When we think of precarious employment we usually think of temporary, part-time or contract work however even those with full time well paying jobs can find that wrested from them in a blink of an eye. It doesn't matter how profitable or productive you are if the suits decide that they can improve the value of their stock options by off shoring or contracting out your job it's hasta la vista baby.
The
National Employment Law Project; took a look at job losses from 2008 to 2010 and then compared those numbers to the types of jobs created from 2010 to 2012, It classified low-wage jobs as those earning $7.69 to $13.83 an hour, $13.84 to $21.13 an hour for mid-wage jobs and $21.14 to $54.55 for higher-wage jobs. Unsurprisingly they found that those jobs that fell in the mid range saw the greatest decline during the recession while post recession most jobs created fall within the lowest range..
Of course this isn't a new phenomenon, but as this graph shows, a continuation of a long term trend.
Now I'm not trying to say that those with decent paying full time jobs aren't better off than those without because obviously they are. However to say that those with these types of jobs are secure would require us to bury our heads deeply in the sand. If we don't fight back and reverse this trend it isn't hyperbole to state that most of us
employed or not will be living in poverty.
Thomas Walkom provides us with a good read on this subject in todays Star Happy Labour Day. It’s all pretty grim
Former Fed chief Allan Greenspan referred to today's blue and white collar workers as the "precariat" and proclaimed their state of constant economic and employment insecurity a boon to the American economy. Decades earlier a guy saying those things would have been strung up from a lamp post.
ReplyDeleteThe ruling elite has become so secure in their victory that they no longer put much effort into hiding their evil agenda
DeleteSo true. We're all hanging by a thread now. My own field, the one I'm transitioning out of, has shrunk to a tiny shadow of what it once was. The only reason I'm still employed is because (a) I prefer non-traditional shifts that are more difficult for the employer to fill and (b) I am at the very top of the field. But conditions have worsened tremendously.
ReplyDeleteI saw some stupid vote-for-Obama thing about all the jobs added during his admin. No mention of whether a human can actually support themselves on these jobs. We know what the answer is.