It is getting so bad that the only ones that have a chance to get a new job are the ones that already have a job. Many corporations are discriminating against the unemployed because they think that the unemployed are loosing their job skills.
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-08...Many House Democrats introduced legislation that would make it illegal for employers and employment agencies to hold applicants' unemployment against them.
http://smartunemployment.com/2011/new-bi...Another problem is that companies and corporations have found ways to make their employees do more work. This is a problem for the unemployed because they are now expected to know more than they did before. This is how that works. The Gizmo plant lays off half its workforce blaming the recession and low demand for gizmos. Then they have their remaining workers do twice the work with new automated processes. Bob used to work on the lathe before he was laid off. Now to get his job back he needs to know how to program a CAM (computer automated manufacturing). Likewise Jim used to be in sales but now to get his job back he has to know about Sales, Marketing, and know how to use the computer to data-mine the internet.
Meanwhile the Gizmo plant is making record profits, but they don't hire more people because they don't need to, and they don't give their current employees a share of those profits, because they are just plain greedy. During this period of high unemployment, corporations are laying people off just to boost their profits.
"Following the recession of the 1980s, 28% of the economic growth in recovery went to corporate profits, while 25% went to boost the wages and salaries of ordinary workers. Today, 88% of the economic recovery has gone to boosting corporate profits. As a widely cited earlier version of Sum and McLachlan's report finds (pdf), only 1% – that's one out of every $100 – has gone to wages and salaries for the folks who clearly need it most."
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/08...Many of the jobs of the past are not coming back. The economic theories of Adam Smith are no longer working. The corporations actually like high unemployment. This forces wages down and in the tight job market they can select the best and the brightest. Only those with the best education in the latest fields and with the latest job experience has a chance of getting a job. Because few Americans are going into engineering schools and getting advanced degrees, when companies do hire, they often have to recruit PHD's from other countries.
Capitalism and the free market will do nothing to help the unemployment crisis. Tax cuts to create jobs will not work. The corporations have had tax cuts for the past 12 years without creating jobs. They are sitting on 2.5 trillion dollars and making record profits. They don't need even more tax cuts. Supply Side Economics no longer works. The money given to the rich and the corporations no longer trickles down to the middle class, and the corporations will only expand and hire more when demand requires it.
From now on we need to work with new rules, we need Demand Side Economics. In the future we need to shift from a consumer driven constantly growing economy that is dependent on debt, to a sustainable steady state economy where people only buy what they need when they can pay for it.
http://steadystaterevolution.org/sustain...The entire reason that most corporations exist, is to make money for the share holders, even if they ship the jobs overseas and destroy the earth to do that. We need a new type of corporation that is dedicated to improving the community and whose main function is to provide jobs and stability for that community. The new corporations called "Certified B Corporations" are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their employees, suppliers, community, consumers, and environment.
http://www.bcorporation.net/Since the Free Market and conservative politicians have abandoned the unemployed it is up to the government to help the chronically unemployed to become productive members of society again. It would be good to reinstate the WPA or the Civilian Conservation Corps that Franklin Roosevelt started to help get us out of the last depression. This teaches people how to work and encourages the work ethic. Programs like Job Corps help the inner city youth who are lacking in education and job skills obtain both. One of the best jobs bills out is from Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky who has introduced legislation that would create 2.2 million jobs and reduce the unemployment rate 1.3 points, by targeting the chronically unemployed and those most in need of job training.
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazi...This is probably the ONLY way to bring unemployment rate down in the short term. For the long term we need a revised tax program that does not reward corporations for moving jobs overseas, and that would encourage the new type of B corporations that are dedicated to helping people and providing jobs to enrich the community.
If Corporations are legally considered people, shouldn't they also act as responsible members of the community?