Coeur d' Alene & Spokane Area – Job Search

The company I work for has a “T” shirt that said “Made in America by Americans”. A few months before I started working for the company again, some of the employees told me that they had a meeting with the owner and he told them how proud he was of the fact their products were made in the USA and it would always be made here.

Today we had a picture session at work with the employees in front of our product we build, and while waiting for the photo session to be set up the owner addressed about 50 employees and made the comment that this has been a record sales year, even though most of the manufacturing industry is losing money and many are going under we were doing real good. He said basically that due to EPA rulings with the particular industry we make a product for, that we are having to market our product out of the USA, mostly to Asia and South America. He later said that 1/3 of the cost of our product was in shipping to the customer. Later he said how they were going to double the size of the company in the next two years and announced that they were going to expand the company to Panama. That he and another person from the company had gone there for a business trip. (Last I heard panama wasn’t in the good old USA any more. Next question is how long does it take to plan a move of a business like that?) Then he went on to explain that parts that can be shipped in a sea can will be built here and the engineering. (Reading between the lines with management, that means until they can get to the point they can build those parts in Panama).

So why is that important to USA?

Lets look at history… (No I am not a historian, but if I recall) In the Civil war, the North fought the South. The North had the manufacturing facilities and the South had the money and man power (slaves). In the end, the South lost a war because they didn’t have the means to produce the products (weapons) to win the war.

So if history repeats, when we send our manufacturing plants across borders and the owners start making a lot more money from that cheap labor (sometimes slave labor). Remember that “Free Trade” is meaning that America can buy from everyone else, but no one will buy from us and that national debt keeps growing. In the end that “someday” when the note is called due on our indebtedness,  the American people will become the new slave labor of the world or not eat. In the end the nation will lose their riches and resources because we have sold out to the cheap labor. Just like the South the rich executives will someday return home to burned out homes and depleted bank accounts because we do not have the manufacturing capabilities any more… A lot can change in about 5 months when greed gets in the way.

Another lesson in life, sometimes the businesses in these foreign countries buy the products we sell so they can reverse engineer and then go into competition with the American business they bought the product from to begin with. This is so much cheaper then designing the product to begin with. PAYBACK…

So when you are at the store, look at the place your product is made. Even though it may say “Made in the USA” look closer where the suppliers are. It may be a American company with everything made outside the USA. Think as though every time we spend a dollar for a product made outside of the good old USA, we are sending out that dollar (our gold and silver) to a foreign counties that have no intention of ever spending that dollar in the good old USA because they can get it cheaper somewhere else. That is the truth about “Fair Trade” that the government fools voted on. Just remember that the tide of life changes and when that dollar you spent to support slave labor changes your children or grandchildren will be caught up in it.

I was recalled to my previous job, big pay cut. It hurts to look at wages and see how 20 years ago I was making more per hour and my dollar could buy twice as much. Basically doing the same type of work. But after almost 10 months it is good being back at work. My body is sure out of shape, I had gained almost 30 pounds from the stress and grazing. In this active job I do a lot of lifting, walking etc. and come home real sore. lol

The bad side, I had a good friend Jimmy who I had worked with for a little over a year who is out of a job. If anyone out there hears or has a job in the mechanical field let me know, Jimmy is good worker in that field. (hydraulics, low voltage electrical, mechanical assembly etc.)

It looks like the economy is picking up a little, but still will be a long time until it is like it was. It will depend on the gas prices being stable and not jumping up to high… Next thing in the market will be high interest rates.

I have put a new page on here about fraud. I have had a couple of things happen this week that I am passing on.

I was trying to put my website on Craigslist, but they flagged because it doesn’t follow their rules, so I guess just have to rely on people spreading the word. I was hoping it might help people on craigslist find a job.

Thanks

Larry

The New Year is here and I have noticed an increase in the number of job postings on different sites like the Idaho job site. One of the problems with such high unemployment rate of over 10% is that for every decent job that comes up there are 100 job applications, so I feel sorry for the employers sorting through that stack of papers to see who is really qualified.

But one of the bigger problems that I see is the employers who try to hire people paying as little per hour as they can. Some of this may be due to the economy but I personally think much of it is plain old greed. They can get slave labor now for cheap paying just over minimum wage. (pet peeve sorry) So while many of the business do not have the income they did a couple of years ago, many still do the money they could pay decent wages.  So anyway we will have even a greater separation of the rich from the poor with middle class being squeezed out. In the mean time the lower to middle class wage earners will suffer and carry on with the tax burden. This is mainly do the the tax advanges of the business owners vs employee not having any tax writeoffs. (No a house is not a tax write off. It is you pay a lender $1.00 and the government gives you 15 – 20 cents off. So if you pay off your house not only can they not foreclose on you after 20 years of payments but you can pay 30 cents in taxes and spend the other 70 cents.)

