Guest Post by Kevin Lynn
I read with little to no amusement an article in Monday’s Los Angeles Times entitled, “L.A. Is The Bad Jobs Capital of The US.” Wow! So knock me over with a feather! Truth be told, a blind man could have seen that one coming; Or, at least a blind man living in Los Angeles County.
The article cited a recent report from the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, stating that only 21% of Angelenos over the age of 25 have a high school diploma and nothing more. This is compared to 11% for the country as a whole. The article then went on to mention a silver lining, and that is, 64% of entry-level jobs in Los Angeles County don’t require anything more than a high school degree.
So if 64% of jobs require just a high school degree and nothing more (no trade school or additional certifications), what does that say about the jobs being created in Los Angeles County? And what does it bode for Los Angeles County’s employment future?
In my humble opinion, it doesn’t bode well for Los Angeles County, California, or the nation for that matter. A skilled worker, whether they earned a college degree or have a trade, will earn more money and enjoy greater job security than those who only have a high school diploma. In 2015, Hans Johnson of the Pubic Policy Institute of California (PPIC) authored a report entitled, Will California Run Out of College Graduates? In the report he stated, “Today’s college graduates have better economic outcomes than those who do not hold a bachelor’s degree. Over time, college graduates have seen lower rates of unemployment and higher wages than other workers—even through the Great Recession—suggesting that college degrees have become increasingly valuable in California’s labor market.”
Now if the workers filling that 64% of the jobs that require only a high school diploma were over qualified, that would be one thing. But that is probably not the case. Two other PPIC reports from late 2016 arrived at the conclusion that the majority of students entering California’s community colleges were identified as unprepared for college.
Not only are Los Angeles schools doing a poor job preparing their students for college, they’re doing a poor job preparing the students for life. In 2007 it was reported that the dropout rate for LA Unified (grades 9 – 12) was 26%. Although it has reportedly improved those statistics due to vigorous programs to reduce classroom size, it’s probably only better by a percent or two. Compare this to the national dropout average of 20%.
In addition to LA Unified doing a poor job preparing students for lives as skilled workers, Los Angeles is home to some 3.5 million immigrants, roughly 35% of its population, perhaps the largest cohort of any region. The Urban Institute report entitled, “Immigrant Families and Workers ” concluded that roughly three-quarters of these immigrants had only limited English proficiency (LEP).
A poorly trained workforce, lots of employment opportunities for low skilled/low paying jobs and a consistent and prolonged shedding of good, bread winner/manufacturing jobs is a Catch-22 scenario for Los Angeles County. Why learn skills that will never be employed, and why put a company in a region that doesn’t have a skilled workforce? Going forward, the alternatives open to employers looking to hire a work force required to do little more than flip a burger, turn a knob or weed a driveway will be limited to automation/robotization or offshoring.
California – the big warm and easy. Filled with illegal’s that scam the system for free shit / welfare. We would do well to let them go and form their own country.
Damn, I had no idea the national dropout rate was 20%. I don’t think we even lost 10 out of close to 400 people, and this wasn’t that long ago.
Gator ,seemed high to me also but with education the way it is would say get a GD/learn a trade and make monies instead of wasting time in some of the high schools and if you want to get a college degree/earn specific certificates can still do so a few nights a week while working.Some of these schools seem unfortunately for most part babysitting zoos,no point in being there if you can move forward at a quicker pace outside of said system.
Though the seniour class is usually less than 30 kids, we have never ever had a single dropout. Ever.
At the prospect of embarrassing myself:
“stating that only 21% of Angelenos over the age of 25 have a high school diploma and nothing more. This is compared to 11% for the country as a whole.”
I cannot believe the 11%; has to be a typo.
Maybe speaking English should be added to the mix somewhere as well.
IMO, which is probably racist, speaking English is a plus for most better paying jobs and careers.
I’m sure Fred will have something to say about these fine Latinos improving the educational experience for the rest of LA.
Bob.
What kind of degree do you need to start your own business?
