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There was good news recently from heavy equipment maker Caterpillar: The maker of diggers and bulldozers recorded stronger-than-expected quarterly profits and said it expected sales to grow in the coming year.
What's more, the company, which shed jobs by the thousands over the course of the recession, announced that it's been hiring.
"So far this year, due to higher demand, we have increased our workforce by more than 15,000 people globally, including more than 6,000 full-time employees and 9,000 people added to our flexible work force," Caterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman said in a statement.
Did you catch the part about the flexible work force? If you are one of the millions of people desperate for work in this country, you probably wondered, "Flexible for whom?"
The very weak economic recovery is causing some companies to start hiring again, cautiously. But with economic conditions still uncertain, many are choosing to add temporary jobs, with no promise of a permanent position that would offer a worker job security and benefits.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that employment services added 28,000 jobs in September, with temporary jobs accounting for most of that increase.
It's normal in an economic recovery for companies to add temp jobs before committing to full-time positions, and it often makes sense. That's especially true for a publicly held company such as Caterpillar, which is eager to please shareholders and is going to be nervous about spending a lot of money on new hires if they aren't sure that sales growth will keep up.
But as the nation continues to slog through this very weak economic recovery, there are some concerns that we are entering the world of perma-temps, where companies hire people for contract jobs and never give them the full benefits associated with permanent jobs, such as health insurance, vacation and retirement plan.
Time will tell when and how fast permanent jobs return. Many companies also are gearing up to add hundreds of thousands of temporary holiday positions, and some may lead to permanent posts.
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"Permanent temporry" employees have been the bane of American workers since the 1980's. That was when Federal regulations about employment, overtime, and benefits were changed by the Reagan Regime. Anyone who works fewer than 32 hours a week is exempted from sharing in benefits of any kind and can be classed as a "temporary" worker.
These jobs are held in the hundreds of thousands across the country - in major retail chains, restaurants and fast food stores, manufacturing, and offices of all kinds. It is one of the least-recognized scandals in the country, and yet another dismal legacy of the failed policies of the Reagan era that helped land the world in an economic crisis.
Won't even comment on this fluff piece
UNIONS BAD! UNIONS TAKE JOBS AWAY! BIG BUSINESS WILL TAKE CARE OF US!
Welcome to the real world folks. The complete transformation of life as we know it is almost complete by the corporations and businesses. Amazing how Caterpillar can't keep up with the world demand with sweat shop factories overseas, so the have to open up shop here for a couple of months.
No pension plan, no vacation, no health insurance. Caterpillar is doing its share of turning around the U.S. economy and helping citizens by doing AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE!
In the past, when the American economy sneezed, the world caught the flu. Now our economy is on life support and the world sends us a get well card.
The world is humming along and we worry about stupid sh!t like Muslims, gays, birth certificates, Mosques or whatever. I'm sick of all this crap while corporations and businesses continue to use our tax dollars to ship jobs overseas. When will the masses wake up?
I was hiring as a contractor with the agreement that the company would make me permanent in 4 months. 6 months later there is no full time spot. "Maybe next year in the 2011 budget" is what I hear. While I am thrilled to have this position and the pay that comes along with it, there are no benefits, training, vacation or sick time. I operate at a highly skilled level and am making company decisions at a policy, program and management level every day. I should be a full time employee.
Not only are temp positions a permanent way to maintain high executive pay, corporations are using offshore temp and recruitment agencies. Temps are paid by the agencies. This makes the corporation capable of breaking employment laws with total impunity and many are doing just that. I don't see the economy ever getting to the point where the the supply demand equation switches in favor of workers and employers know that.
They want the best for the cheapest price possible. As social safety nets get jerked away, people have no choice but to take this crap. That means a life lived in limbo, never knowing if that day will be one's last day because when they said overtime, they meant punch out at 5:00pm and work till midnight.
"If you don't like it , I'll send a email this evening to the agency in India and today will be your last day".
In addition relocation for temp jobs is becoming more and more in vogue with no relocation expenses and no minimum guarantees . So one could move three states over and be out of work a week later because a permanent hire didn't like them.. The employers are intrusive, demanding and laugh at the ineffectual efforts of the labor dept. Technology has helped them separate job functions so each job is just a part that can be easily be replaced with a brand new part and at a cheaper price.
The Dems did nothing about it. The GOP will help to move it along further in favor of employers. It could seem like the life for the young and skilled, but no, they want 5-15 years experience in addition to 10-15 skills. Over 45-50 and you are automatically disqualified. They don't need cardiac arrests in America's new sweat shops. The housing market collapse was a big part of the American Dream that tanked. Now the last part, stable employment, is gone too. A highly skilled person could be on the street with no warning because he or she performed magnificently and came in under deadline and under budget.
Meanwhile in the executive suite the terms of termination are set from the start as executives walk out with millions for screwing up if they walk at all. In what will be a prominent example of this era is Rick Wagner, former CEO of GM. In 2007 his company lost 39 Billion, and he was paid 16 Million. When he was finally fired for driving his company into the wall, He received a healthy multi-million dollar termination package and he will collect a pension of 1 million dollars a year for life.
