What are the jobs Americans won't do?
 

</script><script language="JavaScript"></script><font size="3"><strong>moneybox</strong></font><br clear="all"><span class="clsLarger">Dirty Work</span><br><span class="clsSmall"><font color="gray">What are the jobs Americans won't do?</font></span><br>By Daniel Gross<br><span class="clsSmaller"><font color="#CC0000">Posted <font color="#CC0000">Friday, Jan. 12, 2007, at 6:36 AM ET</font></font></span><br clear="all"><!--After Date--><br clear="all"><p><div style="clear:both"></div>The United States is a nation of hard workers. Compared with many other developed countries, the U.S. boasts high rates of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm">labor-force participation</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/prod2.t02.htm">productivity</a> and has a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm">very low unemployment rate</a>. Americans work longer hours than Europeans—1,804 hours per worker for the United States in 2005, compared to 1,434 in Germany and 1,535 in France, according to the <a target="_blank" href="http://stats.oecd.org/wbos/default.aspx?DatasetCode=EAR_MEI">OECD</a>. </p><p>Yet it's increasingly common to hear politicians, CEOs, and immigration activists impugn American workers as a bunch of shiftless layabouts who regard many good jobs as beneath their dignity. That, they say, is why employers have to turn to immigrants—some of them legal, many of them illegal. To hear CEOs tell it, they'd much rather hire English-speaking, tax-paying U.S. citizens, people who won't <a target="_blank" href="http://www.swiftbrands.com/media/releases/2006_12_13_Swift_ICE_Interviews_Update.pdf">disrup t operations by getting rounded up in Homeland Security sweeps</a>. But they just can't find any Americans willing to do their jobs. As President Bush himself <a target="_blank" href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/03/20060325.html">said</a> last March, the United States needs a temporary guest-worker program that would "match willing foreign workers with willing American employers to fill jobs that Americans will not do."</p><p>What are these jobs that Americans will not do? Do they exist? Or are they a figment of the business community's imagination? It turns out that their claims are largely true—there are plenty of jobs Americans avoid. Let's take a tour of them. Americans shun pretty much any unskilled labor that requires them to get their hands dirty: landscaping, entry-level construction, picking fruits and vegetables (Reuters <a target="_blank" href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070109/us_nm/farmbureau_immigration_dc">report</a>s that "up to 70 percent of U.S. farm workers are estimated to be undocumented, totaling about 500,000 people"), cleaning hotel rooms, busing tables, and prep cooking in urban restaurants.</p><p>But the refusal to do jobs is moving up the value chain. American workers appear to be less interested in some kinds of factory jobs. The <em>Washington Post</em>, for example, recently <a target="_blank" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/16/AR2006071600665.html?nav=rss_world/northamerica">reported</a> that Georgia's <a target="_blank" href="http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-1017">carpet factories</a> are increasingly dominated by Mexican immigrant workers.</p><p>Americans, it seems, are also less willing to take stressful jobs that require lots of training and long hours, and that require them to work in unpleasant environments. For example, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing is warning of a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Media/FactSheets/NursingShortage.htm">nursing shortage</a>. This <a target="_blank" href="http://www.aha.org/aha/research-and-trends/index.html">survey</a> from the American Hospital Association says there are 118,000 nursing vacancies in the United States. Meanwhile, a 2003 <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cogme.gov/report16.htm#sop">report</a> by the Council on Graduate Medical Education suggested there could be a shortage of anywhere from 65,000 to 150,000 doctors in 2020. (Given the time it takes to educate and train a physician, it's not too soon to worry.)