Reply #2: The business section of my paper often talks about layoffs

[Ezlivin]

The Star-Telegram seems to print a column every couple or days or so about another round of layoffs or plant closings. Yet in the same section they will have some study touting the growing economy.

How can all of these laid-off people immediately reenter the work force or learn a new craft/skill to gain employment in another field that quickly? Whenever I lost a job, it took time to land another. And I can't imagine trying to find work when you are in your fifties with 20 years of experience and your plant was just shut down. It's not as if you can simply find another position in another plant. After all, why would they be hiring when outsourcing seems to work so well for their competitors? (And that's begging the question of whether there would even be another competitor in town with a similar position.)

In my area (Dallas-Fort Worth), they are squeezing out all of the trailer parks and pushing these "undesirables" out to the far periphery. No community wants low income housing. No community wants affordable apartments. How the hell does McDonald's get its workers? None of the spoiled kids driving late model BMWs to high school want those jobs.