That’s right, you don’t need one. An 18 year old with a couple of hundred dollars, patience, ambition and a work ethic can turn himself into a wealthy man by the age of 25 and never work a job during that entire time. He starts his own business. Window washing. Moving. Pool service. Clean-outs. Painting. Handyman services.
Two of my son’s friends, neither 20 yet have turned niche markets into thriving businesses- one buys used sneakers in bulk and resells them on internet platforms like Ebay and the other took a course in asbestos abatement that cost him a couple of hundred dollars and with a single pickup truck and only himself as an employee has now got several multi-million dollar contracts, five full-time employees and two brand new trucks paid for in cash. Neither were very good students, neither of them went to college. Both earn in the top 10% and have zero debt.
Jobs are for people who are risk averse but still want a guaranteed lifestyle. Nothing wrong with that, but it comes with its own limitations. A degree isn’t a guarantee of anything except the sacrifice of four or more years of you life and the attendant costs associated with that credential.
“What kind of degree do you need to start your own business?”
For everyone of these ‘cottage industry’ jobs that you have mentioned, 100 fail. I’m amused by the guy who sells sneakers on EBay. Do you really believe this bullshit? How long do you think that will last?
You need capital, licenses, bond’s, liability insurance, workman’s comp, health insurance, etc, etc to employ people – in most every state. Then there is record keeping, paying taxes, withholding, all this is overhead. Most businesses fail because of under capitalization, and lack of new or second sales.
I do agree that government schools are a brain wash, and have dubious value.
“For everyone of these ‘cottage industry’ jobs that you have mentioned, 100 fail. I’m amused by the guy who sells sneakers on EBay. Do you really believe this bullshit? How long do you think that will last?”
You can call bullshit all you like, it doesn’t negate reality. I mentioned a few types of service businesses that require little or no start-up costs and are limited only by the number of people who desire those services. And if Ebay were to vanish tomorrow that particular young man already has a sizable nest egg, business experience, confidence and the knowledge that his income is not dependent upon a credential that may or may not guarantee anything in life. And he has zero debt, can you say the same thing?
A business needn’t begin large in order to succeed, nor is a substantial capital investment required as long as the person starting the business has the patience and forbearance to see it grow organically. I understand that in today’s economic environment everyone wants a guarantee of overnight success and a large income without putting in the time and effort required of say, raising a toddler. It is a symptom of a much larger problem. Event horizons are not for everyone.
HSF – I too call bullshit.
I am glad there are examples of success. Failures are vastly more frequent. And poorly educated folks would be top of that tree. The regulatory minefield can be extreme, tax and compensation law can send you bankrupt, etc. ad Nauseum.
Be careful advocating folks start businesses. A huge percentage fail, and often they take everything the owner has when they do.
Greetings,
It isn’t how many times you get knocked down that matter but how many times you are willing to get back up. Of course 80% of all new businesses fail in the first 18 months – that’s just how it is. If, though, you’ve managed to go into business for yourself without going into debt (I do not encourage anyone to take on debt) then you’ve lost nothing but some time if it fails.
Success doesn’t teach much of anything but failure is the best instructor I’ve ever had. Use it and move on.
Greetings,
“Jobs are for people who are risk averse” You, sir, couldn’t have said it better. Once a month I open my shop up to the public and give tours of the place. I take secret delight in showing what I’ve accomplished to the liberal elites and their children and the parents, at least, have to respect it because my shop is right at the beach and pulling that off in S. California is one thing that commands respect.
I love pointing out that the tools I use, the workstation furniture, even the light fixtures were all things that were discarded. I don’t think I paid for a single item – not my oscilloscope, function generator, cap box, solder pot, reference books, etc.
After that, I move on to showing complex circuit boards and explain that instead of going to school for several years to learn how to do this, I just plopped down the $1800 for the software and learned how to do it over the course of a single weekend.
Not only this but we had to teach ourselves marketing, branding, video production, web design, set up our supply chain, acquire distribution in 10 different countries and deal with accounting and taxes – again, all by ourselves.
