Goodwill Closing

[explorerzip]

Exactly.

If someone doesn't like that retail job paying $12/hr or being a waiter at Denny's for $10/hr + tips, then leave. No company or government is forcing someone to work there.

Every city has jobs. The bigger the city, the bigger the pool of jobs. If someone thinks they are worth more, then skip pouring coffee at Denny's, brush up the resume, and apply for an office job for $80,000 where you will go up against experienced business people. Or apply for a blue collar job in a factory where guys are making $25/hr with potential for OT. The jobs are out there. If someone can't hack it and can only get a retail job for low wages, then too bad. It's not like those jobs will go unfulfilled forever. Someone will get it, which pays double-triple what a retail job pays, so it shows companies WILL pay good money. If companies were that greedy, all companies would offer every job at $11/hr. Whether a shoe salesman or a VP of Marketing, a company should theorectically make more $$$ of they can get away with paying everyone min wage. But they don't.

They will pay low wages to unskilled jobs which can be done by highschoolers. But for jobs requiring experience and dedicated skills..... (let's say a chemist working in an R&D lab), the chances are that chemist will make more money than 99% of retail jobs. Too bad.

Sorry, but you are way oversimplifying the job market today. You realize that tens of thousands of highly skilled jobs have been lost in Alberta just in the last few months because of the low cost of oil? It is not as simple as just brushing up the resume and applying for a much higher paying job. Oil has to recover eventually, but there will be a lot of unemployed out there competing for any job and many will be overqualified. No amount of resume brushing is going to help if the skills are not in demand.

The only type of 'unskilled' job a high school or university aged person can hope to get these days is an unpaid internship. Hopefully, the kid can grab some useful skill and get a full time position in the company. On the other hand, a lot of big companies are exploiting this 'loophole' to get free labor.

The unfortunate fact is that there are people out there that are very well educated, but in areas that have low or no demand. One of my neighbor's university aged daughter just graduated university with a History degree I think. Good luck finding any job, never mind an $80,000 a year office job. The other unfortunate fact is that kids, parents and schools have no idea what is in demand in the marketplace. So we end up with a huge over supply of teachers, for example, all fighting for a small group of jobs.

I also find Trump's idea to force big companies like Apple to move jobs back to the USA a really dumb one. Apple has no incentive at all to bring back jobs to the USA since the labor cost alone would impact their profits.

 

[explorerzip]

Many clothes now are donated to other charities who will pick them up from your home. Maybe they sell them to Goodwill too which must incur a new cost for them.

I believe I saw a CBC Marketplace episode saying that some of these organizations that have donation bins or pickup clothing from your home are not actually charities. They're actually private businesses that will take your used clothing and sell it at a profit over seas.

 

[danmand]

I believe I saw a CBC Marketplace episode saying that some of these organizations that have donation bins or pickup clothing from your home are not actually charities. They're actually private businesses that will take your used clothing and sell it at a profit over seas.

If you go to the outskirts of Johannesburg, in the poor areas, you will find stores owned by white women from the affluent suburbs, selling the clothes that are donated by people in North America and Europe.

 

[SkyRider]

Personally, I fail to understand that anybody would be against equal opportunities for all children.

Equal opportunities in life should be a cornerstone of any civilized society, and if that requires helping disadvantaged parents, so be it.

Perhaps the government should take all babies at birth to ensure they all receive equal treatment and equal opportunities?

 

[FAST]

I believe I saw a CBC Marketplace episode saying that some of these organizations that have donation bins or pickup clothing from your home are not actually charities. They're actually private businesses that will take your used clothing and sell it at a profit over seas.

There is an outfit with "diabetes" in its name that does just that.

FAST

 

[Occasionally]

What has this got to do with you? Walmart is a corporation that does whatever it think is right to maximize profit. Any savings that they can make are passed on to the consumer, which is why people shop there. If you don't like their service, how the employees look, etc. don't shop there.

I never said I don't shop there or hate Walmart. I like the store and shop there probably every month. I just don't like to see businesses with useless employees.