</p><p>Spending your days tethered to a computer is also work that many Americans avoid. The Information Technology Association of America <a target="_blank" href="http://www.itaa.org/newsroom/release.cfm?ID=2386">notes</a> that 77 percent of companies it polled said there was a shortage of qualified IT talent in the United States. The solution: Import more geeks. The ITAA (and pretty much every technology company) <a target="_blank" href="http://www.itaa.org/newsroom/release.cfm?ID=2312">supports</a> boosting the number of <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H1B_visa">H-1B visas</a> above the current limit of 65,000 per fiscal year. </p><p>The more one looks, the more shortages of willing workers appear. Bryan Bender of the <em>Boston Globe </em>last month <a target="_blank" href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/12/26/military_considers_recruiting_foreigners/">reported</a> that the Pentagon is <strong>"</strong>considering expanding the number of noncitizens in the ranks—including disputed proposals to open recruiting stations overseas and putting more immigrants on a faster track to U.S. citizenship if they volunteer." Today, about 2 percent of the soldiers protecting America—about 30,000—aren't technically Americans. On Tuesday, the <em>Wall Street Journal</em> reported on a dire shortage of professors of accounting, finance, and management that may cause some schools to curtail course offerings. "AACSB International, the accrediting organization for business schools, estimates a shortage of 1,000 Ph.D.s in the U.S. this year that will grow to 2,400 by 2012." (Apparently, American citizens with Ph.D.s in accounting, finance, and management can get high-paying, satisfying jobs in the private sector. Who knew?) </p><p>For the industries involved, and for their customers—everyone from meat-eaters to hospital patients—these shortages are a real challenge. But when employers have difficulty filling jobs at the wages they wish to pay, and as a result seek foreign-born workers, they shouldn't blame it on a fundamental unwillingness of Americans to work in those industries or professions. After all, in many of these fields—construction, nursing, the military, teaching, accounting—Americans still fill most positions. Immigrants tend to predominate only in the least attractive work imaginable—manual, back-breaking, seasonal, benefitless, farm labor.</p><p>Americans haven't grown too wealthy and snooty for the kind of work that gets your hands dirty, or for nursing, or for computer programming. Rather, the people who have the skills to enter those fields also have opportunities and skills to enter other fields. And so they have to decide whether the rewards—monetary and psychological—of the opportunity before them are worth it. It's not so much that Americans aren't willing to pick fruit and become computer programmers. Rather, they aren't willing to do those jobs for the prevailing wages and benefits. The Army may need foreign nationals to help fill its ranks, but the private security firms that pay six-figure salaries to ex-military types for security work don't. People without much in the way of skills or education probably prefer to take entry-level jobs at Wal-Mart rather than work at a meat-packing plant, even though it might pay a little less—it's less dangerous and disgusting.</p><p><b>The failure here is</b>n't in the work ethic of Americans. Rather, it lies with the CEOs, business owners, university and hospital administrators, and government officials—and ultimately, <b>with all of us who benefit from cheap labor</b>—to offer the wages and benefits necessary to attract sufficient numbers of legal workers. <b>There's a reason they call the labor market a market. </b></p><p><em>Run across an example of a job Americans aren't willing to do? Send it to </em><a target="_blank" href="mailto:moneybox@slate.com"><em>moneybox@slat e.com</em></a><em>. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)</em></p><em>Daniel Gross (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.danielgross.net/"><em>www.danielgross.net</em></a></em><em>) writes <strong>Slate</strong>'s "Moneybox" column. You can e-mail him at </em><a target="_blank" href="mailto:moneybox@slate.com"><em>moneybox@slat e.com</em></a><em>.</em><br><br><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size="2">Article URL: <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2157483/" target="_blank">http://www.slate.com/id/2157483/</a></font><script language="JavaScript1.1" type="text/JavaScript">var SA_ID="wpost;slate";</script><script language="JavaScript1.1" type="text/JavaScript" src="http://stats.surfaid.ihost.com/sacdcg3p_wpost_slate.js"></script><noscript><img src="http://stats.surfaid.ihost.com/crc/images/uc.GIF?1.20&amp;wpost&amp;slate&amp;noscript" height="1" width="1" alt="" border="0" /></noscript><script language="JavaScript1.1" src="/revsci/dm_client.js"></script><script language="JavaScript">rs = PStax; DM_addToLoc("thisNode", rs); DM_tag();</script><noscript><img src="http://pix01.revsci.net/J05531/a3/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/noscript.gif" /></noscript><script language="javascript">
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the only downside to my job is ......... i dont get to use explosives .........