This might overwhelm some people but to add insult to injury I then go on to explain how me and my partner (there are two of us in the company) first used these tools to produce some of their favorite platinum selling albums as audio engineering was something that we taught ourselves as well.
The point I’m trying to drive home is that if you can stomach risk then you can avoid school altogether. If you are willing to do whatever it takes then anything is possible. I can say this because I took an incredible risk to do these things. I slept in my car for two years. I lived (sometimes) on a dollar a day. I never once doubted myself.
If there are children along for the ride I will always ask them, “what is it that you want to build?” with the follow up question, “do they teach you how to do that at your school?”
I’ve responded several times to you on other threads without knowing if you’ve seen the response but clearly, we are cut from the same cloth. I find it ironic that both of us trace our origins to within a hundred yards of our ancestors in Hopewell, NJ.
Must be something in the water of the Sourland Mountains.
BTW, I read your comment twice because I cannot fathom why anyone downvoted what you wrote.
Excelsior!
Would you guys get a room?
Greetings,
Actually, it you should say, “Get a room!” because when you phrase it as a question then it seems like you WANT us to get a room and somehow be involved in what happens in said room. I know we’re here on the Westcoast but I don’t swing that way.
“instead of going to school for several years to learn how to do this, I just plopped down the $1800 for the software and learned how to do it over the course of a single weekend.”
Hilarious.
What’s in your craw today?
Greetings,
$1800 is about 1/2 the monthly money you would need if you wished to rent a tiny apartment near me. I could throw money like that when I needed to because I was sleeping in my car.
I put everything I had into an idea knowing full well that if it failed I would end up a middle aged man with nothing.
Hilarious isn’t it?
Yes, LA schools suck.
What if there is an additional factor at play, which is the meanginfully lower IQ of the overall (illegal) immigrant population. If you’re dealing with a population with a mean IQ of 85 or lower compared to the national average of 102, even good schools are limited in what they can achieve.
A lot of treasure being wasted on stupid.
LA County has also morphed into an illegal barter economy as well. Why go to school when you can play trade- e – o for a living. They rise to level of the basic requirement and then stop. Just think of the amount of sales taxes that LA County is losing as a consequence of “culture”.
To be successful you need to be hard-working, persistent, and educated. That being said, almost everything you learn in high school and college is actually counterproductive to being a successful entrepreneur. High school and college were made to create obedient employees. As such, education needs to be obtained elsewhere.
I have full time work available TODAY in LA County. $15.00 per hour and we will train you. IF you make it 90 days a raise to $16.00 and if you have an IQ of 90 or better you will be earning $25.00+ within one-two years.
Requirements?
Show up on time
Reliable transportation
Work your ass off.
Hard Hat; Safety Vest; Safety glasses
No High School diploma required.
I have Mexicans and South & Central Americans working for me with little to no education who have taught themselves to read and write. The ones who have taken the time to learn are making great money $35-$45 per hour with medical insurance. The ones who don’t get left behind.
Greetings,
Show up on time and work your ass off must be damn near impossible to find outside of immigrant labor in LA. As for myself, my products are assembled in Tustin just outside of Anaheim by Romanian Immigrants. I so wanted to manufacture in the USA but most white Americans in and around LA find that work to be beneath them and just wont do it. They’ve all be conditioned to believe that they are entitled to be rich & famous without any effort minus taking some online courses while hanging out at Starbucks. Frankly, they’d rather grow old in their parents home rather than pick up a shovel or a hammer and break a sweat.
Good luck to you, sir.
Dear Cman54;
Your requirements are unfair and totally unrealistic. Especially the 3rd one! Coming to work on time should be optional at least 2-3 days per week. As for your starting pay of $15/hr? Why………that is ludicrous! How am I suppose to buy a house, lease a 2017 car, pay off my student loan, have fun and have all the things my parents have (immediately) on such meager earnings? Did I mention having fun? Tell you what…..pay me $20/ hr, bump it up to $25/hr after two weeks, let me be on time sometimes, pick me up for work occasionally and I promise to give you 50% effort when I can.
Sincerely
Today’s employee
P.S. I need free day care also