Will the average, everyday American ever see relief?

[IHaveRespawned]

I saw an article discussing the Great washout of the tech job market. Once an industry that presidents, billionaires, and other prominent people boasted as the pathway to success is no longer.

It speaks volumes when tech majors are struggling more than art history majors. I have come to wonder, has the software engineer the new aspiring "artist" or musician? You know those career paths that are highly unrealistic where people laugh when you tell them? Like "yeah, I want to be the next studio artist for Disney" or some shit like that.

Meanwhile, the middle class is being pulverized and destroyed. Once the beacon of prosperity of the "American Dream" is becoming less and less likely to obtain, especially for younger generations.

I grew up in a typical upper-middle-class family. The two-story family home in a mostly-white subdivision neighborhood with the community pool, attending top-notch schools, and riding in the family SUV. The baseball team, boy scouts, and my regular doctors visits became a common routine as a child. We were able to eat out at modest places after church. The pantry full of food. You know what I mean.

It seems this lifestyle will never be obtainable in my lifetime. My grandparents were wealthy, my parents were strong upper class, my generation is struggling to even afford an apartment or trailer. It is like kicking a can down a road, getting more and more beat up.

Yes

No

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Updates

11 mo

** my parents were strong upper-middle-class I mean **

[Syntosi]

The current situation with software engineers and tech majors has more to do with just there being too many of them. Its a fairly normal situation, the market opens up and has a desperate need of tech specialists in a world where that education does not even exist. It becomes a very attractive profession to study towards as schools spins up to meet this demand. The schools produce WAAAY more tech majors than is required by the market in an over-correction and then it begins to swing the other way where less and less people become tech majors until there is not enough of them again.

When there is a shock to the system we are very bad at finding the "happy medium" again.

As for the average American finding relief? Nope. We are in for a nice bit of recession right now thanks to Trump. The jury is still out if it is going to be a stag-flation or not but Trump appears positively chomping at the bits to make it into one. Depending on how badly Trump wants to bungle this, we might look at a recession that makes the great recession look cute by comparison.

[BonzoInBitburg]

I am a partner in a construction company and we have 25 year old carpenters with a High School education, no student debt making over $100k plus they do cash jobs on the weekend because there's so much work. They all own nice homes and drive brand new trucks. Salaries are going up exponentially in the trades because for every 7 people who retire from the trades only 1 enter. That doesn't include all the people in the trades who have been rounded up by ICE and deported. The shortage of workers in the trades is real and wages have been going up by more than 10% each year for the last 5 years. I don't understand why people don't choose high paying careers that are in demand. Everybody saw AI coming and knew tech jobs were in jeopardy.

[IHaveRespawned]

I am considering it. I thought about being an independent RV technician

[IHaveRespawned]

... although, this will be the third time switching careers entirely if and when I get around to it. First, I was an Advanced EMT. Then I was a software engineer. Now I am having to switch careers again when I am just 30.

[BonzoInBitburg]

I switched careers 3 times before I was 30. It's no big deal. You have to keep moving to where the money is

[IHaveRespawned]

What is your opinion on RV technician (independent)?

[BonzoInBitburg]

I think it's a great idea. Low competition for the foreseeable future. If you live near a few RV parks, go in and stick a business card on all the the RVs and get to know the owners of the parks. Buy a few acres where you can store RVs for year round income and offer to winterize them in fall and get them ready for summer in spring on your lot. I used to have an RV and it became harder and harder to find independent people to work on it. 30 years ago there were a lot but they all retired

[midnightmoon05]

Great advice.

You should be out there building your career/business…. not wasting more time on gag.

Check your ideas with Dave Ramsey as well… they take calls.

My advice… don’t get into debt to start your RV repair business… (buying tools).
He and his team will have better advice for you in that field.

As well, keep your options open. HVAC/eletcial … some only takes 1-2 years. to be certified… go find someone to shadow around to do hands on work to start.

[LazerBean]

We always have plenty of food. Not two story, but we have a beautiful house with a beautiful yard in a nice neighborhood. We go to the doctor when we want. We eat out with our friends fairly regularly. And that's with only one of us working full time.

Our friends who are our age just bought a fancy house in a fancy subdivision in one of the most expensive towns to live in our state. He's a youth pastor and his wife is a realtor. They have two or three dogs, one of which takes about $120 per month in medication alone.

Come to think of it, almost all of our closer friends who are our age and married have a home.

[IHaveRespawned]

Is it the state you reside in, maybe a different COL? Homes here in Knoxville have doubled in price or more. The type of home I grew up in (and the one I live in now owned by my parents) is worth half a million, where it was worth $280,000 when my parents first purchased it. Although I have held 25 jobs since age 15 with very short tenure, I worked my ass off for years. I am disabled as of now of course, but at age 30, I have nothing to show for it except a car with over 140,000 miles and an RV that is nearly 15 years old at this point. I was a former EMT turned software developer that worked on projects for multi-billion-dollar companies. I am about to get married and still live at my parents' home (thank God I have my own living space), struggling to even afford groceries.

