Airline Pilot Forums

BusinessInsider's Joe Weisenthal pointed out something amazing/funny/worrisome yesterday: It's easier to get into Harvard than to get a job at McDonald's.

McDonald's recently held a national job fair that garnered more than 1 million applications. The fast food chain had advertised 50,000 jobs, but after being swarmed with so many applicants in a tight economy, ended up hiring 62,000 people.

Weisenthal said that means McDonald's rate of acceptance is a tight 6.2%. By contrast, Harvard's acceptance rate is a slighthly more welcoming 7%.

Okay, so it's a slightly facetious item. However, it demonstrates the rough state of the nation's economy, namely that Americans are scrambling for work right now, and are hard-pressed to find even hourly work in the service sector.

Working at McDonald's is not an easy way to make a living, and it doesn't easily support a family. What's needed ASAP are good-paying jobs, and plenty of them.

We've been saying this a lot, and we'll keep saying it: manufacturing provides good jobs, and supports other jobs throughout the economy.

The U.S. needs to rebuild its industrial base.

The manufacturing ship set sail a long time ago unfortunately and as long as the anti business climate in relation to regulation persists in this country it will stay as is.
As far as jobs being created I ask what kinds of jobs since the media over here fails to mention that little tidbit most of the time when reporting the numbers.


Ally

Manufacturing supports many other industries. A plant with 1000 workers will create jobs in many other sectors ranging from real estate to logistics/trucking to restaurants/services.

It's a catch 22 though- manufacturing has been moved overseas not only because of regulatory issues but also because of cost. American workers are more expensive than just about anywhere else.

We need jobs over here that will add to the federal tax base and service jobs just don't make the grade when it comes to that side of the equation and it makes me wonder what kinds of jobs will be available 10 years from now .



Ally

I agree about American workers being being"too expensive". Everyone and their brother is willing to do things so cheaply the American worker gets undercut every time. Even fairly complex manufacturing, which one would assume requires a more educated work force, has gone away in large part. From a national defense stand point, if we had to tool up something like WWII, i doubt America would have the manufacturing infrastructure and seasoned work force to pony up.