/chronicle

The big news within the last two weeks is that EMC is expanding it’s operations in the Park with plans to hire up to 397 people in the $280 million expansion.  This won’t do much for the majority of job seekers in the immediate area.  But it will provide opportunities for out of work engineers and technologists willing to relocate.  To understand why the RTP businesses continue to hire in spite of a falling domestic economy it is only necessary to look at why so many people are out of work in the first place.

When I was 29 years old I was still going to college frat parties with friends who were grad students.  I know…lame.  I hung around with one guy, Jake, who started a NC State campus student services site called The Wolf Web.   The site now has thousands of registered users.  Jake went on to find a job and make money.  I’m sure he’s persevering through the down economy, I know his site certainly is.  But Jake’s story was in stark contrast to many of the seniors and grad students I knew six years ago.  If most were asked what they planned to do with their Sociology, Business or Spanish degrees after graduation they all had the same answers: “be a manager” or “start a business”.

They didn’t seem to understand the concept that they couldn’t manage anybody or anything until they learn a particular industry.  And through the heightened sense of entitlement instilled by their high school and college counselors they presumed vast riches awaited them with any college degree.  They absolutely refused to believe the bottom rung of the corporate ladder was waiting for them.  Why shouldn’t have they believed it ?  The graduates of the 90’s got to start at the middle or the top with instant stock options for the even the lowest positions in the company.

So armed with degrees in Early America Literature and weak Social Science skills the graduates descended on the job market by the tens of thousands.    They entered into a market already saturated with useless middle management earning disproportionate salaries.  None had the skills to perform the work necessary to generate revenue.  They only possessed their perceived ability to “manage” those who do.  In early 2007 reality began to slap a lot of people in the face who’s perceived value to a company was actually quite less than their actual contribution.

Much of this has to do with the education college graduates were, and are, choosing.  “Choosing” is the operative word because given the choice of a career path in Engineering, Biotech or Computer Science they consciously decide not to risk the perception of being a geek.  It’s not possible drink and worry about sex all the time if your heads in a book.   Not many Chemical Engineering students can risk a daily hangover.  So the answer seems simple:  Take the path of least resistance and get the general education or cultural arts degree, hunker down and wait for a job being the boss.  Ya, good luck with that.

RTP companies demand the best workers who can perform towards the bottom line.  You must be highly computer literate with an advanced degree in a technical or biological specialization.  The Biotech, Engineering and Technology sectors still have many vacancies for graduates and experienced jobs seekers with the skills to produce.  These positions don’t include on the job training.

And I can’t close without mentioning how science and math courses took a back seat to bible study for a decade or two.  This will be vehemently denied by many but it was in fact a contributing factor, no matter how slight, to the downfall of graduates with advanced technical degrees needed to fill the positions available in the tech sector.

As I write this President Obama is presenting the National Science and Technology awards for this year.   He stated the federal government will invest 3% of the nations gross domestic product into science and technology education.  This is how we will overcome the recession and put people back to work.  If you’re an old dog who can’t, or won’t learn new tricks…. enjoy your unemployment check while it lasts.

I know how much money many sales reps earned at the companies I’ve worked for during the last few years.  That’s the “information” part of IT.  Provided this knowledge I wonder if some of these sales folks know I can correlate the amount of time they spend on Facebook verses doing actual work (some are even crazy enough to befriend me without putting me in a “block” group).  Yesterday one of them, who’s making pretty good money, started her day on FB by posting all about reading in the tub and making brunch for friends….on a Tuesday morning.

I’ve always thought sales reps are over paid.  I understand that management has to determine a base salary that motivates without discouraging.  I find there is a lot more motivation pay than actual results in many cases.  Our retailer reps work a lot.  These are the guys in contact with the Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart buyers etc.  It’s the other reps that are suppose to attend these conferences and expos to generate new business who seem like they spend three or four days on the road and then three or four days at home relaxing or playing golf for “business purposes”.

If the owners of any company had a look into how much business relation time sales reps spend working with customers verses personal time socializing my guess is base salaries would be much lower and commissions would be higher.  Hell, if it were me the base for any sales rep would be near minimum wage plus travel and expenses.  If the sales rep can’t earn enough to equal the difference, given a good commission, they need to find another career path.  College graduates should look into enterprise software or technology sales.  There’s a shortage in the market and it’s a cushy living.

I came to a conclusion weeks ago that I needed to modernize this blog with a new theme, content and title.  I’m tired of the site going by my name.  It never sat well with me from the beginning.  So for the next couple of days I’m going to try new titles, based partially upon available URL’s and settle on a site title by Friday.  Until then the title of the site and the banner may change frequently.

I’m keeping the subtitle so everyone will know they’re in the right place.

Richard, a General Manager, was leaving work in Cary one night and was shot by a robber in the stomach.  He went on workman’s comp and as soon as the benefits expired the Honey Baked Ham Company fired him.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/6080324/

Spread the word, no Honey Baked Hams this Thanksgiving or Christmas.  These Corpratist Ass Clowns put revenue above human welfare and their employees.  The man took a bullet for them and their still more concerned about the effect his absence has on their bottom line than his family.  Plus, they lied to him.  The company promised in e-mails to keep him and his family “whole financially.”  Well, at least until it costs them any money.