 

[Occasionally]

Sorry, but you are way oversimplifying the job market today. You realize that tens of thousands of highly skilled jobs have been lost in Alberta just in the last few months because of the low cost of oil? It is not as simple as just brushing up the resume and applying for a much higher paying job. Oil has to recover eventually, but there will be a lot of unemployed out there competing for any job and many will be overqualified. No amount of resume brushing is going to help if the skills are not in demand.

The only type of 'unskilled' job a high school or university aged person can hope to get these days is an unpaid internship. Hopefully, the kid can grab some useful skill and get a full time position in the company. On the other hand, a lot of big companies are exploiting this 'loophole' to get free labor.

The unfortunate fact is that there are people out there that are very well educated, but in areas that have low or no demand. One of my neighbor's university aged daughter just graduated university with a History degree I think. Good luck finding any job, never mind an $80,000 a year office job. The other unfortunate fact is that kids, parents and schools have no idea what is in demand in the marketplace. So we end up with a huge over supply of teachers, for example, all fighting for a small group of jobs.

I also find Trump's idea to force big companies like Apple to move jobs back to the USA a really dumb one. Apple has no incentive at all to bring back jobs to the USA since the labor cost alone would impact their profits.

Too bad.

Nobody in life said someone will get a guaranteed great job.

As for oil sector people, tough luck. Oil has it's ups and downs every decade. Sometimes it's a huge money maker and places like Alberta can't hire enough people. Big wages, big bonuses, Alberta has low tax, everyone is keeping their mouths shut and happy about it. Then some decades oil craters and corporations lay off people until it rebounds. I highly doubt oil will be at $28 forever. Maybe in the year 2020 it'll be back to $120 and the hiring binge starts again.

As for your neighbour's kids history degree, if she can't find a good job why is that my problem? Or anyone else's problem? If she has a hard time finding a job it means either she's bad at interviews, has a bad resume, or there's not enough demand for history majors. I have a business background and have never had a problem getting a job. I know my background can cross consumer goods, banks, drug companies... basically any company that needs someone to do some analysis and P/L type tasks. Heck, even if the Canadian Forces needed someone to analyze financials I could probably do it even though I've never worked in military. I chose this background because A) I like it and B) I know business jobs can be wide in scope.

Check any job board and there are TONS of jobs out there. It all comes down to if someone can earn it and whether the job is something the person wants and can reasonably achieve. Some skills and backgrounds are flexible enough to cross different careers. Some are very specific. Some (like all this internet and IT stuff) is loaded with jobs over the past 10 years. If someone is a computer science type of guy, he or she has lots to choose from.

As for history majors... LOL..... name one time in the history (no pun intended) of Canada where history/arts majors are a skill that have ever been in high demand in any province or city. People have to be realistic about jobs. Nothing wrong with choosing a degree you like, but you can't assume that just because you have a degree that you automatically deserve a good job.

Another aspect of people having a hard time finding jobs is that they never bring up various aspects of getting a job:

1. Are they good at interviews?
2. Do they look, dress and act polite?
3. How many other people are going after the job?
4. How picky are they? If someone has a history degree and is offered a starting job paying $30,000, will he or she even take it? Or will they skip it and hope and wait for something better?

There's more to landing a job than "I got a degree and my experience seems to fit".

 

[Occasionally]

I believe I saw a CBC Marketplace episode saying that some of these organizations that have donation bins or pickup clothing from your home are not actually charities. They're actually private businesses that will take your used clothing and sell it at a profit over seas.

This has been known for years. A good portion of those donation bins are private companies. They take all those donations (mostly clothes) and sell them by weight to businesses who resell them. It's really no different than all the Goodwill and Value Village places who get cheap and donated clothes and resell them.

The difference is that Goodwills and Value Villages sell to local people, while those mystery bins lead to some owner or business who knows where.

 

[SkyRider]

As for history majors... LOL..... name one time in the history (no pun intended) of Canada where history/arts majors are a skill that have ever been in high demand in any province or city.

