Extending unemployment benefits will not prepare the unemployed for the workforce anymore than a life preserver teaches someone to swim. While the benefits may provide immediate relief it doesn't really benefit the same people in the future. Because of what will appears to be a long duration of high unemployment numbers the administration should make mandatory skill enhancement part of the extended unemployment package. Rather than just giving money for extended unemployment let's make sure those same people are taught new skills so that they become more valuable going forward.
This is the 3rd time in 18 months that we have extended unemployment benefits at a cost of 34b, just this round. I don't have a problem with the cost but I do have a problem with handouts that don't ensure the recipients are better prepared when the benefits end. Regardless of how long we provide benefits if the unemployed are no more valuable when the benefits end they will not be able to get good jobs in the future. Almost every economist predicts high unemployment numbers extending beyond the 99 weeks of maximum benefits. If the economy is not better by then should the government extend again? More importantly what are we doing as a nation to ensure these people are more valuable to the economy, the workforce and our nation so that we have the best trained people in the world?
We make it mandatory for our children to attend schools and invest money in them before they are even employable. Why would we not make it mandatory that to receive unemployment benefits the unemployed would be required to enhance their skill set. This would create new jobs, improve self-esteem and enhance the quality of workers in this country. During times of economic contraction it is critical that individuals and companies rebuild their skills and abilities to prepare for the next expansion.
The people are the greatest resource of any nation. While government benefits are necessary to help those in dire straits if it doesn't make those same people more able in the future it fails the very same group of people. It is shortsighted, impractical and irresponsible to keep throwing a life preserver to someone without finally making it mandatory that they learn how to swim.
Grant Cardone, NY Times Best Selling Author
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With all due respect to your thoughtful suggestion, a very large group of the unemployed are college educated and experienced. Although they might have graduated before the internet and personal computers, they've had to learn these skills as a condition of employment. People with advanced degrees in business still can't find jobs in business.
I dont agree that unemployment benifits should be taken away from people who have families to support. I dont believe in drowning kids....
Some companies used the bubble to get rid of employees .. trimming the fat if you will
Those jobs arent coming back .. The construction jobs arent coming back . I dont care what anyone says there are so many houses out there for sale ,we dont need to build any for at least ten years
The truth is that a lot of the jobs that good folks lost ,arent coming back . On top of that you have the boomers ,who, no one wants back,because of their age . Why train some old guy and then lose them either to retirement or old age .There is no easy fix
. So your Ideas for education may be thought out but the bottom line is the social engineering has flaws and some of us are never going to be employable again . We are to old to do hard labor and arent worth trainig for anything else . ON TOP of that in this country we have made it a dirty word to own a buisness ..
The private sector is who creates jobs . The buisness has to cut a profit large enough to make it worth doing . In this era of uncertainty why would anyone in their right mind gamble on that .
There is no easy fix to this other than to either extend unemployment to tier five
As an addendum to what I posted earlier, read this and tell me if training for non-existant jobs is till a good idea:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/business/19training.html?ref=business
Why are gov benefits called handouts for middle to low income people and subsidies for the wealthy?
You can't *get* unemployment benefits in my state unless you were employed for at least a year before you lost your job. So why exactly do you think that the unemployed are not qualified for jobs? Clearly someone thought we were qualified at *some* point in our lives.
Retraining is great but what should the unemployed be trained to do? What about college graduates that used to be managers, marketing experts, journalists, human resources executives, trainers, etc.? How many computer software programs should we teach? Does he think that the only people who are unemployed are those that can't navigate the internet? Should everyone be trained to work for minimum wage, blindly obey corporate edicts and perpetuate a failed system?
Unless "they" could guarantee a specific job after training, "they" don't know what to train and it would waste money because .... there are NOT enough jobs to employ those seeking work. Even if it was economically feasible to train the skilled blue & white collar workers, managers and executives that are out of work, what we need is a job market. All the training in the world won't create jobs.
What we need is legislation that reverses incentives to outsource labor & import poor quality products made by wage-slaves living in poverty a half a world away. The unemployed know how to work. Suggesting mandatory indoctrination without sufficient jobs is shortsighted, impractical and irresponsible. It won't solve the problem and will waste money.
As a highly educated and highly skilled unemployed, I don't need training in anything. I've worked for decades there is nothing I can't do. I don't need training of any sort. I need work.
Any number of medical services and computer jobs are currently available, but lack skilled people to fill them. Combining subsidized theoretical training with on-the-job familiarization makes for fast learning. It doesn't take a degree in computer science to replace a motherboard or even to figure out that it needs to be replaced. In truth, it doesn't take a degree in anything to be able to handle the practical aspects of the majority of jobs, if practical and theoretical on-the-job training is available.
This may not be a complete answer, but it would provide a light at the end of the tunnel for many, at least those who recognize they need a new skill set and will do whatever it takes to get one. At the very least, this could be one avenue for the government to explore.
This is a very promising idea. Send it to the White House!