Jobs Americans Won’t Do?

[LilOlLady]

Jobs Americans Won’t Do?
A Detailed Look at Immigrant Employment by Occupation

Many jobs often thought to be overwhelmingly immigrant are in fact majority native-born:

Maids and housekeepers: 55 percent native-born
Taxi drivers and chauffeurs: 58 percent native-born
Butchers and meat processors: 63 percent native-born
Grounds maintenance workers: 65 percent native-born
Construction laborers: 65 percent native-born
Porters, bellhops, and concierges: 71 percent native-born
Janitors: 75 percent native-born

There are 93 occupations in which 20 percent or more of workers are immigrants. These high-immigrant occupations are primarily, but not exclusively, lower-wage jobs that require relatively little formal education.

There are 23.6 million natives in these high-immigrant occupations (20 percent or more immigrant). These occupations include 19 percent of all native workers.

Most natives do not face significant job competition from immigrants; however, those who do tend to be less-educated and poorer than those who face relatively little competition from immigrants.

In high-immigrant occupations, 57 percent of natives have no more than a high school education. In occupations that are less than 20 percent immigrant, 35 percent of natives have no more than a high school education. And in occupations that are less than 10 percent immigrant, only 26 percent of natives have no more than a high school education.

In high-immigrant occupations the average wages and salary for natives is one-fourth lower than in occupations that are less than 20 percent immigrant.

Some may believe that natives in high-immigrant occupations are older and that few young natives are willing to do that kind of work. But 33 percent of natives in these occupations are age 30 or younger. In occupations that are less than 20 percent immigrant, 28 percent of natives are 30 or younger.

It is worth remembering that not all high-immigrant occupations are lower-skilled and lower-wage. For example, 44 percent of medical scientists are immigrants, as are 34 percent of software engineers, 27 percent of physicians, and 25 percent of chemists.

It is also worth noting that a number of politically important groups tend to face very little job competition from immigrants. For example, just 10 percent of reporters are immigrants, as are only 6 percent of lawyers and judges and 3 percent of farmers and ranchers.

Jobs Americans Won?t Do? A Detailed Look at Immigrant Employment by Occupation | Center for Immigration Studies

 

[Chet]

I guess that's not a surprise - is it?

 

[waltky]

Makin' it easier for lesser skilled immigrants to stay...

Accord paves way for immigrants to legally take ‘lesser-skilled’ jobs
Thursday, February 21, 2013 - Big Business and Big Labor cleared a big hurdle Thursday, as the Chamber of Commerce and AFL-CIO agreed in principle on a plan to allow “lesser skilled” immigrants to work in the U.S. legally, a key sticking point for a final deal on overhauling the nation’s immigration laws.

The two groups, which often are at odds on immigration issues, released their “shared principles” Thursday after weeks of private negotiations, though they emphasized it is a work in progress. “The fact that business and labor can come together to negotiate in good faith over contentious issues should be a signal to Congress and the American people that support for immigration reform is widespread and growing, and is important to our economy and our society,” Chamber of Commerce President Thomas J. Donohue and AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in joint statement. “This is an urgent national priority and Congress should act accordingly,” the men said.

The plan includes a path to let businesses more easily hire foreigners when American workers aren’t available. A central feature would be a work visa program “that does not keep all [foreign] workers in a permanent temporary status, provides labor mobility in a way that still gives American workers a first shot at available jobs, and that automatically adjusts as the American economy expands and contracts.” The groups also suggest the creation of a politically independent federal professional bureau — similar to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — that would use “real-world data” about labor markets and demographics to help Congress address changes and shortages in the labor force. The groups add that labor and business are committed to finding better ways to inform American workers when lesser-skilled jobs become open. “We are now in the middle — not the end — of this process, and we pledge to continue to work together and with our allies and our representatives on Capitol Hill to finalize a solution that is in the interest of this country we all love,” Mr. Donohue and Mr. Trumka said.

