After reading an interesting article about how many people are not in the labor market, I wanted to add some comments about 86 million people not working in the United States. If you take 86 million people not working and divide it by total population of 311 million, around 27.65% of the U.S. population does not work. The interesting part of this article is the major debate surrounding about the two groups who suffer the most. The population under 25 and over 50 has the highest rates of unemployment. A change in employer’s hiring practices and engaging workers back into the labor force will be the key to the future economic growth in the United States. While employers need to focus on working conditions, compensation, and benefits to attract workers, the labor pool needs time and in some cases a new attitude to adjust to the new positions available by deciding to accept additional education or training. One interesting current example I can point to is welding classes in Des Moines are in demand, as a current shortage of workers exists. A lot of blame can be shared or fingers can be pointed on why companies cannot find workers, but when employees have been laid off from traditional manufacturing, industrial, or oil field positions for many years, you cannot expect the population will spend time or money to be educated or go through training required. You can expect the population to head for other career growth areas. While technology positions seem to be in demand, not everyone can go back to school at age 50 to take the financial risk of retraining for another career that may not develop. One interesting point in the article is the 36 million people who may have decided to stop looking, or instead to care for children or support spouses who do work.
http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/03/news/economy/unemployment-rate/index.htm?iid=HP_LN#
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