So Where's My Job? -- Part II
If you're a NASA engineer, technician or astronaut there's a good chance your job will go up with the vapor trail of the last shuttle mission, which just got a short reprieve because of problems with one of the science experiments, pushing the mission back to November of this year instead of September.
Buzz Aldrin, one of the first men in space, knows what it's like to be bumped off a stellar program. He recently did not got very far on "Dancing with the Stars," the "reality" TV-show that sent him home early, but the former astronaut, who was the second man on the moon, got a good lesson in the "Obama Two-Step," when he witnessed the president launch his plan for space exploration after scuttling the shuttle program at the Kennedy Space Center. Aldrin was front and center, along with other supporters of the president's alternative to NASA's current manned-rocket program.
In its place, the president is proposing a $19 billion investment in NASA to work toward putting astronauts on an asteroid by 2025, shooting beyond the moon into deep space. Meanwhile, short-term, the manned-space program would be left in the hands of commercial rocket companies that will send astronauts to the International Space Station for its care,maintenance and related endeavors.
So, according to the president, the new space initiative will create 5,000 new jobs by 2012 and stimulation a whole new "Silicon Valley for space" in Central Florida with countless opportunities for commercial development and high tech employment. Immediately, however, an estimated 9,000 jobs will be lost when the manned-shuttle missions soon come to an end. As NASA engineers and technicians are laid off, an estimated 14,000 other jobs are expected to be lost in other segments of the space coast economy. That's a hard blow to a region that already suffers from an unemployment rate of 12.6 percent.
Many Floridians are wondering, as a result, why they are getting so much attention from President Obama. First, he journeyed to Tampa to announce federal funding for a high speed rail system along the I-4 corridor to Orlando. And, more recently, the visit to the space coast. First he giveth and then he taketh away. Some are wondering, even hoping, that he's looking for cheap real estate to move to the Sunshine State when he retires? Good luck with that one.
And, That's That...
Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Economy Recovered ! So Where's My Job?
First the numbers, then the pundits and finally President Obama told us in recent days that the economy has recovered. So, where's my job?, the unemployed are asking. Well, Duckie, it will be a long time coming back, if at all.
The numbers said that 1.1 million jobs where added in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2010 and retailers reported their strongest sales growth in a decade for March, causing the stock market to go up passed the "Eleven Thousand" symbolic threshold. So why is everybody still walking on eggs, instead of hiring to meet expected demand?
The problem is that this could very well be what the experts are calling "a jobless recovery." From 2007, when the recession began, to late 2009, when the first signs of recovery appeared, employers who survived did so with fewer workers. They became leaner and more productive with less people on the payroll and they are likely to stay that way for as long as possible.
That management fix has been gaining currency in corporate America for a very long time.
"More than two decades have passed since the modern layoff first appeared as a mass phenomenon in American life," writes Louis Uchitelle in his 2006 book, "The Disposable American." "Until that happened, companies tried to avoid layoffs. They were a sign of corporate failure and a violation of acceptable business behavior."
Uchitelle, like FED Chairman Ben Bernanke, could not have seen the depths of the coming "Great Recession," but his analysis of the impact of mass joblessness on the American physique describes what people are still suffering today. There are 8.4 million sad stories out there as a result of jobs lost during the recession. Uchitelle, after all, is only a reporter, albeit, a very good one. Bernanke, on the other hand, is paid to see the economic freight train going off the tracks.
Now that the wreckage is being cleared, what's next? "In an earlier era of much more faith in the payoff from public investment, President Eisenhower and Congress, to take one famous example, did not hesitate in the late fifties to authorize huge sums to get the United States into space...," Uchitelle reminds us. That investment, supported by subsequent administrations, produced not only jobs, but private sector investment in new technologies and countless industrial spinoffs.
Ironically, President Obama will be on the Space Coast tomorrow to tell us his plans for the future of the space program that was launched so long ago. Hopefully, it will take off as well.
And, That's That...
The numbers said that 1.1 million jobs where added in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2010 and retailers reported their strongest sales growth in a decade for March, causing the stock market to go up passed the "Eleven Thousand" symbolic threshold. So why is everybody still walking on eggs, instead of hiring to meet expected demand?
The problem is that this could very well be what the experts are calling "a jobless recovery." From 2007, when the recession began, to late 2009, when the first signs of recovery appeared, employers who survived did so with fewer workers. They became leaner and more productive with less people on the payroll and they are likely to stay that way for as long as possible.
That management fix has been gaining currency in corporate America for a very long time.
"More than two decades have passed since the modern layoff first appeared as a mass phenomenon in American life," writes Louis Uchitelle in his 2006 book, "The Disposable American." "Until that happened, companies tried to avoid layoffs. They were a sign of corporate failure and a violation of acceptable business behavior."
