'Skills' Gap Leaving Firms Without Workers

Am in full agreement with STC that 'not all jobs can be outsourced' & that those currently unemployed/underemployed should concentrate our job-search efforts on non-outsourcable fields whenever possible/practical.

In the US among all the private-sector jobs 90% are in service industries yet only 10% in manufacturing.

It's very possible to start one's own business as STC describes (but not if you're getting UI.....UI rules in all states say that you must have prior permission from your UI office to make self-employment income & some states ban self-employment income for those on UI altogether).

If you start making real big money (like $300/day) be sure to pay your state & federal income taxes quarterly as required by law. You can check with your state's tax office & with the IRS regarding the paperwork. It's better to pay the taxes than take a chance on going to jail imo.

STC--Please forgive me if it seemed/seems like I was criticizing your suggestion......meant only that not everyone is suited for self-employment. It's good to hear that in the 1 month since you came up with the idea of starting a fix-it barter business that you've already hired 2 workers & recruited 3 young people for training.

I have had the fix it barter business for 34 years, it is only recently that expanded it to train more people, in the past I would only train one at a time. It is not my only business, you need to wear many hats in the underground economy.

I seldom deal with cash, as you say, it is taxable. In a true barter business you trade most of the time and only take cash when you need it. I probably do not have $1,000 in cash but if I need something it is usually in the garage or one of the storage sheds. I was under the impression that the 99ers were off UI so earning money should not be a problem for most of them.

The helpers will not make a lot of money until they begin to produce the tools of the underground economy (trailers, compressors, generators, tow bars et cetera), these are the items that sell as fast as you can make them. I will start them on these items when they learn the Pythagorean theory, Ohm's law et cetera and improve their welding skills.

The trainees are working at their jobs 40 hours a week, for me 20 hours a week and have to study in their spare time so they do not have it easy. Their schooling was woefully inadequate in higher math, physics, chemistry et cetera, things that we learned by 4th grade.

It may seem mean to keep their schedule so full but it will begin to pay off in a few months when they can quit their pitiful jobs. I expect each of them to build their own snowplow before the snow falls, around here you can earn a years wages just in the winter months.

If you are interested I will put up a Yahoo site with pictures of home made snowplows, trailers et cetera that you can build yourself for a tenth of what they would cost you to buy.

Philly,

Perhaps you are right that the underground economy and self employment is not for everyone, the lack of responses on this and other 99er groups backs up your claim. It is sad to think that there will be 15 million more homeless folks in the coming months just because people fear trying new things. One would think that the fear of becoming homeless would be more than enough incentive to take the leap.

I, and most of my friends, are 'bad boys' we do not fit in the mold so we never finished school. Perhaps this is the key to working outside the system. It is not that we lacked the intellect to finish school but rather we lack the obedient gene that would have allowed us to conform. I guess that a regular job just reinforces the obedient gene and eventually over rides any behavior that involves risk.

You are right that self employment is risky, some of my jobs fail. Failure can be viewed as defeat or a learning experience, those that view failure as a learning experience can make the necessary adjustments to turn failure into success. The old saying "Give a man a fish and he eats once, teach a man how to fish and he eats every day" is a great lesson. I am not the only one out there trying to teach people how to fish, if you look around you can find someone in your local area.

Jerry.

I get where you are going and yes self employment works better for some. I've been doing a lot of thinking about this because I am considering going the freelance way myself. I've been getting people asking me if I know computer software and I am considering going into business teaching that to people.

We have a friend that used to work for Sun Systems as a programmer and started a consulting company when he got laid off last november. The first few months were rough but now they can pay their bills and even eat out once in a while.

stcfarms wrote:Philly,

Perhaps you are right that the underground economy and self employment is not for everyone, the lack of responses on this and other 99er groups backs up your claim. It is sad to think that there will be 15 million more homeless folks in the coming months just because people fear trying new things. One would think that the fear of becoming homeless would be more than enough incentive to take the leap.

I, and most of my friends, are 'bad boys' we do not fit in the mold so we never finished school. Perhaps this is the key to working outside the system. It is not that we lacked the intellect to finish school but rather we lack the obedient gene that would have allowed us to conform. I guess that a regular job just reinforces the obedient gene and eventually over rides any behavior that involves risk.

You are right that self employment is risky, some of my jobs fail. Failure can be viewed as defeat or a learning experience, those that view failure as a learning experience can make the necessary adjustments to turn failure into success. The old saying "Give a man a fish and he eats once, teach a man how to fish and he eats every day" is a great lesson. I am not the only one out there trying to teach people how to fish, if you look around you can find someone in your local area.

Jerry.

Hi Jerry. Sorry but I don't recall saying that self-employment is inherently risky.....tho it's probably true that it is.....I said that people getting UI are forbidden to engage in self-employment without prior permission from their local UI office & that if someone not getting UI engages in self-employment then they had better be sure to pay their taxes as required by law. I didn't go into the barter question.....but when looking it up I saw that it does indeed carry unusual tax risk since IRS has in the past gone after people who they believe are making substantial 'profit' thru bartering.....but with the federal workforce being cut probably this is less a risk today than in the past. I agree 100% with you about people considering & even going into self-employment.....& I admire how you've been taking young folks under your wing.....with the UE rate so high for so long & with high-school dropout rates skyrocketing young people need all the support & training they can get. I admire the way you have found your your way in the world & are passing it on......God bless you.
Mark

Mark,

I turned down my UI for that very reason, we would have starved on half of my Navy pay. Most of the folks on this list seem to be eating their seed corn, using their savings to hang on to their house for a few more months. The time to act is slowly slipping away as they tilt at the windmills of government help. I am Indian, the scariest words that I know are "I am from the government, I am here to help".

I do not make substantial profit from my businesses, there are periods of time when there is no work. I save through the good times and produce things to sell or trade in the slack periods. I like to invent things and build them, so the slack periods just give me time to play. I do not need, or wish, to work at a job constantly, I find that barter is sufficient except for the money that the regime demands for tribute. Since barter meets most of my needs why work for extra money just to hand it over to the criminals in Washington?

The unemployment rate out here in the sticks is near zero, it is the cities that are in trouble. Around here the unemployed own snowplows, lawn tractors and other tools that enable them to work enough to make a decent living. It is the same in rural communities all across the country because the farmers need temporary help and they can afford to pay for it. Farm houses are cheap by city standards, 20 years ago we paid $6,500 cash for our old Butterfield stage coach way station on a quarter acre. Even now the house is only worth about $40,000 because the cost of living is so low.

Most of these rural towns are losing population because their college educated kids do not return. It is not for lack of employment here but rather "Once they have seen Paris it is hard to keep them down on the farm". Since houses are cheap, there is plenty of work on the farms and related industries, it boggles the mind that people would leave the country for the city. Out here self employment is a way of life, you do not get rich, you do not get poor, you just live well.

Jerry.