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Greentea
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06 Dec 2009, 12:18 pm

Firings and resignations is another modern era laughable issue. At least in the hitech telecom sector here, the "fired or resigned" is like money nowadays. It's part of your parting package. They fire you and tell you that they're giving you: "lump sum as required by law, another 2 (or more) salaries, a bottle of wine (or weekend get-away or whatever), a 6-month membership to a corporate workshops and job-seeking coaching exclusive high-level company, plus the telling everyone in the company and prospective employers that you resigned instead of the truth that they fired you. All this is in exchange for the fired person not causing damage to the company either in the form of badmouthing in the telecom field locally and abroad, plus transferring their job nicely, not telling the new replacement what jerks the management is and how they'll stab them in the back firing them when they least expect it and after giving their all to the company, and not telling prospective employers how badly the old company's business is nowadays. This is what I got in the last 3 companies I was fired from (telecom field). Looking good on Linked-In is the new money.


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06 Dec 2009, 8:35 pm

Now Greentea, is there a nice way to off people? America just offed fifteen million, and no one wants them back. The Max is two years unemployment, up from 26 weeks, then if you have no assets, food stamps.

Also under National Health Care, the displaced are expected to pay $8,000 a year for Free Health Care, and if they don't, they will be fined $750 a year. People who owe the IRS have any government benefits siezed. The IRS has attached your food stamps, because you did not pay for Free Health Care. You have a right to hire a lawyer and appeal it to the Supream Court.

Your situation sounds like us two years ago, when churming jobs kept the employment numbers up. There is always a wave of new grads who are willing to take your job for half the pay, and a couple of years later, new grads, younger and dumber, to take theirs for half the pay.

There is a reason we no longer teach History, The Road to Serfdom is more profitable.

We have all sorts of sexist laws, it is illegal to post an ad for a cute young thing willing to please, but not illegal to hire them and dump the older model. Women do have rights in the workplace, but not after they are fired.

There is a reason that jobs are so simple, they are designed for school children. It is not popular on Facebook, it is fresh meat 18 to 25. There is hardly a job left that takes skills beyond a recent grad.

There is the quality of meat, out of a hundred perhaps five will be of actual value, worth keeping, the rest just used for a few years. Fresh sales staff will do anything to get an account, and do, when they are gone the company still has the account.

Are you really really social? Are you a people person, If we employ you will you let the company pimp you?

It might not be said as directly, but when told we really need the Jones account, your job depends on it, he is hard to reach but we found he is spending next week end at the beach, pack your bikini and get that account. In return for exceptional service she gets a small raise.

We have had the Jones account for twenty years, he is my uncle, but the trick works on all the new staff.

A few out of a hundred might make Special Executive Assistant, who will work from a company apartment to ease the life of Senior Staff, and the stock holders pay for it. In return she is popular with major holders at stock holders meetings.

Anyone who understands the company, does the job well, is after your job, get rid of them.

Anyone who understands the business can rip off part of it, get rid of them.

The older monkeys have gotten too smart, if hired they will sue, and blackmail, so why hire over forty at all?

Rising Starlets are more fun, and good for a few years. After we let then go they can make big bucks in porn movies.

Reality is the Fortune 500 has a half life of ten years, half of them vanish through bankrupt, parted out, merged, and survival is based on whatever works. Very few companies last fifty years, and like autos, become so deep in debt the income goes for interest payments. At the factory it costs $8,000 materials, overhead, labor to produce a car that sells for $40,000, the rest feeds the dealers and they sell at interest, and the whole is just banks milking a needed service.

Telecom is selling a customer the use of electrons over someone elses network for more than it is worth. Any deal they make, someone will undercut it, and we are seeing them fold left and right. Worldcom had Trent Lott to get the Pentegon internet account, overstated earnings by billions, and the fall took fifty billion from stock and bond holders and sent the CEO to life in prison. That was one of the better Telecoms.

Bill Gates wanted to launch a world satllite network, high speed interet and phone for all, Congress shot that down due to Telecom bribes, so Gates and Buffet went to China, and Congress can bow to the setting sun. China Phone already has a quarter of the world customers, soon they will have all.

We were the Artisans of old, and had better be in the future, for having your own business is all that is left. Employment is over.



TheDoctor82
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06 Dec 2009, 11:53 pm

Ok, before you jump on the "economy is eternally doomed" bandwagon, I got a funny lil' anecdote to share with ya:

this past Thanksgiving I was hitting up a website I normally go to, and they were showing the Star Wars Christmas Special.

Now, take note that the Special is considered an utter travesty to the majority of Star Wars fans as it's apparently "gouge-your-eyes-out bad". Well...considering I pretty much already see Star Wars that way, I thought to myself "how bad could it honestly be?", and proceeded to watch.

First off, I still don't see why people hated it so much...but then again, these are Star Wars fans, and I still fail to see what's so incredibly desirable about the franchise; to be fair, the one thing in it they thought was bearable I thought was--hands down--the most painful part of the Christmas Special, so figure that out.

Anyway, it's worth noting that-- to appease his fans-- Lucas claims that he himself is no fan of the Christmas Special( yeah, I'll bet...cause you know....he's just so well known for churning out quality material...), and due to this, refuses to release it to DVD...so basically the only copies available are bootleg copies from whoever taped it off TV at the time. Well..whoever taped it...also got the commercials.

Now, being into business, marketing and advertising has become of much higher interest to me these past few years, so I was more than happy to watch the commercials...well, at least so I thought.

