Maybe so: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/01/26/2014-may-bring-raises-for-some-workers/4667003/ When I watched back in 2008 as no less than 120 or so of my best contacts in the auto show business lose their jobs I knew deep down inside as I watch my leverage disappear in front of me that as a highly paid salesman I was doomed. Never in any other recession had I witnessed such a devastating loss of jobs amongst my closest account base. Then... when not surprisingly I lost my own job my ability to leverage a new position was completely shot as well because combined with my loss of contacts my account base was quickly headed to bankruptcy. In short.... I was now in a completely un-leveraged position... very vulnerable and with no employment clout. Therefore it was a good time to exit the industry I was in and get back down to Florida where I have joined the ranks of Americans working for far less money than before the recession and with no clear way to leverage by achievement any significant gains to get back to pre-recession income levels. With no other real opportunities out there to make a jump ( especially at my age of 59 ).... I have been stuck. For younger people it does sound like the icejam is about to crack.... events are developing that might alleviate the downward pressure we have seen on income. The lack of leverage and opportunity for workers has been one of the biggest suppressors of incomes and in my opinion responsible for an appreciable amount of the increasing income gap between the top 1% and the rest of Americans.
During Wisconsin Stop, Barack Obama Says Job Training Must Reflect Changing Economy Does this mean a four year degree in wimmins studies, unicorn breeding and rainbow identification is worthless? Via Wisconsin Rapids Stressing the need to train workers for jobs of the future, President Barack Obama kicked off a government-wide review of federal job-training programs Thursday and pledged to expand the ones that work best. Echoing themes from his State of the Union address, Obama cast improved job training as central to his efforts to make it easier for Americans to join and stay in the middle class. At a General Electric factory near Milwaukee, Obama signed a presidential memo directing Vice President Joe Biden to lead the review, and to work with cities, businesses and labor leaders to better match training to employer needs. “Our economy’s changing,” Obama said. “Not all of today’s good jobs need a 4-year degree. But the ones that don’t need a college degree do need some specialized training.” Obama said he was ordering the “soup to nuts” review because not all the existing federal job-training programs do what they’re supposed to. Reorienting programs, he said, would move the government away from its “train and pray” approach to job training, where “you train workers first, and then you hope they get a job.” http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/viewart/20140130/WRT01/301300305/During-Wisconsin-stop-Barack-Obama-says-job-training-must-reflect-changing-economy