With the unemployment rate over nine percent, many people are being forced to do just about any job, even if that means taking a serious cut in pay. This is part of a trend toward growth in low-skilled and low-wage jobs, according to a new study by the National Employment Law Project, which found that job expansion so far has been skewed toward industries whose median wages fall below $15 an hour. Some fear it is a trend that is likely to continue, even as the economy improves.
We speak with Annette Bernhardt, a policy co-director for the National Employment Law Project and with Chelsea Nelson, who once worked as a secretary but now works as a waitress at a truck stop to help make ends meet.
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Tornadoes Tear Through the Midwest
Oklahoma City Tornado: 200 M.P.H. Winds, EF-4 on Fujita Scale
The show is a co-production of WNYC Radio and Public Radio International, in collaboration with New York Times Radio and WGBH Boston.
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Comments [6]
every time you buy at discount chain stores you support cheap overseas labor ,support the local jobs buy north American made products.
As a 21 year old male right out of college with a 3.72 GPA I can't get a job. I've been trying since May to get a new job but I'm in the same work I was doing since January. Which isn't too bad, but it's seasonal work and this is the off-season so I get $10 an hour about about 15 hours a week. When I was allowed to stay I jumped on it just so I could have a job and didn't have to rely on my parents as much anymore. I have to start paying off student loans in a few months. There just doesn't seem to be any a way for me to be hired by anyone else.
What your guest is talking about with regards to no benefits, short-term work, casual employment, etc., is called "flexible" labor.
All of the deprivations of the race to the bottom - without an adequate, 21st Century safety net - pains the vast majority of workers, lowers overall wages and puts workers at the mercy of their employers to a greater degree.
People still don't seem to realize that the economic collapse in 2008 sped up a structural process of globalization that many have called the "race to the bottom" where corporate money seeks out pools of low-wage employment around the world, not just in the USA.
This has been occurring for at least 30+ years and has been something that academia, labor, and activists have been discussing and trying to draw attention to for all of that time.
At the present moment I am contemplating a job offer of $37k after negotiating up from $30k. My previous job was $50k. I am grateful for the offer but feel like (at this stage of my career) I should be considering a higher salary rather than a lower one.
I've been in a temp assignment for the past 2 months, gratefully. It's a terrific assignment, but a 20% less than what I was making 3 years ago.
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