There are ways to even the playing field, but a corrupt congress, will never do them because the working class simply has no representation in Washington. A favorite knee slapper at parties in the Hampton's for the taxpayer bail out set is "I wonder how the poor are doing tonight". That always is good for a great laugh.
It's hard to believe this is America anymore.
Need a job? Contract work could be new normal
As recession fades, experts see dearth of full-time positions with benefits
Excerpts:
After being laid off in March 2009, Stephen Luebkert now works as an independent contractor for his former employer. "One of the primary setbacks has been that I can't get a loan," explains Luebkert, whose plans to put in a new kitchen and bath have stalled due to his lack of a permanent, full-time job.
Stephen Luebkert was laid off in March 2009 from a Boston-based semiconductor company. He lived for four months on his severance while he looked for another full-time job and eventually ended up working again for the same firm.
The difference is that now he is a contract employee. He no longer gets any of the perks of being a permanent worker, including paid vacations or sick days, health insurance or tuition assistance. And he estimates that he makes about 20 percent less — for the same job he was doing before.
The thing he misses most? “A feeling of security.”
As employers begin to cautiously hire again after the deepest economic downturn in a generation, Luebkert is in the vanguard of an emerging new contingent work force. For some businesses, these contingent workers could become a permanent solution, eliminating a huge swath of full-time jobs with benefits, say labor and business experts.
But such a "transient" work force could end up hurting workers because many of the protections and benefits of being full-time employees, including unemployment insurance and some labor laws, don’t apply to free agents. Contingent workers typically don’t get sick or vacation days, retirement accounts or health coverage.
Despite this, many business groups and labor advocates believe the contingency work force is on the rise and will become a mainstay in the U.S. companies even after economic hard times are behind us.
“This contingent economy is threatening to the American middle class,” said Mitch Ackerman, executive vice president of one of the Service Employees International Union.
“Employers like the flexibility of having not to pay benefits — that’s harmful to workers, the community and the economy,” he said. “Workers like the flexibility, but not if they have to trade off guaranteed hours, health insurance or a secure retirement.”
Sometimes contract workers are misclassified as independent contractors because employers don’t want to pay benefits," Ackerman said. “What we find with part-time, contingent and independent contracting work is there’s incredibly high incidents of wage theft, labor law violations and health violations,” — especially when low-wage earners are involved, he said.
Michelle Johnston of Orlando has been freelancing because she’s been unable to find permanent work after being laid off last July after 13 years with a Florida consulting firm.
“As a single mother, a steady paycheck with benefits is most appealing, but I've had to turn to freelance contract work to supplement unemployment,” she said.
“I am lucky in that I have been fortunate in finding opportunities and winning bids for market research, moderation, web content writing, book editing, especially in recent months, but can't help (but) wish for something more stable,” she said. “I am afraid of what will happen if unemployment runs out.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36826679/
So, Caterpillar increased their workforce by more than 15,000 people, globally, this year.
When the writer of the article uses the word "nation", I am assuming that they are referring to the U.S.A.
SO, HOW MANY OF THOSE (Caterpiller) JOBS WERE CREATED IN THE U.S.A. ?
I would be curious to see where the jobs were created (My guess is that the majority of them were created in india and/or china).
Can you say....Thankyou, Mr. Obama!
Why should i thank Obama for this. i don't see how he is responsible for corporate hiring practices. It's all perfectly legal, and with the ongoing attack on labor unions we will be seeing a lot more of this trend toward taking advantage of desperate workers.
I was warned in 1971 in the Teamsters Hall "299 jimmy Hoffas local" that we should work and live on a 40 hour pay check any extras or toys should be paid in cash by overtime because, Halliburton and Brown & Root are out to break the unions. It may take 20 yrs. or more but their going to do it no matter what. Brown&Root was bought out by Halliburton or should I say DICK Cheney, Now the V.P. is in Dubai with his company and not paying the U.S. taxes, had time to learn that with six draft deferments during Vietnam when Nixon's election committee was talking to the North Vietnamese to keep the war going on as usual til he got elected, this was in 1968 and that was the first peace agreement no one heard about. Kissinger was negoiating for him and if you hav'ent heard the Johnson tapes of him talking about treason you don't know what I'm talking about. Sounds like the same set up for for J. Carter and Reagon when Phil Grahm the white house financial advisor" former Enron CEO and Republican financial wizard was hard at work, even for J. McCain. So when Banking was deregulated and Wall St. along with it started when Reagon was in office here we are. The U.S. a third world country and the Conservs blame Obama for 40 years of their crap. We are hard working when we can but don't remember what happened the day before yesterday. Or did we have time working so hard to give the rich their bonuses. You have time now, and we have to do something about it, the congress and Senate are in the back pockets of the lobbyists. We Americans must take back our country or the far East will. Just an old Vet.