One part of economics is that when you create a dollar in a community through wages, that dollar is spent about 4 to 7 times before it leaves the area depending on how strong the economy is. How does it work? In its simplest terms I make a dollar and go spend it at the grocery store which in turns pays wages again and it gets spent buy another employee who buys something at the hardware store, the hardware store spends the dollar to hire a contractor to come in and do an addition to the building. The contractor spends the money on lumber the lumber company hires people to cut trees down and that person spends it somewhere else. Finally the money is sent out of the area to circulate somewhere else, many times to a foreign country. (Remember it is the idea, not trying to discuss the different ways the dollar is split up) The point is the economy will not grow again until money is circulated in the community and one of the best ways to do that is to hire an employee at a decent wage.

But in today’s market people are not spending any more then they need to and the families are making ½ of what they did 10 years ago with increased cost for food, housing, Utilities, medical, transportation, etc. Because of that many people are hurting because of it. So that is why the middle class with be gone if you keep going the way it is. My heart goes out to you and that is one of the reasons for this site.

We are also see a lot of people having foreclosures, repossession of vehicles (that one hurts from experience), poor credit because of lay off and of course many of the good jobs require good credit to get the job, because people with poor credit are a risk, bad worker etc. So a viscous cycle has begun or ended. We also see a lot of people selling possessions to just pay utilities. I know I am to the point where much of the stuff I thought was so important doesn’t mean much anymore. OK, now my bitch session is over…

To focus on more positive things, the job market is improving; many of the people who I know that are unemployed are looking for long term ways to come out ahead from this recession/depression. We have to remember that America is known for being the underdog, so as American’s we need to look at our talents, put on our thinking hats and figure a way to turn this slow time of a slow economy into something that will help us grow. Remember someone is making money when stocks are falling as well as when stocks are climbing. So we need to figure out how to make money while the economy is falling and growing. Maybe to some it is time to move from employee to employers, and start their own business. Good luck on you search and spread the word about this site please.

I don’t think it will be to very long until unemployed people will be out walking up and down busy streets wearing a sandwich board showing what skills they have hoping that perhaps someone may see them who has a job. All this just to feed their faimlies becasue that is all they have left in this world many are already homeless.

One last thought my wife tells me every so often. “When God takes something from you, it is only to free your hands so you can grab on to something better”. Maybe this is to get us out of our comfort zone to have a better life in the future, just keep looking.

Good luck job hunters

Larry

With the new year coming, I think some jobs will be opening. Lets hope that is true, mean while set some goals to work for. The longer the unemployment goes, the lower ones self worth can get. So counter act that with a goal you can work on. Mine is going to be exercise, I think I have gained 20 pounds just sitting around. Have a happy new year and good luck on your job search. Larry

After being unemployed for almost 6 months I have found I am not alone. I decided to put together this website to try to help people in the Coeur d’ Alene and Spokane areas to find jobs. As I have found helpful resources while job hunting I have placed them on this website to share with other. There is not only local resources but also national resources on this site. Please share this site with others and we can make a difference.

Here is a link  to put a visual on what is happened with employment over the last 2 years throughout the nation. It is interesting to say the least, and one of the nations largest problems. So check out http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html

The important thing is to try to be happy in adversity, and you will get over this trial. It feels like after putting in hundreds of resumes, it seems like nobody wants you. But to put it in perspective, for every job coming up, there are over a hundred people applying for the same job. Just remember you are still important in Gods eyes. Just remember to thank him for the things you do have, like family, friends, food on table and shelter. Many times we forget what we have because we are so focused on what we don’t have.

To help take you mind off your problems, take some time and find someone you can do a good deed for. Find someone this Christmas Season, less fortunate and surprise them. There is always someone who is worse off then you and I.

God bless you all and happy job hunting…

Hello job seekers, I have finished the transfer of the website from the old program to more of a blog so as you hear of jobs of jobs that become available, they can may be posted.

Some basic information, please post job type (mechanical, sales, medical, etc.), job description, company, contact person, contact information (address, e-Mail, phone, fax, etc.), for persons to use for applying

Please keep the information clean, no nude jobs postings or spam posting allowed.

Thanks for you support.

Larry

P.S. To see where we are with unemployment as a nation click on this link.

http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html