General Question

_Whitetigress's avatar

What new jobs can actually be created in the U.S.A?

Asked by _Whitetigress (4349 points ) November 6th, 2012

Any sources to back up your statements?

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21 Answers

YARNLADY's avatar

Transportation and warehouse jobs are constantly being created. The number of people who leave this type of work is down and the number of people who enter the field is up by the tens of thousands.

There are also thousands and thousands of jobs created in the hospitality and food service areas.

DaphneT's avatar

What do you need? Services: tire changes, oil changes, clothing pressed, clothing made, shoes made, organized, kept clean, house cleaned, grocery shopping, cook, tax management, home software packages, lab tests for all the known blood markers, analysts to interpret everything, and so on. Be very specific, because the jobs that could be created require that you the employer train the employee to your specifications. Products: robots, laser guided cars, motorcycles, bicycles, etc., cook and serve refrigerator-ovens, automatic disposal dining tables, isometric-exercise chairs, digital physical trainers, etc.
Culture: traveling action shows, symphonic recording artists, artisan communities for tourism employment, and so on.

Employment in the United States is about someone paying someone else to do something that the original someone doesn’t want to do. It is not about products, unless the products are about making it easier to do whatever it is you don’t want to do. Or making it more fun to do what you do.

So you can buy another washing machine, but paying someone to do your laundry means you have time to do something else. Purchasing cooking services means you can have good meals and the time to do something else. Having a valet or ladies maid means someone else takes care of your clothing and grooming and you look good doing something else. If you’re not willing or able to pay for those services and products, there will be no increased employment in this country.

ETpro's avatar

We desperately need to repair crumbling bridges and highways—and a large portion of the construction industry is still out of work. Force the Roadblock Republicans in the Senate to fund a highway bill before more bridges cave in, killing American commuters.

We need an EMP hardened, smart electrical distribution grid. Again, put idle construction workers on the job. It will cost, but it will pay back for several generations to come.

Sunny2's avatar

Good question. Nobody talks about jobs being done overseas for us or the effect computerization has had on jobs. A whole 20 secretary pool’s job can be done by 5 or 6 people. So much is automatized that used to be jobs for a lot of people.

ETpro's avatar

@Sunny2 That’s a great point, and one we must come to grips with. Machines will eventually take over a large amount of all work. Will all proceeds of that go to just a handful of corporate executives and investors? If so, who will buy all the stuff the machines make?

RocketGuy's avatar

@ETpro – if we had a robust electrical grid we could get wind energy from the midwest out to where it is needed.

ETpro's avatar

@RocketGuy Exactly. And homeowners in areas that receive lots of sun would have an incentive to install solar if they could pay it off by selling excess capacity to the grid.

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jerv's avatar

I work at a foundry. We opened a new plant fairly recently, the company has been expanding steadily for over 27 years. I’ve watched the head count in just our plant grow considerably in the 3 years, and they have been successful enough to manage to grow even during the recent recessions.

If a company can manage that in a sector that has been the hardest hit, then many companies (especially those in more favorable fields) can do at least as well and create jobs a-plenty.

So I say “All kinds”.

LuckyGuy's avatar

We need to make things here. Service jobs a good but mining, manufacturing, construction and farming actually add wealth to the nation.

ETpro's avatar

@LuckyGuy There was a fantasy among policy planners back in the 1980s that America was transitioning from a manufacturing economy to a service one. The K-Street bunch and insider think tanks actually encouraged politicians to push manufacturing jobs offshore. It would work just as it did back when America transitioned from an agricultural economy to a manufacturing one, they suggested.

There were two very large holes in that bucket. First and foremost, America never transitioned from agriculture to manufacturing. We instead automated agriculture. We remain today one of the world’s leading food exporters. Second, much of the hoped-for service sector work hinged on being the world’s leaders in manufacturing at six sigma quality levels. Sadly, you aren’t going to get paid to teach the rest of the world to achieve six sigma manufacturing after abandoning manufacturing. You no longer have the test bed to learn the subject well enough to teach it.

Republican policy makers seem to still be enamored with outsourcing. They focus primarily on what’s of benefit to management and investors. And externalizing costs of manufacturing to third world markets is very good for a wealthy few. Fortunately, it appears that at least the Democratic Party has awakened to the error of that focus, as out economy is driven by consumers, and bankrupting them to further fatten the rich does not make for robust consumer spending or enhance the greater good.

jerv's avatar

@ETpro One thing I forgot to mention about my company before but that your comment made relevant; over half of the stuff we make is exported. We do some things bettet than any foreign company can, and a few that no other company in the world can at all. When you excel at what you do, cost matters a bit less since few are willing to pay half the price for one-tenth the quality.

flutherother's avatar

This is what the Bureau of Labor Statistics says….

“Industries and occupations related to health care, personal care and social assistance, and construction are projected to have the fastest job growth between 2010 and 2020. Jobs requiring a master’s degree are expected to grow the fastest, while those requiring a high school diploma will experience the slowest growth over the 2010–20 timeframe. Slower population growth and a decreasing overall labor force participation rate are expected to lead to slower civilian labor force growth.”

Ron_C's avatar

I hear people that live the Fox lie complaining that there are no good jobs to be had. I work in the Powdered Metal Industry. I was at 4 different factories last week. Everyone was looking to add production workers, maintenance personnel, and some leadership people. They were going fro 2 to 3 shifts a day and were having trouble keeping up with demand. Their customers are in the Auto industry, manufacturing, appliance, and heavy machinery industries. Plus they were making parts for farm implements.

The only industries that are over supplied are politicians, and the clergy.

DWW25921's avatar

Coal Mining.

YARNLADY's avatar

There is an upsurge of Gold Mining in California, so there will be more jobs in that field.

ETpro's avatar

@jerv & @Ron_C Anecdotes to love!

RocketGuy's avatar

Those who have third world skills will earn third world wages – LC Thurow

_Whitetigress's avatar

@jonsblond I have an opposing viewpoint to that story. If anything history tells us we will seek out doctors from overseas and bring them here. We’ve taken M.D.s from the Philippines, India, Mexico, Russia, Italy, Everywhere in the past, we’ll do it again. (I don’t know who exactly invites them over, maybe like in the sports business there are M.D. agents?) I’m just using simple knowledge of U.S. History though I may be wrong, but history does repeat :D

Great article though.

Damnit I should’ve listened to my mom when she said study and become a doctor

captain_john's avatar

We could have the largest merchant marine in the world if we wanted. All we would have to do is pass a cargo preference bill or sign bilateral trade agreements with other countries. We buy and sell more goods than anyother country in the world, we should ship more goods than any other country as well.

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