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Last hired, first fired earns African Americans the dubious distinction of having the highest Chicago unemployment rate. Will this financial recession need another economic stimulus, fellow Windy Citizens?
Unemployment Knocks Blacks Out of the Middle Class
chicagotribune.com - 2 weeks ago - 108 views
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Organizations: Economic Policy Institute | Obama administration
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What may appear descriminatory, may actually be how some ethnic & racial groups of workers congregate in certain industries hard hit by the current financial recession. For example, African Americans have been well represented in the ranks of manufacturing & automotive production workers. Those two industries have been especially hard hit by the recent negotiated bankruptcies of General Motors & Chrysler. The Chicago Tribune also lends credence to the long-standing view that minorities get laid off & have work weeks reduced because many have belatedly joined the workforce.
What other personal experiences or relevant shares have you to offer fellow Windy Citizens?
That is an astute observation, as any person who studies statistics knows, correlation does not imply causation.
When I was researching three major subcultures from the late 1800's up through 2000+, it was interesting to see how different groups within subcultures fared so differently from others. Some of it, especially if we are looking at the immigrant or like immigrant pop, often had similiar cohort experiences. But there were also experiences unique to groups. For example, the Mexican American experience is vastly different on many levels from the Cuban or Puerto Rican experience in the US.
Puerto Ricans in the 1900's almost seemed to never catch a break. A lot of them settled in parts of NYC in areas that were previous immigrant enclaves where people came in, worked the manual labor jobs, and when they built up enough savings, were able to develop the area as a community. But so much of this type of progress is not just location but timing. When the Puerto Ricans came into this area, the manufacturing jobs that were the mainstay for previous immigrants were no longer available, plus many had been sending money back home to help family out.
I've seen these types of occurrences work positively for others as well, especially where individuals have been involved.
Interesting comments. It's scary that now manufacturing is so weak in the US, compared to even only 50 years ago. I'm hoping that one positive result of higher energy prices is that more manufacturing will be done locally, to eliminate waste induced by shipping sub-assemblies all over the place.
There are so many manufacturing companies that have struggled, in part because they can't compete here and with overseas manufacturing. A lot of it has to do with having a legacy infrastructure -- it's far easier to develop a new manufacturing process and structure than it is to revamp one based on old technologies and ways of doing things.
It would make sense to have financial incentives to encourage manufacturing start-ups and rehauls to help this sector revitalize. I don't know the extent of these as they exist now, but this is a sector that certainly can use the help.
Good Going president Obama.
How do we encourage those hit hard by manufacturing employment to discover ways to replace their employment income with entrepreneurial investment? Is there an achievable path or is this simply an illusion asks author Scott A. Shane in his book by the same name--The Illusions of Entrepreneurship.
That's a good question since it also involves a number of factors. I think it is achievable, but not everyone is equipped to do so. Education and training go a long way to helping people understand what needs to be done in terms of running a business, but a small start up created by someone without the technical tools they need can be disastrous.
Even if you have the tools, or you have family members who can help you, the pressure on a lot of small businesses can be mind boggling. And then of course one needs "the idea." Even with a good one, the marketplace can change and without the ability to redirect and respond to changing needs or trends, a good product can become obsolete.
It is extremely difficult for many people to switch from being a worker to being an entrepreneur; skills that make a good worker don't always translate to being a good business person. That also goes for people who work in white collar jobs as well as blue collar jobs. I've seen people who made that transition, but usually they did so while they were working full time so that they could gradually build up their business. People who suddenly get laid off do not have the luxury of a longer time frame to evaluate their options, and can often plunge into a venture that doesn't have a good long range potential.
There is also the issue of age. Many older workers in the manufacturing sector often, but not always, need more skills especially in the area of technology unless they have already adopted it in the workplace. The more skills one has, the more adaptable they are to entrepreneurial venues. I am also a DMOZ editor, and I've seen Hip-Hop websites put together by teenage kids that had great business elements, so sometimes a person also 'just has it.'
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