Business and labor often have been adversaries on immigration reform, with business groups pushing for an expanded workforce and labor groups pressing for protections for American workers. But supporters of the joint effort hope it will help jump-start a move toward immigration legislation on Capitol Hill, where the issue has lain largely dormant since an effort backed by President George W. Bush failed in 2007. “While the devil will be in the details in terms of fleshing these principles out, our staffs have had very productive discussions with both sides this week,” said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, who, along with Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, brought the groups together. “We are very hopeful that an agreement can be reached on a specific proposal in the next few weeks.” White House press secretary Jay Carney joined in the applause, calling it “another sign of progress, of bipartisanship, and we are encouraged by it.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, Virginia Republican, called the group’s effort “a positive step on immigration reform.” “Their goal of protecting American workers and ensuring we have the workforce we need to grow the economy and remain globally competitive is one I share,” Mr. Cantor said. “While we may not agree on every aspect, it is encouraging that two groups often on opposite sides of the aisle are serious about putting politics aside and finding solutions.” But not everyone on Capitol Hill was pleased with the plan, as Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama Republican, called it “inconsistent and even contradictory.” “Such a visa program is certain to take jobs from American workers and depress wages,” Mr. Sessions said in a statement. “The chamber has been a positive force on many issues. This is not one of them.”

Read more: Accord paves way for immigrants to legally take ?lesser-skilled? jobs - Washington Times

 

[beagle9]

Discrimination going on against the United States citizen by occupation these days, is a travesty that has led many citizens into the shape that they are now in today (unemployment among teens is critical these days), but this is ignored now in search of these low wage earners, who will be in a position as temporary workers, to not be able to challenge their employers when abuse is found in these jobs in which they are occupying or have been allowed into by all that we are seeing now.

Working Americans comes with respect, and it is hard for an American to abuse another in this situation, so this is why these companies have went in search of, and has since found in these people the perfect populous for exploitation purposes, and for making huge profits that make them the very super rich in which wildly all at the same time, are so wildly despised these days by our very own government so go figure. The current government/administration has this attitude against these rich people now, because it is a reminder of the slavery and conditions that people had been subjected to in the past for one thing, and also it feels that the wealth in this nation has been generated in a lopsided way in their opinion, and in this they feel that it has all since led to the entitlements in which are under huge attacks to this very day by all who oppose them in the forms for which they have taken now. The government now feels that it has to uphold all the entitlement programs no matter what these days, because it is a result of all these things that have come against the American citizens in the past that have left them poor, and it is now the only way to keep a massive rebellion down in which would be organized by the people who are United States citizens, for whom have been either displaced or held back by all of this scheming and scamming that has gone on against them as workers in their own nation now. There are side benefits such as creating voters out of all this now, and politicians are or have now become corrupt and drunken with power in this quest also, so it's another use of the situation in which destroys the American workforce, and works to somehow replace it with another at certain levels within America for such uneducated ignorance and exploitation purposes. Treason trials for many in our government should start soon, and we the people should hold those accountable for their lies, and the treasonous activities they have been engaged in that which has all but destroyed the respect for the American workforce within, and this at certain levels in which has also made them (the American working class citizens) destitute in the process. Why is it that we know and see these things that have come to pass, but as a people are powerless to do anything about them now ? All companies should be held up on their own accounting of and merits, and they should be structured out and set up to accommodate American workers who are their extended family in America, then if any extra work is left over we can give it to those who are asked to come here and help us, and so be it, but that has not been the case in all of this.

The saying that they are here, "doing the job's that Americans won't do", is a lie straight out of hell, because as it turns out, it is that these people were put into positions where they were taking away jobs that were gladly done by Americans in the past, and it was all because of their status, cheapness and them coming from a nation that has a poverty rate that is caused by the very same practices that are engaged in right here and right now in America by some in our government, who has been allied with the super corporate elite/rich in all of this mess that has now been created.

Wake up America and American workers, just wake up for God's sake man.

 

[ThirdTerm]

It's estimated that 77 percent of all agricultural workers in the United States are foreign-born and the majority of those foreign workers are without proper documentation. One of the key proposals of the immigration reform bill is an agricultural worker program to make it easy to import low-wage agricultural workers mainly from Mexico and native-born Americans appear to be unwilling to do the sort of low-wage farm work, which results in a shortage of labor in the agricultural sector.