You do. You just haven't found a reason yet

;D ...

Rounding up the criminals that are in this country illegally.

What are the jobs Americans won't do?
personally? Blowjobs...

I won't sell drugs

pirated DVD, CD, or late nite infomericals.

I'll do that for 60k a year.

You know what, this article is bull****.

When i was homeless - yeah there was some illegals - but most of us were just poor - it didn't come to race, or legal status - everyone was working for their $40 a day.

Oh yeah and when i was picking up dead rats - for $7/hr - i can tell you I didn't like the job - but it wasn't beneath me when i need fed.

Agreed, it's utter BS. then again, the "new" generation, well to be quite honest they are a bunch of primmadonnas for the most part. No patience for alot of them at all. These guys are going to be running the country? That is scary...dman

What's your age group for the "new generation" dman?

Yeah your generation did a hell of a job

My segment of the generation did a hell of a job, you are correct, thanks...:thumbsup: ....dman

Given that your profile doesn't say your birth date I will assume your about 30 for my example. The generation before you was probably thinking "oh great, we are gonna have all these little pot head kids running the government here soon".

I'd say 16 to about 27. Overall interactions that I've had with this group (external to the military) have been negative. Lots and lots of primmadonnas. Just my opinion though. Pretty sad if you ask me...dman

*Damn. Another head hunter phone call. I've had 4 in three weeks trying to scarf me into the civilian nuclear sector. Florida, minnesota, iowa, nebraska so far. Well, guess I don't have to worry about a job if you know what I mean. Florida job was damn good money, but, don't like Florida. That particular industry will be opening up for new jobs over the next 5 to 10 years.

Dman,

Just to let you know - i'm 27 ;)

All I know of you is how you correspond here on the mane. Without any significant blueprinting on my part, you appear to have your head screwed on and are an exception to the rule if you know what I mean. I can't tell you how many 27 yr old college grads I've talked to who I wouldn't let in the navy. Somebody else might, but I wouldn't...dman

You aren't close on the age. And, they did say that. Being a pot head is one thing, a primmadonna is another...dman

*I removed all information off of my profile a while ago when a member of the mane who frequented various boards lost his job. I truly trust no one here.

What are you scared of? Are you ****ing over the Navy somehow?

BTW, you keep talking about all these job opportunities you get on a regular basis, what's preventing you from taking one of these high paying jobs?

I think he's putting in the end of his last tour, and they've beached him in ****ing missouri or nebraska someplace.

Dman,

I'm crazy. that's all you need to know. lol

College grads have nothing to do with it Dman - just that some people never had to sack it up is all.

How's the...uhhh..... inventory system working for your place of business Dman? ;) - i'd like to know if it's still working well.


Oh and your comment to not trust anyone here - For the most part i agree with ya dman. But seriously - when it comes down to it - i know i'd not have much issue with you - other than we stand on slightly different sides of the same line. But it's ok - i'd be bored if it were any other way.

How do you say "10-4, good buddy" in Hindi?
 

Looks like your industry, Spide, is in for some transformation. BTW, the healthcare industry here in California has already been transformed to mostly Filipino and immigrant workforce, as the article states. The only whites still in the industry do consulting work and have usually been in the industry for a couple of decades, before the transformation from white to immigrant, and their pay is great, think the CPA/Lawyer rate per hour. That's been my experience.