I think all history majors are gainfully employed in government jobs or selling insurance on commission. LOL

The sons (and daughters?) of many of my Italian and Portuguese neighbors quit school at 16-18 to learn a trade and are making north of $100,000 by the time they are 23. Fixing/making stuff with your hands can be very rewarding. Some joker wanted $150 to fix my TV that my friend fixed for $2. My RMT told me she spent two years learning and is now making north of $100,000 (no she doesn't do BBBJ's).

Universities are useful for medicine, law, engineering (building bridges that fall down), computer science and that's about it. All that other stuff simply produces liberal lefties who do nothing but whine and complain.

 

[explorerzip]

I never said I don't shop there or hate Walmart. I like the store and shop there probably every month. I just don't like to see businesses with useless employees.

So are you now a consultant to Wal-Mart? It's Wal-Mart's problem (not ours) to solve. If it is truly a big problem as you think it is, let Wal-Mart lose money and go bankrupt.

 

[danmand]

Perhaps the government should take all babies at birth to ensure they all receive equal treatment and equal opportunities?

Heaven forbid that children of poor parents should get a fair chance in life! Maybe you should study Ezekiel 18:19-20

 

[jackson11]

Heaven forbid that children of poor parents should get a fair chance in life! Maybe you should study Ezekiel 18:19-20

Nobody ever said children of poor parents should not get a fair chance in life. In Canada they do. School is free for everyone. However if you seem to think that the minimum wage rate is going to cure a poor child's problems you are living in a fantasy land. Minimum wage has nothing to do with most poor children's problems. There are corelations between poverty and wage rates but they are not directly linked.
As already tried to explain to you if you raise wages eventually prices increase and the poor are not better off.
If you really cared about wanting to help poor children then it goes back to what has already been stated....you need to look at the individual or in the case of children their parents
You need to look at why the individual is "poor" there are many many many different reasons.......poorly educated, drug addicts, alcoholics, come abusive homes, domestic violence forcing them out, mental health issues, health problems, some cases yes even laziness.....for every poor individual you will probably have a different reason. Should we as society help.....yes I agree with you. And Canada does help. We have homeless shelters, we have welfare, we have unemployment, we have student loans and grants, we have employee retraining, we have employer benefits to hire people etc etc etc
If you really wanted to help or find solutions you need to dig much deeper than minimum wage.....you need to understand the main causes of what makes up the individual and the main themes on what causes them to be poor

Stating "Raise minimum wage to help the poor" sounds like something a politician would state to pander for votes. Not something that someone with a true understanding of economics or business would state.

Maybe you should study the bible less and study economics 101.

 

[explorerzip]

Too bad.

Nobody in life said someone will get a guaranteed great job.

As for oil sector people, tough luck. Oil has it's ups and downs every decade. Sometimes it's a huge money maker and places like Alberta can't hire enough people. Big wages, big bonuses, Alberta has low tax, everyone is keeping their mouths shut and happy about it. Then some decades oil craters and corporations lay off people until it rebounds. I highly doubt oil will be at $28 forever. Maybe in the year 2020 it'll be back to $120 and the hiring binge starts again.

As for your neighbour's kids history degree, if she can't find a good job why is that my problem? Or anyone else's problem? If she has a hard time finding a job it means either she's bad at interviews, has a bad resume, or there's not enough demand for history majors. I have a business background and have never had a problem getting a job. I know my background can cross consumer goods, banks, drug companies... basically any company that needs someone to do some analysis and P/L type tasks. Heck, even if the Canadian Forces needed someone to analyze financials I could probably do it even though I've never worked in military. I chose this background because A) I like it and B) I know business jobs can be wide in scope.

Check any job board and there are TONS of jobs out there. It all comes down to if someone can earn it and whether the job is something the person wants and can reasonably achieve. Some skills and backgrounds are flexible enough to cross different careers. Some are very specific. Some (like all this internet and IT stuff) is loaded with jobs over the past 10 years. If someone is a computer science type of guy, he or she has lots to choose from.