The idea would be to bring in a few hundred thousand temporary "guest workers" to do the hard and dirty jobs that Americans won't do at any wage. When the work is done, and the workers have been paid a fair salary, they go home. And another batch is brought in. It's not a perfect solution. The first U.S. president to push for guest workers was Abraham Lincoln. Industries were facing labor shortages during the Civil War and, with Lincoln's support, Congress in 1864 passed The Act to Encourage Immigration. The bill allowed employers to recruit foreign workers and pay their way to America. There were more guest workers during World War I. But the concept really became popular during World War II and the Cold War. From 1942 to 1964, under the Bracero program (as in "brazo", which is Spanish for arm as in someone who works with his arms and hands), nearly 5 million guest workers came in and out of the United States.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/19/opinion/navarrette-immigration-reform

 

[HereWeGoAgain]

What really pisses me off? The fact that immigrants are stealing the jobs of my youth.
Who here didnt mow grass when you were a kid? I made good money for a fifteen year old and it taught me the value of hard work.
mexicans stole that right of passage from American children.
Now you have a bunch of whinny little brats who think mowing the grass is beneath them.

 

[beagle9]

It's estimated that 77 percent of all agricultural workers in the United States are foreign-born and the majority of those foreign workers are without proper documentation. One of the key proposals of the immigration reform bill is an agricultural worker program to make it easy to import low-wage agricultural workers mainly from Mexico and native-born Americans appear to be unwilling to do the sort of low-wage farm work, which results in a shortage of labor in the agricultural sector.

The idea would be to bring in a few hundred thousand temporary "guest workers" to do the hard and dirty jobs that Americans won't do at any wage. When the work is done, and the workers have been paid a fair salary, they go home. And another batch is brought in. It's not a perfect solution. The first U.S. president to push for guest workers was Abraham Lincoln. Industries were facing labor shortages during the Civil War and, with Lincoln's support, Congress in 1864 passed The Act to Encourage Immigration. The bill allowed employers to recruit foreign workers and pay their way to America. There were more guest workers during World War I. But the concept really became popular during World War II and the Cold War. From 1942 to 1964, under the Bracero program (as in "brazo", which is Spanish for arm as in someone who works with his arms and hands), nearly 5 million guest workers came in and out of the United States.
Guest worker issue may kill immigration reform - CNN.com

There isn't and has never been a problem with working immigrants in agriculture, but what became a huge problem is when corporations or big business began recognizing the huge profits by working these mostly illegal immigrants (who were yes preferrably illegal) and were spoon being found in many occupations in and across America, and yes these were always occupations that Americans held and worked in the past, and they (the Americans) would always do such job's that these occupations required with no problem.

Then all of a sudden there was this campaign for the rich / i. e. the elite who would then suggest that Americans just wouldn't work any longer, so now they needed to get all these foriegn workers to come in and "work the job's that they say Americans just won't do", in which was a lie and an agenda created by the wealthy in this country, and was aided and abedded by the government, who inturn was giving these people free this and free that wildly enough, and it was all being funded or paid for by the average joe who was still working and paying his taxes, while they underminded his or her very existance in America even so.

High treason is what it all is, but funny how they are escaping the wrath of the American people thus far at the voting booth's.

 

[MaryL]

I know how it sounds. I am native born. This is my homeland. Plain pure and simple. I am an Anglo, regardless, I expect "immigrants" to immigrate legally and acclimate and not expect any special treatment. I don’t accept illegal aliens from Mexico just because some of you cry “racism” , and you do so, and then demand proof I can't humanly give. Sorry. I am tired of this game, I read all the posts here, and I know they are popular. I hate liars and frauds. I live with and around illegal aliens, and this is no secret: Mexican illegal aliens are just are horrible liars. They don't need asy excuses . I do NOT exaggerate. They ruin neighborhoods, they disrespect American culture. But other than THAT they are great. I see how much they harm our culture. But I wouldn’t want to wake Americans from that nice dream they are having.

 

[Gracie]

I would take any job but unfortunately, I am deemed "over qualified" and therefore they think I would quite once I found something else. Um. No. I am a loyal employee. Or rather..I was.
Now? They won't hire me at all because I am 60, can't do what I used to be able to do when I was younger, yet have the smarts to still do my job...so I am still "over qualified".

