Half of us jobs now held by womem

Women are on their way to holding more than half of all American jobs. The latest government report shows that their share of nonfarm jobs nearly reached fifty percent in September. Not only have more and more women entered the labor market over the years, but the recession has been harder on men. In October the unemployment rate for men was almost eleven percent, compared to eight percent for women.

Industries that traditionally use lots of men have suffered deep cuts. For example, manufacturing and building lost more jobs last month. But health care and temporary employment services have had job growth. Both of those industries employ high percentages of women. Thirty years ago, women earned sixty-two cents for every dollar that men earned. Now, for those who usually work full time, women earn about eighty percent of what men earn. And women hold fifty-one percent of good-paying management and professional jobs.

Yet a study released Thursday said men still hold about nine out of every ten top positions at the four hundred largest companies in California. The results have remained largely unchanged in five years of studies from the University of California, Davis.

Also, a new research paper in the journal Sex Roles looks at the experiences of women who are the main earners in their family. Rebecca Meisenbach at the University of Missouri in Columbia interviewed fifteen women. She found they all valued their independence and many enjoyed having the power of control, though not all wanted it. But they also felt pressure, worry and guilt. Partly that was because of cultural expectations that working women will still take care of the children. Also, men who are not the main earners may feel threatened. The job market continues to suffer the effects of last year's financial crash.

 

5. Imagine you’ve graduated from your college. Describe your steps in order to get the job position? Which job position do you prefer – well paid but not interesting for you or rather interesting but poorly paid? Explain your choice.

6. What does the word placement office mean? What types of placement offices do you know? Describe them briefly. Hope the following broadcast transcript will help you to understand the problem under discussion better. Read and translate the text and be ready for its discussion.

 

“STIMULUS” JOBS OFFER SKILLS, PAYCHECK

TO DISADVANTAGE YOUTH

U.S. federal program that’s meant to “stimulate” the economy back to health will spend more than $785 billion on education, infrastructure, and the environment, among other projects. The programs will lead to the creation of three-million jobs, President Obama has promised. A tiny fraction of the money will also pay directly for jobs for disadvantaged teens and young people. One such program in suburban New Jersey is giving some youths between 16 and 24 their first taste of the work world.

At the One-Stop Career Center in Hackensack, New Jersey, counselors are trying to put 400 youths to work this summer. "If you don't like the sun, the heat, you can do some office work,” a counselor tells a new prospect, 16-year-old Nahdir Gonzalez.

To qualify, the youths must be economically disadvantaged, and also face at least one other barrier to getting a job, such as being a drop-out, or having been in trouble with the law. Gonzalez left school last year. Like everyone in the program, he'll earn the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour for working 20 hours a week through August. “I want a job because I don't want to get in any trouble,” Gonzalez said. “I want to stay away from the streets, keep my head on my shoulders, stay on the right path, so I can be successful in life.”

Salvatore Mastroeni, a former high school principal, is the director of the publicly-funded One Stop career center, which offers training and job counseling to workers of all ages.
“There's going to be next steps for you after you leave this program,” he told Gonzalez. “Hopefully, in September or October we might be able to begin either a GED program for you, connecting you then with a college, [and] with a transition program for career pathways."

Mastroeni often makes the drive from Hackensack to nearby Englewood, New Jersey, where he's placed young workers at the recreation department and other local government units. "Mayor's office, schools, any public entity where youngsters can gain workforce readiness skills,” Mastroeni explained. “And in our program, we will be teaching them workforce readiness skills: a lot of information on resume writing, preparing for applications, preparing for an interview.”

Eighteen-year-old Damar Palmer is one of the 320 youths hired so far. He works caring for grounds and buildings at the recreation center in Mackay Park. "I enjoy it,” Palmer said. “These are things I like to do, I like to work with my hands. If it weren't for this job, I wouldn't be working. I wouldn't be giving back to the community. So, I’m thankful for this job." 20-year-old Desirae Somerville is working in the office of a near-by school, and also helping out at the recreation center. “They have me down at Liberty School, working with other children,” she said. “We're fixing up the classrooms, painting, and doing inventory.” Asked what she would be doing this summer if she hadn’t gotten a stimulus job, Somerville said, "I'd probably be home now sleeping - or looking for another job."

But the purpose of the program is not only to help low-income youth to join the work world, Mastroeni notes. It's also to kick up economic activity through the young workers' spending. “To help parents, to help them buy their sneakers or to buy clothing, to move the economy in some way, shape or form ahead,” Mastroeni said. “And we hope that this will help ignite the economy and get us moving in the right direction."

Most of the young workers say they'll spend their pay as fast as they earn it. Jonathan Nunnally, who lives with his girlfriend and baby son at his parents' house, said, "I'm using the money basically for paying for my little room that I rent at my mom's house, and paying for my son."

Desirae Somerville said she’s saving for a Florida vacation, and Damar Palmer wants to buy video games and clothes. Nahdir Gonzalez said he knows where his first paycheck will go. “I'm going to the mall and I'm going to go shopping. And I'm going to reward myself with some clothes,” he said.

On a larger scale, U.S. lawmakers hope that other Americans who find jobs created through the stimulus program will do the same, and that their spending will jumpstart the national economy. But for youth who face challenges to finding work even in a strong economy, Mastroeni says, the confidence and skills they gain in these subsidized jobs could prove more valuable in the long-run than their paychecks.

 

7. What other employment sources do you know? What are their advantages and disadvantages? How can the new technologies help you within your job seeking process? Hope the following media report will help you to understand this problem better: