Society/Culture The class system of modern Australia

[Rotayjay]

Excellent analysis and it is now happening here in Oz.

Running WFD operations one of the 1st questions I ask is what certificates do you have?

U/E 1 : Cert 2 in Logistics, Forklift Licence , Work Zone Traffic Management , Cert 2 Horticulture
U/E 2 : Cert 3 Horticulture , Forklift , Cert 2 Logistics, WZTM ,
U/E 3: Forklift, WZTM , Cert 3 Logistics

etc etc

Everybody now has a certificate , so what differentiates them? It seems when the resumes go out they all read the same. What is it that makes a candidate stand out? The irony was one person had an Excavator Operators ticket. When he applied for a job he was asked if he had 200 hours experience? How is a person meant to gain this experience if he is legally not allowed on an Excavator without a ticket? ( I understand the company hoped he had found this experience elsewhere but as a starting point its crazy)

A bad economy hurts everyone. Employers get hurt because business is slow, sometimes slow enough so that the business can't pay its bills and becomes insolvent.

Employees get hurt because the job market becomes very much a buyer's market. You need experience to get the job, but you can't get the experience because no one wants to risk giving experience to someone who is not already experienced ...

In addition, I've heard quite a few dodgy stories from small businesses lately - people not getting their legally required breaks, or even being underpaid. If they confront their bosses about it, they might get sacked. If they report their boss, the business might get shut down. In a bad economy, people take what they can get because they know it might be extremely difficult to find another job.

If you're a good enough employee that organisations head-hunt you, you're more likely to become or remain a member of the higher economic classes. If you're not very talented, or skilful, or hard-working, or experienced, you're more likely to be left on the economic scrap heap. Economics 101 - the labour market is much the same as any other market.

Unemployment begets unemployment - this is part of the reason we have an underclass even in rich countries. That's why I support the idea of early intervention in relation to welfare-dependency. No person who wants to work should fall in a whirlpool in which finding a job becomes harder and harder as they've been out of work for longer and longer.

 

[Power Raid]

So the whole concept of stagnant real family incomes i the US is baloney then given both lower and middle has fallen and upper has risen considerably.

the graph stops at 2010 but prior to that yes, it is baloney. people's expectations always rise with income and people often forget how good they have it.

the graph though does highlight the gap between our average joe and our poor is widening

 

[Power Raid]

Very interesting point.

The former Mexican resident I know told me some pretty disturbing stories about that country. One thing which surprised me was that having one bachelor's degree is not enough to get you a white-collar job there. You need a master's degree or even two or three bachelor's degrees to get anywhere. To me, this sounds like an overpopulated country which hasn't created enough jobs to occupy its population. The corruption which blights these countries is probably part of the problem - but I'm no economist or geographer.

I'm philosophically opposed to this hamster wheel of 'raising the bar'. I love education, but I hate wasted time and money. First, candidates can get the position of Widget Officer without even Year 12. Later, candidates need Year 12 and a Certificate IV in Widgets. Later, candidates need a Bachelor's Degree in Widgets. Later, candidates need a Bachelor's Widget Degree and lots of extra-curricular activities, and dux grades. Later, candidates need a Master's Degree in Widgets and extra-curriculars, and ten years' experience volunteering, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Because employers want the best candidates and there are so many more candidates than jobs, the bar is continually being raised to a more and more unreasonable height. Eventually, what happens? Everyone's burnt out because they're having to finish a PhD to get a job changing toilet rolls?

I walked past a bar in Fitzroy this week seeking "experienced bar staff". FFS what is wrong with putting a few hours of training into staff. this is just one example we have a huge issue with "training and education" in this country.


I think we all value education but too many are blind to the fact education is a greedy business and just another bureaucratic cog is the system. We need to reward and value "outcomes" rather than time or education. Outcomes after all is what generates value.