job hunting in 2012

job hunting in 2012

fiction
edward w pritchard

Job hunting in June 2012 is different. Apparently all the laws and controls put in place from 1964 to 1990 to protect the workers privacy and keep corporations honest and balance their tendency to be high handed in general toward individuals were thrown out the window of late. Social security number required to apply for a job, drug test pre-hire, back ground checks by quasi gestapo style services.

I always thought the Democratic party was the party that protected workers from big business. Sad it seems now the Republican party continues to be pro business and pro corporations in general and the Democrats  have become pro ultra large corporate interests.

Who will protect the workers?

As a practical matter today companies depend heavily on sheltered HR units that use the Internet to categorize, screen and herd prospective employees. Most recruiters are young and assume everyone should be retired and rich by age 40, as they plan to be, and anyone over 40 shouldn't really need a job anyway. Anyone with any type of criminal background issue, large or small is not considered. Most companies won't hire anyone who is not employed in the exact type job they are applying for. Unemployed persons are put on extinction. Service industries will not condescend to hire somebody who is exactly the profile of their average customer. A corporation uses proprietary software and then won't hire a qualified applicant who doesn't have experience on that operating system.

Current high unemployment is partially caused by the difficulties caused by the inability of corporations to be flexible enough to use a variety of methods to find applicants and then hire and train qualified people. Instead of being proactive to find employees,  Corporations lobby for less government regulation and increased financial subsidy by the public sector to pad their bottom lines each quarter.

End Corporate Welfare. Remove tax breaks from corporations that are high handed in their hiring practices. In my city the worse companies in terms of recruiting always end up on published lists of the "best place to work." Media, wake up and  get with the program. See things as they are.

American Public, there are no unions much to protect workers anymore in the private sector. As a consumer don't patronize companies with despicable recruiting practices.  Do spend money at businesses who hire locally and use a balanced approach  to reaching out to prospective employees from all the corners of American society.

Small business, small banks and businesses that treat workers as partners and friends. It's good business and good for society. Then less government intervention in business is a good thing. For now
Democratic party, do your duty, protect worker rights.