Never cared much for their over-priced hams anyway.

He died yesterday. He is one of the people on my list of graves to locate and spit on. Good riddance, evil doer.

FYI – He was the “Godfather” of the Neoconservative movement and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Dubya upon Chaney’s admired recommendation. They’re both on my list too.

According to the NY Times assessment, health “reform” is moving ahead. Here’s a segment from their article. I highlighted the most damaging part of this legislation in bold.

“Four of the five Congressional committees considering health care legislation have already passed bills. Each would require all Americans to have insurance and provide government subsidies for those who cannot afford it. Each would bar insurance companies from refusing coverage for pre-existing conditions; imposing lifetime caps on coverage; or dropping people when they get sick.”

Once this compromised legislation is passed not one thing will have been achieved to actually help control the cost or access to health care in America. There is nothing regarding tort reform, there is no mention of leveling the cost of prescription drugs to what other countries pay. There isn’t anything to manage cost at the provider level. It is no more than a legal mandate for all Americans to purchase a private market product. It’s a big ass win for the health insurance companies and nothing for struggling American families.

Do you know how low your families income will have to be before qualifying for any government subsidies to purchase insurance? Think poverty level and subtract 10. Now multiply by the number of job losses that continue by the cost of government subsidized health insurance from the private market. You want to talk about expensive? Just look at what mandated insurance did to Massachusetts courtesy of the spawn himself, Mitt Romney. Yep. They’re broke.

Don’t get me wrong, I would support health care reform in a valuable format that will actually reduce costs and provide marketplace competition. The legislation that is forming now is no more than the American government forcing a private market product on the consumer. And I don’t want anyone to compare car insurance. You have a choice to buy a car and drive it. This legislation leaves no choice. And the President will sign it, no matter how compromised, and call it a win. Why do you think the Pharma’s and Insurers are still at the table? They want to make sure a “bi-partisan”, “compromise” is reached that will hand them 40 million new customers.

And despite the fracas of August, the major stakeholders in the health care debate — hospitals, doctors, insurers and the pharmaceutical industry — have not abandoned the negotiations. Ralph G. Neas, chief executive of the National Coalition on Health Care and a veteran of Washington legislative fights, said this was especially significant.

“They’re saying to themselves: ‘We’re going to get 30 to 40 or 50 million new customers. This is in our economic self interest,’ ” Mr. Neas said. “That, as much as anything else, could propel this forward to a law that does provide quality health care for all.”

“No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and no one should go broke because they get sick. Post this in your status for the next 24 hours if you agree.”

It’s good to see we’ve reached the point of Utopian comments.  This idealistic statement has been posted on facebook by five of my friends in the last day.  I’ve even been told I missed the point of it.  Mmmm… let’s see.  I’m hearing some Beach Boys in my head….”Wouldn’t it be nice if we older…”.  Oh ya, wouldn’t it be nice.  It would be more than that, it would be ideal.  It would be an ideal, Utopian medical care system. The likes of which may exist elsewhere, but not here. You’re in the US. Or have you forgotten?  Now I’m going to respond to this hyper-buttercup and tulip fantasy with one of my Brillo pad reality checks using an amended version of the hype:

In the US it is most probable that people will continue to die because they cannot afford equal health care for chronic conditions, and millions will continue to file for bankruptcy because they get sick. It’s irrelevant who agrees with this statement.

This is a country run by banks, corporations and their engineered legislation.  I’m not spewing conspiracy theory and rhetoric. Everything is for profit from birth to prisons and waging war to medical care.  Thanks to the ideology of free market capitalism at any cost, including lives, it will stay that way.  Any Utopian ideals, publicly supported or not, are meaningless if they conflict with any incentive or ability to generate revenue.  And here we are. A genuine, epic, conflict of interests.

It is argued by one side that what is good for corporations, banks and Wall Street is always good for America. Corporations keep people employed. The other side argues that not everything should be for profit. I personally tend to agree more with this opinion but there is a very vocal group who oppose corporate oversight and regulation, in any form, because in their minds “Anything the government can do the free market can do better”.

So which is it? We should all know medical care will never be “free” (at least not in our lifetimes). It will either need to be paid for by the collective or the individual. This is now the center of the debate. Many feel like the collective should take care of the indigent while others feel that individuals should be responsible for themselves and/or their family, never another.

Regardless of partisanship, I’m concerned with the mere attempt to simplify such a complex issue with a singular, idealistic expression. I’d like it if no one on earth ever went hungry again, no one ever died of another intestinal cancer, or ever committed another act labeled terrorism. But I’m going to try to stay in a world where rocks are hard and water is wet. Anything else would be a delusional fantasy ripe for a let down. So I’ll wait for the next idealistic comment to come from the far right…

“Government should be absolved from people lives entirely, all illegal aliens should be deported, and no one should ever pay taxes again. Post this in your status for the next 24 hours if you agree.”