As for history majors... LOL..... name one time in the history (no pun intended) of Canada where history/arts majors are a skill that have ever been in high demand in any province or city. People have to be realistic about jobs. Nothing wrong with choosing a degree you like, but you can't assume that just because you have a degree that you automatically deserve a good job.

Another aspect of people having a hard time finding jobs is that they never bring up various aspects of getting a job:

1. Are they good at interviews?
2. Do they look, dress and act polite?
3. How many other people are going after the job?
4. How picky are they? If someone has a history degree and is offered a starting job paying $30,000, will he or she even take it? Or will they skip it and hope and wait for something better?

There's more to landing a job than "I got a degree and my experience seems to fit".

I didn't say that people are entitled to a guaranteed job regardless of what they studied in school. That's just plain unrealistic.

It's great that you have the skills, education, etc and never have had a problem getting a job, but not everyone is privileged either financially or have people around them to help. I agree there is a limit to how much we should be helping others i.e. I do not think free education is not a good idea, but the system as it is now seems to be pumping out graduates at an alarming rate in areas e.g. teaching, history, liberal arts, etc that they have little hope in getting jobs. So it seems to me a waste of taxpayer's money to finance public institutions for programs that leads grads with little hope in finding employment.

I definitely agree with you that people do have to be realistic about jobs, but can a 14 year old make an informed decision with little to no job market information? Not sure about you, but I had no idea what I wanted to do or never mind picking a college at that age. Nothing wrong with pursuing a passion even if it is art, but

You may think all this has no effect on you, but what do you think happens when tens of thousands of people are out of work for an extended period of time while the oil or other industries recovers? They're sitting on EI, not contributing to the workforce and not paying taxes.

You are definitely right that resume and interview skills are not covered very well or at least it wasn't when I was in school. So kids are left to fend for themselves and hopefully manage to write a decent resume and get an interview. I recently read a resume of an English major and it was pure garbage and could not understand a thing he wrote. Another aspect that is sorrily lacking in the school system is financial education i.e. budgeting, managing debt and cash, etc. One thing that definitely must be taught is thinking very carefully before dropping tens of thousands of dollars in education even if it is in a business degree.

 

[Smallcock]

Unbelievable and so sad.

 

[explorerzip]

I think all history majors are gainfully employed in government jobs or selling insurance on commission. LOL

The sons (and daughters?) of many of my Italian and Portuguese neighbors quit school at 16-18 to learn a trade and are making north of $100,000 by the time they are 23. Fixing/making stuff with your hands can be very rewarding. Some joker wanted $150 to fix my TV that my friend fixed for $2. My RMT told me she spent two years learning and is now making north of $100,000 (no she doesn't do BBBJ's).

Universities are useful for medicine, law, engineering (building bridges that fall down), computer science and that's about it. All that other stuff simply produces liberal lefties who do nothing but whine and complain.

I believe Kevin O'Leary has a history degree and Robert Herjavec studied English. Granted, Kevin went on to get his MBA from Western. The thing is the piece of paper you get has little to no bearing on how successful you are. On the other hand, the cost of education has gone up dramatically since then and so has competition for jobs. So students have to be very careful (assuming they have enough information) about what they choose to study.

 

[Occasionally]

I didn't say that people are entitled to a guaranteed job regardless of what they studied in school. That's just plain unrealistic.

It's great that you have the skills, education, etc and never have had a problem getting a job, but not everyone is privileged either financially or have people around them to help. I agree there is a limit to how much we should be helping others i.e. I do not think free education is not a good idea, but the system as it is now seems to be pumping out graduates at an alarming rate in areas e.g. teaching, history, liberal arts, etc that they have little hope in getting jobs. So it seems to me a waste of taxpayer's money to finance public institutions for programs that leads grads with little hope in finding employment.