I have met and have known too many employers who flat out refuse to hire anyone that is not a minority. Why? Because they can pay them under the table, CHEAP. Hell, pay ME under the table and CHEAP. I'll do it! Alas....no deal.

 

[Noomi]

Don't worry, most taxi drivers over here are from India or Pakistan.

We have Aussies having a sook because they 'can't find a job' but there is always a job as a taxi driver - they whinge about not being able to find work, but when a job comes up, they knock it back because its not convenient for them.

 

[Noomi]

I would take any job but unfortunately, I am deemed "over qualified" and therefore they think I would quite once I found something else. Um. No. I am a loyal employee. Or rather..I was.
Now? They won't hire me at all because I am 60, can't do what I used to be able to do when I was younger, yet have the smarts to still do my job...so I am still "over qualified".

I have met and have known too many employers who flat out refuse to hire anyone that is not a minority. Why? Because they can pay them under the table, CHEAP. Hell, pay ME under the table and CHEAP. I'll do it! Alas....no deal.

It sucks that you can be over qualified for a job. Its bogus, and a poor excuse not to hire someone.
I have no skills and don't have the necessary smarts to go to college and get a proper education. Not everyone does, and I accept that. I am willing to do whatever job, and be trained for it, but there is a problem with being underskilled as well.

At 60, you have more life experience than a 20 year old, so you should be the first pick for a job. Its a shame you have been overlooked.

 

[Connery]

This is nothing new, for example, "prior to 1885, American manufacturers would advertise in European newspapers as well as send agents to across the Atlantic to recruit foreigners. American agents would cleverly offer them to pay for their journey to Ellis Island, while others offered jobs and land under contract. The jobs which they were given consisted of some of the dirtiest and dangerous jobs at a low wage. City jobs were different than jobs in the country or suburbs. Farming and mining was replaced with factory work, ditch-digging, burying gas pipes and stone cutting."
*IMMIGRANTS IN 1900's NEW YORK CITY - Jobs

 

[beagle9]

I would take any job but unfortunately, I am deemed "over qualified" and therefore they think I would quite once I found something else. Um. No. I am a loyal employee. Or rather..I was.
Now? They won't hire me at all because I am 60, can't do what I used to be able to do when I was younger, yet have the smarts to still do my job...so I am still "over qualified".

I have met and have known too many employers who flat out refuse to hire anyone that is not a minority. Why? Because they can pay them under the table, CHEAP. Hell, pay ME under the table and CHEAP. I'll do it! Alas....no deal.

We definitely have some serious hypocrisy going on in this nation, where as we have people who are set in life, now trying to tell others how they should do without now in their life. I say that anyone who is willing to work and can do a good job at it, should be able to afford the necessities and maybe a little bit more in life than what is suggested these days by some, but here we have people who have enough wealth in their bank accounts to buy a small island and start their own tiny nation, trying to tell others that they should be satisfied with living in a meager existence, even when they (the worker) has went out and earned more by their efforts than to have to live like that, but yet they were not compensated for it when they did the work and tried to earn their keep honestly. So now here we have in many ways these days "thieves" telling people they should sit down and shut up, because they feel threatened that what they have taken in which was way to much, will somehow will be taken back from them if they are to allow the voices in the wilderness to once again be heard.

The search for cheap oppressed labor is and has been a serious problem that is in high demand among those who want to exploit for greed purposes these people in this nation and world, and it has been a problem forever and a day it seems now. We have had a better balance at times in this nation with all of this stuff in the past, but it seems that we are losing in the balancing act these days, and the war of words is on for many who want to try and get back to balancing this stuff out better once again.

 

[GlenHarris]

Immigration is really a controversial issue. It creates conflicts between the native people and immigrants. Rather than immigrating, people must develop themselves and bear the ability to create business, employment and opportunities. Immigration offers them just only bread and butter but never a life of comfort.

 

[editec]

I've been a dishwasher, waitor, cook, ditch digger, road builder, steeplejacks apprentice, health care worker digging shit out of the impacted bowels of quadraplegics, a teacher, a salesman, a publisher and a CEO.

There is no job I wouldn't do if I needed the money and could do it.

The theory that Americans won't work is one of the BIG LIES of the masters.

What Americans are reluctant to do is take jobs that don't pay enough money.

And who can blame them for that?