More Bits and Pieces:

Labor pool: employers need to train and develop their people much more than in the past. This is a competitive edge for them. Why should they expect to get work-ready labor? If they want that, they need to participate in the educational system from Kindergarten through High School, and beyond. Research and Development budgets are not as deep as they once were. They expect government to fund research for them at public universities. Well, dig deep folks to help the rest of us pay for this!

Labor shortage? No. We have plenty of people willing to work and able. But they refuse to work for slave wages. $15 and hour is roughly $30,000 annually full time. Can you support yourself on that wage? No. Two people in a household earning $60,000 can support themselves and maybe one child. If there is a child, best there be free daycare and full-time in person schoolrooms. Still, who cares for the children when the parents are working, and the kids are home? Maybe employers need to think about offering daycare services or stipends?

A strong wage is $25/hour. A professional salary is $45 to $60/hour. Management pay runs much higher, $100 to $200/hour depending on size and complexity of the organization. This is why some executives earn millions per year.

If America wants families, they must support them. Livable wages and salaries are a beginning. Health care is another part of the picture. Daycare for kids is yet another. Most elders remember a time when dad worked, and mom stayed home. But living expenses make that impractical today. Low wages complicate it further.

Wake up America! You have the workers. You have to make it worth their while to work for you.

Divorce: Bill and Melinda are but one couple. Let them be themselves. Divorce is tragedy personified. Blame is useless. Sharing the pain and building a pathway for two separate futures takes focus and goodwill. It is not easy. Leave the heavy work for the principals and stay out of their business.

China: is not the be all and end all society on Earth. It is but one; big, yes; only? No.

China has widespread poverty and poor living conditions for rural populations. Urban regions are much better off because that is where employment reigns. Rural regions remain agricultural, and peasant based. This holds back education, healthcare and much more. Just ask the social workers struggling with these problems.

China imports a large amount of food to feed her nation. They also import vast quantities of materials to operate their factories. Although they have the science and engineering to perform clean engineering, the demand for output is so great they continue to operate industries with poor fuel efficiency, air and water pollution just like the 1950’s in the USA. China has much catching up to do. They could be a leading economy if they concentrated on doing that. however, they are nowhere near that presently. Competitor in the long term to the US? Indeed. But we need to stay ahead of them.

Career Paths: subject to change, continual change. It is up to the employee to manage their own career. That means learning to acknowledge change and plot career pathways based on interests and talents. No one must do this for another. An employer should be supportive of this on-going development, but most are not engaged with it. Personal initiative must be relied upon. This means me, you, and all of us. Doing this makes us more adaptable and creative. That makes us an attractive employee to others as well.

May 11,2021