When high school graduates hung up their diplomas during and after WWII, Korea and Vietnam, many chose or were required to enter one of our military forces. That was one form of employment, low pay, high risk, uncertain enlistment period but possibilities of a military career or activation of government educational benefits.
Teenage unemployment for March, 2018 was 13.5%, more than triple the overall national unemployment rate. Under present circumstances, where are the young men and women and what are they doing? There are unlimited low pay entry level jobs for young men and women who are looking forward to a life of contributing to the nation’s economy.
Let’s say that Jeff graduated #10 in his class from Broken Spoke HS in Nebraska. Not interested in college for four to nine years of study to enter a professional field; he notices a newspaper announcement from the local community college that a course in electrical wiring is being offered. He decides to take the course and over two years of study and apprenticing with a local electrical contractor he becomes a graduate and takes a job as an electrician.
Jeff was wise and perhaps even prescient because right now in 2018 Union Pacific Corporation, the nation’s largest railroad headquartered in Omaha is paying signing bonuses of as much as $25,000 for electricians. Jobs needed filling are TE&Y (train, engine & yard) jobs that will pay up to $40,000 the first year and up to $60,000 the second year. BNSF (formerly Burlington Northern Santa Fe) railroad with offices in Fort Worth, TX is offering many of the same signing bonuses and benefits. BNSF, the nation’s second largest railroad is a unit of Berkshire Hathaway.
These bonuses are being offered because with increased business activity the labor market is tight and there are needs for trained workers. In addition there are huge needs for untrained workers who are willing to attend training sessions in order to find a job with excellent earnings. Shipments by rail, truck, air, ship (maritime) and other activities related to getting products from suppliers to users is known as ‘logistics.’ This phase of commerce and the national economy has taken on added importance due to increasing needs for prompt delivery of new and existing products. Truck drivers are a part of this enigmatic situation as most truck lines are searching for drivers for over-the-road pick-ups and deliveries. Truck driver training is available in most areas of the country.
Elkhart, IN is a hotbed of commercial/industrial activity. A McDonalds’ restaurant was closed because there were not enough $8 per hour employees to serve the hungry customers. A Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant nearby offered $150 signing bonuses to recruit kitchen and service help. The unemployment rate in the Elkhart area with an estimated 110,000 workers was 2% in January 2018.
The driver of this rapid growth is the RV industry and peripheral industries to satisfy the desires and needs of buyers of recreational vehicles. One of those producers is Jayco, a unit of Thor Industries, Inc. that makes and sells motor homes in the $475,000 range. The area produced 500,000 RV motor homes and travel trailers in 2017. Increased business activity has picked up exponentially but also we have just left an 8-year period of economic malaise due to business-unfriendly taxes and regulations. In 1964, President LBJ introduced ‘The Job Corps’ aimed at 16-24 year-old poor youths so they could enter manufacturing careers, construction trades, healthcare and other pursuits of employment.
Of the 50,000 Job Corps enrollees in 2017, 87% lived in government dorms at a cost of $33,990 each annually. More than half of the participants in training were doing jobs unrelated to their training; one trainee spent 347days in carpentry training and accepted an $11,000 job as a convenience store clerk. At the Homestead Job Corps Center in Florida, five students murdered a 17-year-old classmate. The multi-billion dollar’ Job Corps’ program has been an abject failure.
The moral of this story is that there are jobs for everyone; teenagers need to pursue efforts to absorb educations, job training, valuable skills, advancement and the glow of success and prosperity will be the reward. Holding a job is vital to our economy, our culture, our pride.
Dick Baynton
