Why "they" can't find Americans to work these jobs

[Bill_L]

Cohen & Grigsby is one of the leading law firms in Pittsburgh, PA. They released a promotional video in which they discussed how to be unable to hire Americans for jobs. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published an article on this -

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07173/796195-28.stm

The video is available on YouTube at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCbFEgFajGU

Three segments from CNN's Lou Dobbs with more information are available at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsp2V3ifZjM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMeSTlNLNkw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx--jNQYNgA

You can find additional commentary on YouTube by searching for "Cohen & Grigsby".

[DaveM]

I recall going into a fast food place and noticing that the cash register keys had pictures of the food on them, since the high school students and graduates who held most of the jobs were unable to read. You can imagine the quality of customer service one got from the crew there.

Seems to me that rather than dumbing down the job to meet the deficencies of some potential workers, employers ought to stick to their guns and demand that the people they employ actually be worthy of the money they are given. No one will improve themselves unless and until there is a practical motive for doing so.

[aabram]

Dave this is a very sad state of affairs, and one which echoes amongst young people in Scotland. The standard of education seems to have dropped right across the board, which is worrying. I hope schools will improve soon. I worry about what my grandchildren/great nephews/neices will meet. Hopefully there won't be any grandchildren until substandard education has improved :eek:

Catherine was fortunate in that she went to school with a brain which she used in the first place. She has now left school and is awaiting the result of her first interview :)

[sister rose]

What irks me the most is that anytime a child has a problem in school they blame it on attention deficit and put them on medication. Sometimes all it takes is a little extra encouragement. Whatever happened to tutors? :confused:

[DaveM]

Quite agree--there is no such thing as parenting/education in a pill. All too often, kids who ask too many questions or have trouble sitting still because they are bored stiff are simply drugged into silence and considered "cured". Why not provide them with an environment where someone will answer their questions and give them more to do? The chances are that we are medicating some of the best minds of the next generation into inactivity.

Minnesota has an "open enrollment" policy, whereby parents can transfer their kids to better schools at will, provided one is available. Locally, a "charter school" with a strong emphasis on academics and one to one tutoring, is in the process of being established. It will handle 65 students and eligibility is by merit--competition has been rather intense.

Two local school districts, meanwhile, have freaked out over the possibility of losing 65 students and the state money that comes with each one. They began their campaign against the charter school by barring the students from any extracurricular activities, and now have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to prevent the school from opening at all.

What's wrong with this picture?

[Bill_L]

The law firm mentioned is holding seminars on how to "legally" be unable to hire Americans - so that they can "legally" hire aliens for the jobs. How to exploit "loopholes" to avoid problems with the government. It's not a matter of no qualified Americans - they don't want to hire those who are qualified. I suppose the primary reason is lower pay and legal immigration beyond legal limits on a particular nation.

We might need to improve our educational system but this firm isn't dealing with that.

[DaveM]

Yet another example of American industry trying to get by on the cheap--and to hell with the end results. Sorry to have misread.