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</script><script language="JavaScript"></script><font size="3"><strong>moneybox</strong></font><br clear="all"><span class="clsLarger">The Unwilling Americans</span><br><span class="clsSmall"><font color="gray">More jobs the native-born won't do.</font></span><br>By Daniel Gross<br><span class="clsSmaller"><font color="#CC0000">Posted <font color="#CC0000">Thursday, Jan. 18, 2007, at 6:38 AM ET</font></font></span><br clear="all"><!--After Date--><br clear="all"><p>Last week, I wrote about the phenomenon of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.slate.com/id/2157483/fr/flyout/">jobs Americans aren't willing to do</a>. If companies can't hire the number of people they want to hire at the wages they want to pay, the reasoning goes, it must be because lazy, soft-handed Americans simply aren't willing to roll up their sleeves and do difficult jobs. Managing hedge funds and starring in reality TV shows? Absolutely. But, by this logic, not landscaping, picking fruits and vegetables, meat processing, manufacturing carpets, soldiering, or working in information technology. </p><p>In fact, the perceived shortages have less to do with a declining American work ethic and more to do with managerial stinginess. In many industries, employers—and, ultimately, their customers—simply aren't willing to pay the prices that legal American labor demands in exchange for performing the work—or for going through the expense and trouble of obtaining the skills and credentials necessary to ply certain trades. In today's <em>Wall Street Journal</em>,<em> </em>Evan Perez and Corey Dade offer support for this contention. Last September, a chicken-processing plant (one of those industries we're told Americans reject) in Stillmore, Ga., lost three-quarters of its work force after an immigration bust. In response, the company, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.cridercorp.com/">Crider</a>, "suddenly raised pay at the plant" by more than a dollar per hour and began offering better benefits: "free transportation from nearby towns and free rooms in a company-owned dormitory near to the plant." Miraculously, American workers materialized to accept the jobs.</p><p>Last week, we asked readers to send in other examples of jobs Americans apparently aren't willing to do. (At <strong><em>Slate</em></strong>,<em> </em>we're big believers in user-generated content, especially in holiday-shortened weeks.) More than one reader suggested that enforcing immigration laws is one job Americans are clearly unwilling to do. Another, noting <a target="_blank" href="http://www.slate.com/id/2157553/">David Beckham's latest career move</a>, suggested playing soccer in Los Angeles.</p><p>We received anecdotal confirmation of the trends we cited. A Los Angeles-based hiring manager in the software business reported that he had plenty of high-paying technical jobs. "Every single candidate is either an Indian national or a recent Russian immigrant," he said. "There are no longer any American candidates for these jobs."</p><p>Thanks to our readers, we've also discovered some more jobs Americans apparently don't find attractive. A social worker for an agency in the San Jose, Calif., area that provides services to children and adults with mental retardation, autism, and cerebral palsy, reported that the region's group homes and intermediate-care facilities "are staffed almost exclusively by Filipinos." The same holds for many "special education teachers and school aides, nurses working with those with delays or the elderly, respite workers, day program staff." These jobs, like many of the other jobs Americans won't do, require a high degree of skill and dedication—and yet they don't pay particularly well. </p><p><b>Transportation is another area in which demographics, the desire to hold down costs, and rising demand are combining to create a "shortage." Two readers pointed me to a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.truckline.com/NR/rdonlyres/E2E789CF-F308-463F-8831-0F7E283A0218/0/ATADriverShortageStudy05.pdf">2005 report</a> released by the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.truckline.com/">American Trucking Association</a> and economic consulting firm <a target="_blank" href="http://www.globalinsight.com/">Global Insight</a>, which concludes that Americans' unwillingness to work as long-haul truckers could have dire consequences for the U.S. economy. As the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.truckline.com/NR/exeres/1F93B29D-806B-4E6D-A167-D0706831F08D.htm">press release</a> notes, in 2005 the United States had a shortage of 20,000 truck drivers. Given economic growth and the graying of today's drivers, the industry will need 539,000 new drivers over the next decade. The study notes that if U.S. companies want to continue to enjoy cheap, reliable truck-based shipping, the industry will have to recruit more women and minorities, boost wages so that trucking pays more than construction, and address quality-of-life issues. </b></p><p>But that sort of thinking—raise wages to attract domestic workers into your field—is so last century. <b>In today's flat world, employers can choose from a global labor pool, apparently even for driving big rigs down I-95. Meet <a target="_blank" href="http://www.gaganglobal.com/aboutus.htm">Gagan Global</a>, which trains Indian drivers in India to drive American trucks in America.</p><p>How do you say "10-4, good buddy" in Hindi?</b></p><em>Daniel Gross (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.danielgross.net/"><em>www.danielgross.net</em></a></em><em>) writes <strong>Slate</strong>'s "Moneybox" column. You can e-mail him at </em><a target="_blank" href="mailto:moneybox@slate.com"><em>moneybox@slat e.com</em></a><em>.</em><br><br><font face="Arial, Helvetica, Geneva" size="2">Article URL: <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2157828/" target="_blank">http://www.slate.com/id/2157828/</a></font><script language="JavaScript1.1" type="text/JavaScript">var SA_ID="wpost;slate";</script><script language="JavaScript1.1" type="text/JavaScript" src="http://stats.surfaid.ihost.com/sacdcg3p_wpost_slate.js"></script><noscript><img src="http://stats.surfaid.ihost.com/crc/images/uc.GIF?1.20&amp;wpost&amp;slate&amp;noscript" height="1" width="1" alt="" border="0" /></noscript><script language="JavaScript1.1" src="/revsci/dm_client.js"></script><script language="JavaScript">rs = PStax; DM_addToLoc("thisNode", rs); DM_tag();</script><noscript><img src="http://pix01.revsci.net/J05531/a3/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/noscript.gif" /></noscript><script language="javascript">
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Can't retire yet. Pretty simple, gotta wait a bit...dman

*As far as the jobs, they are high paying and they are opening up, you are right. But, when you sign a contract with the man, you live by it until it's time to retire.

Scared? Absolutely not. Cautious, absolutely...dman


Are you ****ing over the Navy somehow? No way. I've worked hard for them and the country, and continue to do so.