I definitely agree with you that people do have to be realistic about jobs, but can a 14 year old make an informed decision with little to no job market information? Not sure about you, but I had no idea what I wanted to do or never mind picking a college at that age. Nothing wrong with pursuing a passion even if it is art, but

You may think all this has no effect on you, but what do you think happens when tens of thousands of people are out of work for an extended period of time while the oil or other industries recovers? They're sitting on EI, not contributing to the workforce and not paying taxes.

You are definitely right that resume and interview skills are not covered very well or at least it wasn't when I was in school. So kids are left to fend for themselves and hopefully manage to write a decent resume and get an interview. I recently read a resume of an English major and it was pure garbage and could not understand a thing he wrote. Another aspect that is sorrily lacking in the school system is financial education i.e. budgeting, managing debt and cash, etc. One thing that definitely must be taught is thinking very carefully before dropping tens of thousands of dollars in education even if it is in a business degree.

It comes down to what people want. If someone gets an arts degree and schools are pumping them out fast, they have to expand what job field will take them. I took business through out school and as a career.

Almost all business colleagues I know have a background in either business or arts. Many business jobs will take arts students. Not every person working in an office building has a commerce degree. In fact, many want people with social/arts degrees because they make great marketing, market research and brand managers because that part of business ties in the business aspect + how people think (consumers). One part numbers, one part the human mind and psychology. The more technical jobs like finance/accounting (like what I focused on) almost always requires a business background, so I doubt a company will take in an anthropology student to do cash flow analysis..... but a role having to do with marketing? Maybe. And the higher you go up, the more chance they want a CA designation even if the job isn't a pure accounting role.

But it's up to an arts person if they want to join the tons of business jobs out there.

Sales is a huge business role which has a mix of people with college, university, business and arts. In fact, I'd say more hand half the sales guys I know don't even have a university degree or even took business. But that artsy/social/people skill got them the role.

Your neighbour's daughter with the history degree will have a hard time getting a role if she purely wants some kind of history related job. She can get other jobs if she wants, but has to want it and pursue it. If she is hardened on a pure history related job (I don't even know what kinds of jobs are out there that would satisfy that specialty), she'll likely have a tough time finding a job.

 

[danmand]

Nobody ever said children of poor parents should not get a fair chance in life. In Canada they do. School is free for everyone. However if you seem to think that the minimum wage rate is going to cure a poor child's problems you are living in a fantasy land. Minimum wage has nothing to do with most poor children's problems. There are corelations between poverty and wage rates but they are not directly linked.
As already tried to explain to you if you raise wages eventually prices increase and the poor are not better off.
If you really cared about wanting to help poor children then it goes back to what has already been stated....you need to look at the individual or in the case of children their parents
You need to look at why the individual is "poor" there are many many many different reasons.......poorly educated, drug addicts, alcoholics, come abusive homes, domestic violence forcing them out, mental health issues, health problems, some cases yes even laziness.....for every poor individual you will probably have a different reason. Should we as society help.....yes I agree with you. And Canada does help. We have homeless shelters, we have welfare, we have unemployment, we have student loans and grants, we have employee retraining, we have employer benefits to hire people etc etc etc
If you really wanted to help or find solutions you need to dig much deeper than minimum wage.....you need to understand the main causes of what makes up the individual and the main themes on what causes them to be poor

Stating "Raise minimum wage to help the poor" sounds like something a politician would state to pander for votes. Not something that someone with a true understanding of economics or business would state.

Maybe you should study the bible less and study economics 101.

First, if you read posts, you would know that I do not think a minimum wage is a cure-all. On the contrary, try to read my post again:

It is up to society to ensure that everybody can live a decent life, of which a living wage is an important part. It has been proven conclusively that the most productive, peaceful and harmonic societies are ones where inequality is low and social mobility is high. The rich people in these societies understand that and are in full agreement. (as Henry Ford understood that a living wage is good for business)

The cornerstones of successful societies are a living wage for all, free education to everyone's ability, including re-education for the unemployed, universal healthcare and a general welfare system.

Canada fails on all these points, except on the universal healthcare. While better than the US, social mobility is low, and children of poor parents do not have equal access to education. Tuition alone for law school in Toronto is $35,000 (I know), ensuring that only children of well off parents can afford the education.

