It seems incongruous to say the least. Employers complaining, in this economy, that they can’t find enough workers to fill their open positions. But that is exactly what is happening – in a few select industries.

The unemployment rate nation wide is now clocking in at a disturbing 9.8%.  Things are bad, and they don’t seem to be getting better.  If you factor in people who are underemployed (workers who involuntarily dropped from full-time to part-time) and the unofficial unemployed (those who have basically given up on looking for work), the number is estimated to be an utterly shocking 17%.  This “Real but unofficial” count of unemployment has been on record only for the last 15 years, but it’s never been higher than it is right now.

Meanwhile, employers looking for nurses and other technical medical workers are coming up short.  There are fifteen million people hitting the pavement looking for work, but none of them know how to work an MRI machine.  That brings us to our current paradox.  All the government stimulus bills and works programs in the world can’t change an unemployed and unemployable telecommunications switch operator into a legitimate X-ray technician over night.

We’ve got the wrong people with the wrong training looking for jobs.  That makes the medical field an enticing choice for those going into college this year, so we’re likely to have a glut in these industries four years down the road.  But four years from now is approximately four years away, and millions of people are looking for jobs today.

There are now twice as many unemployed workers in the USA than there were two years ago.  Construction and manufacturing have taken the hardest hits.  Even government jobs, once thought to be the Mecca of long-term employment, are dropping off by the tens of thousands PER MONTH.

My best advice for job hunters: get a time machine, go back four years, and get yourself a nursing degree.  And bet on the Phillies to win last year’s World Series while you’re at it.

Tweet This Post