What I experienced were--hands down--the worst possible crap I've ever seen masquerading as commercials for product. They were insulting to my intelligence, condescending, and self-indulgent in ways I can't even describe. What made it worse, you may be wondering?

These commercials weren't airing during some rerun of MASH, or an episode of Welcome Back Kotter, or hell...even a Jimmy Carter SOTU address; no no....these commercials were airing during what most businesses thought would be one of the most profitable spotlights for their product at that time right next to the Super Bowl; what could possibly top a Star Wars-based Christmas special?

Well, these commercials showed me something about American companies at the time that a lot of folks from back then really try to cover up and sugar-coat:

it's like Americans just didn't even care. It's like our country just gave up....like they didn't even want to bother making an effort. When you can't even put your best face forward during what is predicted to be one of the biggest TV events of that time, it just says you don't care. And when these are big-name companies selling products like Woolite and an Egg McMuffin, it said it just as much, if not moreso, for the public buying it. Gee...we were in a recession? REALLY?! !! !! !! !!

So what did I learn from this?

No matter how much people tell you how "terrible things are now"...that's just how humans are; they don't give a sh*t, and will put as little effort forward as possible into what they produce. They believe in style over substance, and apparently have believed that for a very long time.

What you folks are experiencing now is nothing that wasn't at some point already expected.

Can I likely do something about it? Yeah.

Oh one other thing...back in the day, if you were skilled at something, and didn't want to make the effort, y'know...starting your own business and being successful off of your own merits, you often wound up working for a factory, and paid union dues.

'Thing the workplace is corrupt now? It was worse then...if you want to see just how bad it was, seriously...hit up Youtube, and look for commercials regarding the "union label", or the "International Ladies Garment Workers Union".



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07 Dec 2009, 5:03 am

Owners are real, they have their assets on the line, and taking on workers, traditionally treated them as well a Scrooge, The Crachet family had a house and ate.

The problems come with growth, management, and unions. Management only sees the numbers for next quarter, the bonus pool, and Unions sell meat.

Accounting says, three products produce 25% of profit, one the rest, so let's drop the losers, and raise prices on the winner. Then we will make it with cheaper ingrediants, and and advertise it like it was the same product. The box gets bigger, the net weight smaller, and the consumer gets half what they used too, and it has lost the taste.

Skilled local producers are bought, the best bread for generations, by a company that is expanding it's animal feed business. Local New Orleans brands were bought for their customers and brand, then the local production was closed, and the new product is made in a Chicago factory by food chemists.

Once we had local bakeries, butchers, but chains took the trade, then malls, then Mallmart, and now if it can be made in China, it is.

A loaf of bread costs what a farmer gets for a bushel of wheat, and the good part is milled off for animal feed, and people get the starch. That has to be American made, for Europe has strict food laws, and the Chinese, nay, the starving in Africa, would not eat that.

Government is the new Union, selling out the workers in mass, and I favor it. The tax laws were written by the rich, and producers are a special class, let the workers pay the tax.

We need to overthrow these employment laws, if someone will work for food and shelter, they have a right to, and I have a right to provide it. Let me get wages down to South China rates and I can compete with the world. People are worth what they produce, and for most, that makes them unemployable.

Only parts of the economy are doomed, they were the mass employers, so now 20% unemployed, but that is going up.

I create, manufacturer, and market. Sales are down, but there are still buyers. What I am going through has closed the Walden book chain, I think Borders is going soon, so more customers and my model has a better margin than Amazon. They work for me.

Machines new in the last decade run my production, and my labor needs are small. I do not need to take the major publishers market, for less than 1% of it would make me rich. Walmart and Amazon are discounting their product, down to my target price, so I am in and they are out.

Workers are doomed, but just as book publishers pushed out small presses, control of distrabution, and Barnes&Noble took out small books stores with a Walmart play, the internet brings my small press into the home, and a lot more than best sellers will sell as a download to Kindle. My market is books that sell thousands, something no major can do, and now with near free press, and delivery, all of the majors and big box will be parted out.

Workers and commercial real estate are doomed, but the fast and nimble can clean up in the near future.

I just read about a new car company, a plug in hybred, it can meet the market price, and has only 186 employees. Jobs are not coming back, but markets still exist. 1% of the American car market is 100,000, so if your costs are low, you can out do any company that has to sell millions.

They are also locating their call center in South Dakoda, and it will handle anything. Parts, service, this is relationship marketing, buying our car, you joined our family, we will have the problem solved quickly.

While the Government Union talks of Green Jobs, new industries, it ain't going to happen, what works is breaking up failing models too big to function, tens of thousands of workers, and replacing them with small business that hires five or less, that is where all job creation comes from.

In this case it is destructive, five are more productive than thousands, so the net job loss will be large. A small company can supply the best of the class, and find enough customers that want quality. It only takes a few thousand customers to support the company, and that is small enough to be personal about it.

Back to 99% working for food, and 1% doing everything. That is how it has always been. Maybe this time 5% will have something going, employ 20%, but the days of jobs for all are over.

The rest are a problem, but as the population of Europe is declining, perhaps we could sell them some nice white children to come sweep their streets, all those jobs that they complain Turks and Algerians are invading them over. We are going to have millions of trolls living under bridges, just like the old days.

I like the change, it opens markets, and leverages autistic skills.

The Artisans are back!



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07 Dec 2009, 5:30 am

I'll say it again: pseudo-Capitalism has got to go, and be replaced by true Capitalism.

I think I can help with that.