Personally, I fail to understand that anybody would be against equal opportunities for all children. Even if people believe their parents are the architects of their own poverty, how can anybody punish the children for the sins of their parents.

Equal opportunities in life should be a cornerstone of any civilized society, and if that requires helping disadvantaged parents, so be it.

As you can read, I believe society must provide a living wage for all full time employees, free education to everyone's ability, including re-education for the unemployed, universal healthcare and a general welfare system.

I think we agree on the concept that all children should have fair if not equal opportunities in life. I believe Canada should go much further than it is going today, especially in the educational sector. Higher education is expensive ($35,000 a year for law school) and that seriously limits social mobility. In addition, by not developing its human capital to each persons ability, society in general suffers. There can be no doubt that the most important resource any country has, is its people.

A living wage for all full time employees is an important goal for society. A company that cannot afford to pay its employees a living wage, does not deserve to be in business. There will be others stepping in to supply goods and services. Northern European countries have regulations that ensure living wages for retail employees, and there is no shortage of retail stores in these countries.

 

[Occasionally]

You are definitely right that resume and interview skills are not covered very well or at least it wasn't when I was in school. So kids are left to fend for themselves and hopefully manage to write a decent resume and get an interview. I recently read a resume of an English major and it was pure garbage and could not understand a thing he wrote. Another aspect that is sorrily lacking in the school system is financial education i.e. budgeting, managing debt and cash, etc. One thing that definitely must be taught is thinking very carefully before dropping tens of thousands of dollars in education even if it is in a business degree.

These types of skills (IMO) are among the most important things kids should be taught in high school. If high school is too early, perhaps every college/university student has to take a course on life skills. All the things you listed are spot on:

- Job skills (resume, interviews, dress)
- Anything to do with budgeting (controlling existing assets)
- Doing taxes effectively
- How to shop around for key stuff like cars, your first home or first rental apartment, insurance, choosing the right bank account, and all that stuff (controlling spending)
- Sounds dumb, but how to compare and shop around for the best financial vehicles like, and the pros and cons about credit cards, line of credit, debit, cash etc.....

I don't understand how in this day and age, kids don't get educated on basic stuff like this, yet students are forced to learn about the 3 types of clouds in the sky.

I was lucky and has always been good at numbers, spending and a family of people who know dollars and sense, but lots of people have no clue how that 22% interest rate on their credit card is going to take 8 years to pay off.

 

[ogibowt]

These types of skills (IMO) are among the most important things kids should be taught in high school. If high school is too early, perhaps every college/university student has to take a course on life skills. All the things you listed are spot on:

- Job skills (resume, interviews, dress)
- Anything to do with budgeting (controlling existing assets)
- Doing taxes effectively
- How to shop around for key stuff like cars, your first home or first rental apartment, insurance, choosing the right bank account, and all that stuff (controlling spending)
- Sounds dumb, but how to compare and shop around for the best financial vehicles like, and the pros and cons about credit cards, line of credit, debit, cash etc.....

I don't understand how in this day and age, kids don't get educated on basic stuff like this, yet students are forced to learn about the 3 types of clouds in the sky.

I was lucky and has always been good at numbers, spending and a family of people who know dollars and sense, but lots of people have no clue how that 22% interest rate on their credit card is going to take 8 years to pay off.

um, all the union teacher bashers should be up in arms over this post

Yours Truly
That's the parents job

 

[explorerzip]

That's the parents job

To a degree you are right, but again not all parents have the experience to teach their kids these topics. This is a very broad generalization, but a lot of parents do a poor job at with personal finances let alone teaching their kids. Why else do you think we had a housing meltdown in the US in 2008 or record high household debt levels in Canada? Because many people out there including teachers are oblivious to their finances, spend too much, save too little and buy too big of a house and load it with junk. We have to teach kids at a very young age that there will be people left right and center that will try to take money from them. Capitalism is really good at separating money from people. If you want to live comfortable, you have to have tight control over your wallet.