Uchitelle, like FED Chairman Ben Bernanke, could not have seen the depths of the coming "Great Recession," but his analysis of the impact of mass joblessness on the American physique describes what people are still suffering today. There are 8.4 million sad stories out there as a result of jobs lost during the recession. Uchitelle, after all, is only a reporter, albeit, a very good one. Bernanke, on the other hand, is paid to see the economic freight train going off the tracks.
Now that the wreckage is being cleared, what's next? "In an earlier era of much more faith in the payoff from public investment, President Eisenhower and Congress, to take one famous example, did not hesitate in the late fifties to authorize huge sums to get the United States into space...," Uchitelle reminds us. That investment, supported by subsequent administrations, produced not only jobs, but private sector investment in new technologies and countless industrial spinoffs.
Ironically, President Obama will be on the Space Coast tomorrow to tell us his plans for the future of the space program that was launched so long ago. Hopefully, it will take off as well.
And, That's That...
Thursday, April 8, 2010
'Ill-Spirit' Airline
News that Spirit Airline will start charging up to $45.00 for the privilege of carrying luggage on to its planes is not surprising. It's an abuse, but they've been heading in that direction for a long time. What is shocking is Spirit's attitude. "Bring less, pay less" is how one Spirit executive sums it up.
In other words, the customer be damned. Remember when passengers determined when, where and how they traveled. Then airlines started crying that they can't make a profit. So they began charging extra for everything in sight. Want a soda, that's extra; chips, extra; seat-selection, extra. A British airliner is said to be charging for the use of the "luv," which is the toilet in the King's English. Next, possibly, toilet paper will be purchased by the sheet and flushing will be optional with a fee.
Clearly, the airline industry is free to charge whatever it wants for its services. Likewise, the traveler can opt to take the scenic route in a train, bus or car and pack to the hilt. Spirit is a no-frills carrier that prides itself for its low fares. Its customers will have to start taking a calculator with them online when they make reservations to see if that is still true after all the extra charges are factored in.
By the way, if you deal with Spirit, you have to do so online, because they don't answer their 800-number and it's almost impossible to talk to a real person if you do get through. But, I just found another avenue to get through to Spirit's team. Consumerist.com tells us that Tony Lefebvre is senior vice president for customer service. Corporate headquarters is at 2800 Executive Way, Miramar, Florida 32025. Tony's email address is tony.lefebvre@spiritair.com and his phone number is 954.447.7965.
If this latest outrage from Spirit bites you in the behind, write to Tony or give him a call and tell him how you feel. You probably won't get through because he and his cohorts are trying to figure out what they can do next to make your travel experience less enjoyable and more costly. Although, I must admit their "Big Front Seat" is more comfortable than first class on most other airlines at a substantially lower fare.
Notwithstanding that plus, Spirit's lack of sensitivity, at a time when people are still smarting from economic depression, deserves the ire of its customers and ultimately they will decide, who, if anyone, fills their seats and overhead bins.
And, That will be That !
In other words, the customer be damned. Remember when passengers determined when, where and how they traveled. Then airlines started crying that they can't make a profit. So they began charging extra for everything in sight. Want a soda, that's extra; chips, extra; seat-selection, extra. A British airliner is said to be charging for the use of the "luv," which is the toilet in the King's English. Next, possibly, toilet paper will be purchased by the sheet and flushing will be optional with a fee.
Clearly, the airline industry is free to charge whatever it wants for its services. Likewise, the traveler can opt to take the scenic route in a train, bus or car and pack to the hilt. Spirit is a no-frills carrier that prides itself for its low fares. Its customers will have to start taking a calculator with them online when they make reservations to see if that is still true after all the extra charges are factored in.
By the way, if you deal with Spirit, you have to do so online, because they don't answer their 800-number and it's almost impossible to talk to a real person if you do get through. But, I just found another avenue to get through to Spirit's team. Consumerist.com tells us that Tony Lefebvre is senior vice president for customer service. Corporate headquarters is at 2800 Executive Way, Miramar, Florida 32025. Tony's email address is tony.lefebvre@spiritair.com and his phone number is 954.447.7965.
If this latest outrage from Spirit bites you in the behind, write to Tony or give him a call and tell him how you feel. You probably won't get through because he and his cohorts are trying to figure out what they can do next to make your travel experience less enjoyable and more costly. Although, I must admit their "Big Front Seat" is more comfortable than first class on most other airlines at a substantially lower fare.
Notwithstanding that plus, Spirit's lack of sensitivity, at a time when people are still smarting from economic depression, deserves the ire of its customers and ultimately they will decide, who, if anyone, fills their seats and overhead bins.
And, That will be That !
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
