcing ... that has been shuttering shops across the country ... for a while now.
It may be a flat world now, for the Profiteers, but that doesn't make it a "fair" world for the workers, left behind.
So, Where have are those Jobs Going? Where will they crop up next?
Sometimes, if you know where the River's heading next, it can help you be ready you launch your next life-line raft -- in hopes of catching that next employment wavelet, when and if it arrives:
Overview of the 2008-18 Projections
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Table 2. Occupations with the largest numerical growth
| Occupations | Number of new jobs (in thousands) | Percent change | $ Wages (May 2008 median) | Education/training category |
| Registered nurses | 581.5 | 22 | 62,450 | Associate degree |
| Home health aides | 460.9 | 50 | 20,460 | Short-term on-the-job training |
| Customer service representatives | 399.5 | 18 | 29,860 | Moderate-term on-the-job training |
| Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food | 394.3 | 15 | 16,430 | Short-term on-the-job training |
| Personal and home care aides | 375.8 | 46 | 19,180 | Short-term on-the-job training |
| Retail salespersons | 374.7 | 8 | 20,510 | Short-term on-the-job training |
| Office clerks, general | 358.7 | 12 | 25,320 | Short-term on-the-job training |
| Accountants and auditors | 279.4 | 22 | 59,430 | Bachelor's degree |
| Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants | 276.0 | 19 | 23,850 | Postsecondary vocational award |
| Postsecondary teachers | 256.9 | 15 | 58,830 | Doctoral degree |
| Construction laborers | 255.9 | 20 | 28,520 | Moderate-term on-the-job training |
| Elementary school teachers, except special education | 244.2 | 16 | 49,330 | Bachelor's degree |
| Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer | 232.9 | 13 | 37,270 | Short-term on-the-job training |
| Landscaping and groundskeeping workers | 217.1 | 18 | 23,150 | Short-term on-the-job training |
| Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks | 212.4 | 10 | 32,510 | Moderate-term on-the-job training |
| Executive secretaries and administrative assistants | 204.4 | 13 | 40,030 | Work experience in a related occupation |
| Management analysts | 178.3 | 24 | 73,570 | Bachelor's or higher degree, plus work experience |
| Computer software engineers, applications | 175.1 | 34 | 85,430 | Bachelor's degree |
| Receptionists and information clerks | 172.9 | 15 | 24,550 | Short-term on-the-job training |
| Carpenters | 165.4 | 13 | 38,940 | Long-term on-the-job training |
SOURCE: BLS Occupational Employment Statistics and Division of Occupational Outlook
Sometimes, even that's not enough. Knowledge.
Sometimes, the Toothpaste is just too big a big mess.
Without some luck, and some NEW over-arching PLANNED Structural Changes -- like a serious push for a Clean Green Economy -- that Living Organic system, otherwise known as the Economy, can continue to wither hope away ... until only the husks remain.
We may actually need a life-giving New River, especially when the Old River -- or even the 100-year Deluge -- with a mind of its own, has struck, without mercy, without compassion. Wiping out Opportunity. Wiping out lives.
... as heartless, dynamic mechanical systems, on occasion, have a nasty habit of doing ...
Hmmmm? Maybe the Economy ISN'T a Living Organism, after all?
