US lower-income workers pessimistic about future
Source: Agencies |
March 21, 2013, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
LOWER-INCOME workers in the US have posted the biggest job gains since the 2007-09 recession - but few are bragging.
Those earning US$35,000 or less annually are generally pessimistic about their finances and career prospects. Many see themselves as worse off now than during the recession, a two-part Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey of workers and employers shows.
The survey revealed that many people at the lowest rung in the workplace view their jobs as a dead end. Half were "not too" or "not at all" confident that their jobs would help them achieve long-term career goals. And only 41 percent of workers at the same place for more than a decade reported ever receiving a promotion.
Yet 44 percent of employers surveyed said it's hard to recruit people with appropriate skills or experience to do lower-wage jobs, particularly in manufacturing (54 percent). While 88 percent of employers said they were investing in training and education for employee advancement, awareness and use of such programs among the lower-wage workers was only modest.
Although US President Barack Obama made it a national goal to "equip our citizens with the skills and training" to compete for good jobs, the survey shows a US workforce that has grown increasingly polarized, with workers and their bosses seeing many things differently.
Seventy-two percent of employers at big companies and 58 percent at small ones say there is a "great deal" or "some" opportunity for worker advancement. But, asked the same question, 67 percent of all low-wage workers said they saw "a little" or "no opportunity" at their jobs for advancement.
Through last month, the economy had recovered only about 5.7 million of the 8.7 million jobs shed in the deepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Low-wage jobs are usually the first to come back following a recession. While the outlook clearly is improving, economic growth remains anemic and unemployment is a still-high 7.7 percent.
Ronald Moore, 48, of Lebanon, Indiana, is among those who have seen their situation improve. He started his own home-inspection company three years ago after he couldn't find enough work as a truck driver. But "nobody was buying homes, so no one needed an inspection," he said. "It was pretty rough in the beginning." Now he operates a custom cabinet business, where business is starting to improve. Slowly.
Roughly 65 percent of the jobs the US economy added since the recession officially ended in June 2009 have been lower-wage ones.
Those earning US$35,000 or less annually are generally pessimistic about their finances and career prospects. Many see themselves as worse off now than during the recession, a two-part Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research survey of workers and employers shows.
The survey revealed that many people at the lowest rung in the workplace view their jobs as a dead end. Half were "not too" or "not at all" confident that their jobs would help them achieve long-term career goals. And only 41 percent of workers at the same place for more than a decade reported ever receiving a promotion.
Yet 44 percent of employers surveyed said it's hard to recruit people with appropriate skills or experience to do lower-wage jobs, particularly in manufacturing (54 percent). While 88 percent of employers said they were investing in training and education for employee advancement, awareness and use of such programs among the lower-wage workers was only modest.
Although US President Barack Obama made it a national goal to "equip our citizens with the skills and training" to compete for good jobs, the survey shows a US workforce that has grown increasingly polarized, with workers and their bosses seeing many things differently.
Seventy-two percent of employers at big companies and 58 percent at small ones say there is a "great deal" or "some" opportunity for worker advancement. But, asked the same question, 67 percent of all low-wage workers said they saw "a little" or "no opportunity" at their jobs for advancement.
Through last month, the economy had recovered only about 5.7 million of the 8.7 million jobs shed in the deepest downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Low-wage jobs are usually the first to come back following a recession. While the outlook clearly is improving, economic growth remains anemic and unemployment is a still-high 7.7 percent.
Ronald Moore, 48, of Lebanon, Indiana, is among those who have seen their situation improve. He started his own home-inspection company three years ago after he couldn't find enough work as a truck driver. But "nobody was buying homes, so no one needed an inspection," he said. "It was pretty rough in the beginning." Now he operates a custom cabinet business, where business is starting to improve. Slowly.
Roughly 65 percent of the jobs the US economy added since the recession officially ended in June 2009 have been lower-wage ones.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
