Our Opinion/ Our growing economy: disaster, prison, war, and entertainment

We’re Hiring

By Cindy Gomez
Editor

The job market is tough everywhere. The national unemployment rate has been steadily hovering at about 10 percent. Minnesota’s is only slightly lower at around 8.5 percent, while North Dakota’s has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country at just over 4 percent. But the numbers don’t tell the real story. For example, some counties in North Dakota, like Benson, Eddy, Emmons, Kidder, Pembina, Rolette, Sheridan, Sioux and Wells counties all have unemployment rates above 6 percent, and some are as high as 10 percent. There’s a reason North Dakota has the third highest percentage of people working two or more jobs in the country (in 2010, 8.9 percent of employed residents had more than one job compared to national average of 4.9 percent). When people can’t survive on the income of one job, there’s a problem that a low statewide unemployment rate won’t fix.

Jobs are disappearing in massive amounts, and quickly. For a local example, Hutchinson Technology in Hutchinson, MN., has been laying off workers by the hundreds for several years now. Those jobs, like many good-paying private sector jobs around the country, are going overseas. Our state and local governments are creating policies that remove collective bargaining rights, lower wages and decrease incentives for safe working environments. By disrespecting our workforce, we create a culture that values greed over people. Our federal government isn’t helping matters. They keep giving incentives for businesses to treat workers poorly, pay them cheaply or send their jobs overseas.

As more plants close and more people get laid off or fired, they are finding they cannot replace their jobs with similar work or pay. So, all the under-employed and unemployed people are left wondering where they’ll find their next job. Be prepared to change careers. You may have to do a job you are not trained for and have no interest in doing. Dire economic times call for drastic measures. Soon, desperation will drive many to get whatever jobs they can, rather than the jobs they want. The good news is, there are jobs out there. You just have to know where to look. The trick is to follow national trends and see where the jobs are going. HPR has compiled some tips to help you find your next job in:

:: Disaster Relief: There are natural disasters all over the world as well as right here at home. Federal aid, donations and massive clean up efforts and rebuilding efforts pour into communities that have been devastated by natural disaster. Unlike jobs, there is no shortage of disasters nationally and internationally. And you don’t have to go far. We have local flood relief efforts yearly. Moorhead is hiring sandbaggers this year. And with the added benefit that our local natural disaster is on a schedule, there is work to do before the flood, and after. If that doesn’t land you a job, there are opportunities opening up after the nuclear fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Japan. If the radiation that has already leaked out gets into a jet stream, the fallout could reach us here in North Dakota in three to five days.

:: Jails and Detention Centers: Of all the prisons and all the prisoners on planet Earth, the United States is No. 1! We’ve got more than 25 percent of the world’s prisoners incarcerated right here on American soil. At year end 2009, there were 7,225,800 people (one out of every 32 adults) in jail, on probation or on parole. America knows a good business when they see it. Former Vice President Dick Cheney was one of the first entrepreneurs to tap into the gold mine of privatizing prisons. Although private prisons are rampant with abuse, the number of prisons and prisoners is still growing. The Texas grand jury that indicted the vice president, and former attorney general Alberto Gonzales, said the industry “is profiteering from depriving human beings of their liberty.” And now, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detaining approximately a half a million people per year, there’s plenty more profiteering to be had. For those desperate for a job, it’s a lucky break that our U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Citizenship is broken and backlogs of deportation cases are keeping hundreds of thousands of detained foreign nationals here, because that means jobs. Sure the jobs in public detention and private detention pay a meager average wage of around $23,000 to $17,000 annually, respectively, and have turnover rates as high as 54 percent, but at least it’s a job!

:: Army: With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, America was just getting warmed up. Iran, Pakistan, Libya and Mexico are on the horizon. President Obama just requested a 5.7 percent increase in the special operations budget, a total of $6.3 billion for 2011, on top of the $3.5 billion increase he got in 2010. Now that’s what we call job security!

A man from southern California told the Christian Science Monitor recently that he took the only steady job he could find: soldier in the Army. Blaise Counter divides his time between manning deadly mortars, going on dangerous foot patrols and latrine duty. But at least he has paid medical insurance, room, board and a steady $1,900 monthly, tax-free paycheck. Counter has a young daughter whom he misses, and there’s also the looming fear of death and war that hangs over his head. A steady paycheck, however, is not something he has to worry about. Record number of recruits are reported by the Army, even creating a waiting list for those desperate for work in America.

::Entertainment: Become a clown, or other form of actor. Something in the industry like a trapeze artist, an athlete, bartender, make-up artist, singer or sex-worker. Along with soldiers and law enforcement, the entertainment business (and jobs supporting it) will be “recession proof” winner jobs. People will spend money on entertainment during a recession. In fact, during the Great Depression there was a huge surge in Hollywood and the movie industry. People get depressed when they lose their jobs. During the Great Depression, people would commit suicide rather than continue a miserable and hopeless existence. That’s where the entertainment came in! Movies were made affordable to the masses so they could escape their lives.

In the future, all forms of mental getaways will be secure sources for employment during our economic recession. Alcohol sales will increase, as will those of drugs and tobacco. But, for the poor who can’t afford those luxuries of excess and escapism, TV, radio and movies will allow us to vicariously self-destruct through celebrities like Charlie Sheen.

Happy job hunting.

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