I thought So Many People Where Looking For Work

[That Guy]

speaking of which, I'm newly out of the air force and looking now BS in comp sci (summa cum laude) 210 credits at a 3.96, military experience, avionics, pro audio on multiple world tours, lots of volunteer hours and all that

had something lined up, but they got a new super and everything kinda changed. I'll probably end up disappearing into IT/def con/3 letter agency/intel hell, but if you know someone, feel free to let me know.

[firstdown]

This just shows how much Obama lacks understanding business and the real world.

Democratic lawmakers in both the House and the Senate have introduced similar measures. Obama said recently that discrimination against the unemployed makes "absolutely no sense," especially because many people find themselves out of work through no fault of their own.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by firstdown

This just shows how much Obama lacks understanding business and the real world.

Democratic lawmakers in both the House and the Senate have introduced similar measures. Obama said recently that discrimination against the unemployed makes "absolutely no sense," especially because many people find themselves out of work through no fault of their own.

Your post lacked a little substance around that, but I see where you are going. He's right, many people lost jobs because an entire company went under, or it suffered so badly in the downturn that it had to cut so deep that they had to lay off even very good employees.

But many does not equate to most. Most (not all) of those laid off from work were laid off by companies looking to trim costs. When making cuts, companies might cut 5 or 10% of the workforce. To decide who stays and who goes, they go through a basic cost benefit type of thinking. "Management has told me to cut $60,000 in salaries. I could cut Frank and Bill who make $30,000 each. Or I could just cut John who makes $60,000."

If Frank and Bill combined are more productive and useful than John, then Frank and Bill stay. If John alone is more useful than Frank and Bill, then he stays.

So usefulness comes into the thought process. The whole point of layoffs is to reduce costs while maintaining as much capability and productivity as possible. So for those chosen as layoff victims, there's often a usefulness problem. That's where the stigma comes from, and rightly so.

Now, AGAIN, this is the case for most but not all. Obama's trying to do right by those good employees laid off by no fault of their own. But in doing so he gives the rest of the unemployed a reason to reject the notion that maybe they were laid off because of relative ineffectiveness. And it will all come along with nuisance lawsuits.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

Your post lacked a little substance around that, but I see where you are going. He's right, many people lost jobs because an entire company went under, or it suffered so badly in the downturn that it had to cut so deep that they had to lay off even very good employees.

But many does not equate to most. Most (not all) of those laid off from work were laid off by companies looking to trim costs. When making cuts, companies might cut 5 or 10% of the workforce. To decide who stays and who goes, they go through a basic cost benefit type of thinking. "Management has told me to cut $60,000 in salaries. I could cut Frank and Bill who make $30,000 each. Or I could just cut John who makes $60,000."

If Frank and Bill combined are more productive and useful than John, then Frank and Bill stay. If John alone is more useful than Frank and Bill, then he stays.

So usefulness comes into the thought process. The whole point of layoffs is to reduce costs while maintaining as much capability and productivity as possible. So for those chosen as layoff victims, there's often a usefulness problem. That's where the stigma comes from, and rightly so.

Now, AGAIN, this is the case for most but not all. Obama's trying to do right by those good employees laid off by no fault of their own. But in doing so he gives the rest of the unemployed a reason to reject the notion that maybe they were laid off because of relative ineffectiveness. And it will all come along with nuisance lawsuits.

The problem I have with what Obama said was the highlight part, "absolutely no sense," So by saying that he thinks that 100% of the people unemployeed are hard at work looking for a new job and its just bad luck they have been without work for a few years.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by firstdown

The problem I have with what Obama said was the highlight part, "absolutely no sense," So by saying that he thinks that 100% of the people unemployeed are hard at work looking for a new job and its just bad luck they have been without work for a few years.

I think your interpretation of his meaning is incorrect.

"Absolutely no sense" does not mean that he necessarily believes that 100% of unemployed people want to find a job. I think what he was getting at was that allowing any type of discrimination against the unemployed makes no sense because it defeats any efforts aimed at getting them back to work.

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I think your interpretation of his meaning is incorrect.

"Absolutely no sense" does not mean that he necessarily believes that 100% of unemployed people want to find a job. I think what he was getting at was that allowing any type of discrimination against the unemployed makes no sense because it defeats any efforts aimed at getting them back to work.

Well if he is wanting to pass a law making it illegal then he thinks something along those lines.

[dmek25]

i think what he is trying to say is that the people that are willing to work....it makes no sense. i guess interpretation is everything

[mlmpetert]

I dont know i could it being interpretation either or both ways:

Sybil Wilkes, a co-host of the "Tom Joyner Morning Show," asked the president about long-term unemployment and businesses that tell applicants, "If you're unemployed, we don't want to hear from you."

Obama noted that the long-term unemployed have a tougher time landing jobs and said a stronger overall economy would make employers less choosy. "But we have seen instances in which employers are explicitly saying we don't want to take a look at folks who've been unemployed," the president said.

"Well, that makes absolutely no sense, and I know there's legislation that I'm supportive of that says you cannot discriminate against folks because they've been unemployed, particularly when you've seen so many folks who, through no fault of their own, ended up being laid off because of the difficulty of this recession."


Obama: Discrimination Against Jobless 'Makes Absolutely No Sense'

Im in favor of what NJ is doing where you cant say "jobless need not apply", but to essentially give affirmative action status to the unemployed makes absolutely no sense to a guy like me.