I took a spin around the horn and listened to the latest doom and gloom coming over the airwaves. In the US, they're getting ready to blow $850 billion, while in Canada the minority "conservative" government is itself set to throw a few dozen billion into the stratosphere (otherwise knows as "the economy").
The storyline in the US says that this money is needed now. Right now. Immediately, or we're finished! In Canada, the storyline is the same, except now they're highlighting how big the deficit is going to get.
News flash: when you beg for billions, then receive it, the guy that gave it to you just might run a deficit. Strange, I know, but that's the way it works.
Random aside: with all of the layoffs we're hearing about, why don't we ever hear about widescale government layoffs?
Anyway, I listened to a guy from the NDP say the Canadian government isn't spending enough on the unemployed, whom he calls "innocent victims." He says more money should be thrown at the problem, and didn't bother to compliment the government for extending unemployment benefits to 50 weeks. (Another random aside: remember when unemployment insurance was called UI because it was for unemployed citizens? Now it's called EI: Employment Insurance. A nice, sneaky little euphemism, right up there with changing the War Department to the Department of Defense).
Using the advice I've learned from Berry's Common Sense Economics degree, I decided to check out the wasteland that is the Canadian economy. To hear the government big spenders tell it, there's no jobs, nowhere.
Here's what I found in five minutes on craigslist. It's a pretty good smattering of job markets, and I only chose jobs that had a dollar figure instead of "depends on experience," as most job ads have (hint: salaries are negotiable).
When I hear that people have been out of work for months, or have "no hope" of getting a job without government intervention, I automatically think three things:
1) You're stubborn. You don't want to work in a different industry from the one that let you go.
2) You have an ego. You think you're worth big bucks, and don't want to do something that's "beneath" you, not realizing that starting at the bottom is sometimes the way to get to the big bucks.
3) You're lazy. You don't want to learn how to do something else.
You can scratch #3 if you're using unemployment benefits to learn a new craft, otherwise, forget it. My degree was in anthropology and I haven't dug up a sarcophagus in my life. In other words, you can learn through experience if you pick up the phone and try. Honestly.
Those are the only three answers for someone who is unemployed for months, unless they have a physical or mental disability, which is a different matter entirely.
There is no such thing as a "jobless economy." If a person has been laid off, their innocent victim status deteriorates with each day that goes by. After two months, they're not an innocent victim. They're just a person who's out of work. As Hero Obama would say, "Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and begin the work of getting your ass in gear." Okay, so I paraphrased. In any case, I am tired of hearing that there are "no jobs," unless the person is saying, "There are no jobs I want to do."
To the want ads we go. There's hundreds of more jobs like these from a dozen different industries, on a dozen different websites.
Customer Service Representative- Full-time Permanent. Compensation: $33,000 to $35,000
Full Time Reception/Admin Needed ASAP. Compensation: $25k to $29K
RECEPTIONIST NEEDED. Compensation: Based on experience. Starting salary: $10/H
Support Clerk. $11 / hour + benefits.
Junior Accounting Associate/Customer Service FT Perm. Compensation: $30,000 - $32,000
Financial Analyst. Compensation: Pays up to $55K
Laboratory Supervisor. Compensation: Min 55,000
Junior Lab Analyst. Compensation: $30K annually
R & D Lab Tech. Compensation: 30-35k
cafe staff. Compensation: $9.00 + tips.
Face Painter/ Party Facilitator. Compensation: starting at $10/hour + tips
Security Officers. Compensation: $12 To $15.
Line / Prep Cook. Compensation: $11.00 - $12.00 per hour
Lawyer needed. Compensation: $200,00hr
Experienced Law Clerk. Compensation: based on experience $12 - $18/hr
Purchasing Coordinator. Compensation: $35-$40,000
Bilingual Health Records. Compensation: $50,000
Pharmacist. Compensation: $45/hr
Hair Salon Assistant. Compensation: $10.00/hr
Real Estate Professional Admin Assistant. Compensation: $15.00/hr (contract)
Customer service. Compensation: $9 - $15/hr
Director, Project Management. Compensation: 100-120K
Business Centre- Part Time support associate. Compensation: $13.00/hr
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