Your examples don't exactly add up. A youth pastor should not be making bank and a young realtor should not be this successful unless she is extremely good at what she does. Even then, I find it skeptical and wonder if maybe they received a good financial boost through their parents or inheritance or something.

[IHaveRespawned]

... some examples:
1. Someone I know who has a masters degree in computer science rents a room at his friend's house.
2. My sister has a bachelor's degree and had been unable to maintain job security. She rents a room at one of my aunt's friends houses
3. My fiance is 27. She was one semester away from finishing her bachelor's. She had an associates. She works fast food.
4. Her brother is 24, single, has IT certificates, and works as a manager at a restaurant
5. One of my mom's friend's sons lives with his mom. Although he was a pothead.
6. One of my mom's friend's sons lives in a trailer in a rural part of Tennessee
7. My friend has a bachelor's in music and works as an electrician apprentice. He lives in an apartment.

I have former friends who did very well. One of them founded his own AI consultation company early on before it gained mainstream attention. Otherwise, I don't know very many other people.

[IHaveRespawned]

... also, only 33 percent of 30-year-olds are homeowners. Maybe you and your friend group are anomalies

[LazerBean]

Honestly it just sounds like you're surrounded by losers. Unfortunately, losers and financial illiterates are the norm in today's society.

[IHaveRespawned]

Being successful is one thing. Being snooty, self-righteous, and a bitch is outright bullshit

[LazerBean]

Stating facts doesn't make me snooty. I'm sorry that the truth offends you.

[midnightmoon05]

Agree with lazerBeans.

Listen to one of Dave Damseys podcasts. He was broke at 28 and filed for bankruptcy. If you haven’t heard of him, he is in Tennessee and is now in his 60s a multimillionaire.

He would say the same about your group of people. - the normal “Americans”.

If you worked from 15 on and not making it, it’s on you.

I once shared my dad was making $7-$900. a month and raising a family of 6…. rent was $300. My mom had to care for my little sister and was working in a sweatshop making pennies… took them 10 years to buy our first home.

The normal Americans are just complainers.
Cut up all the credit cards and eat rice and beans.

[midnightmoon05]

My sister who is 10 years younger than me went through this with her friend group.
She purchased her condo in her late 20s while all her friends were in school debt. Going out to drinks after work, criedit card debts, living off on credit cards. - the normal Americans.

[midnightmoon05]

that sounds like the normal American life…
What were some of the finances skills your grandparents/parents taught?
I am truly curious.

[Chazmatazz269]

Take up a trade. There’s still plenty of building to be done and we’re ages away from affordable robotics that are capable of doing what tradespeople do day in and day out. The pay is good, and we have the strongest unions. If you go into robotics, you’ll be the last to go; just after machines learn to design, build, program, install, maintain and repair themselves.
Or wallow in despair. That’s kool too.

[IHaveRespawned]

I am thinking about RV technician (independent, self-employed)

[Chazmatazz269]

Might be too niche. If fewer people are traveling recreationally because of economic downturns, you might not see enough business over the long term. Diesel mechanics are in demand and make good money. Even when cargo haulers are being driven by automation, the engines will remain diesel for a long time. They can’t design batteries that can haul loads long distances in a timely fashion because even small increases in load offset battery life exponentially.
The knowledge and skills acquired from the training for diesel mechanics will translate easily to more niche fields like RV maintenance, but you won’t be as limited for opportunities.

[IHaveRespawned]

Eh, whatever I choose it must be independant/self-employed. I have never been able to hold down a job. 25 jobs since age 15. I am 30 and on disability as of now.

RVs involve many different complexities, from chassis systems to the "house" system, ACs to refrigerators and generators. Structural repairs too, like slides, walls, ceilings, and fixtures. Also plumbing, pumps, and electrical. It is am entire all-in-one package. RVs are huge right now for semi-homeless, retirees, and people opting to ditch the rent/homeownership scene. All the RV parks around here are booked over a year out. Pay attention to the interstates with all different glasses of RV's, even many toting vehicles.

[WindAtMyBack]

The tech industry imports TONS of foreign workers. I doubt if you could say the same for art history majors.

Some of the big tech companies have been lobbying for a few decades to make it easier to import workers. I've worked at tech companies that were more than half foreign engineers and programmers.

There is a very easy solution to this. But implementing it would be called racist or xenophobic.

[IHaveRespawned]

www.yahoo.com/.../...hose-jobs-were-152108314.html

This article should shed some light

[WindAtMyBack]

That doesn't change the fact that there are TONS of foreign workers in the tech industry.

[IHaveRespawned]

True. I just wanted to share that. Frustrations grow every time I read shit like this. If and when I get around to it, I will have to switch career pathways entirely for a third time, and I am only 30.

[exitseven]

this is due to many of these jobs being shipped overseas. President Trump is working to bring a lot of these jobs back and to prevent more of them from leaving.

[IHaveRespawned]

www.yahoo.com/.../...hose-jobs-were-152108314.html

This article will shed some perspective

[exitseven]

@ihaverespawneded I have a Computer Science degree. While I was in college I could see that a lot of software engineering jobs would be done by foreigners. I got into infrastructure work and became a network engineer. These jobs cannot be done remotely at the present time. I have retired but I get e-mails on a daily basis for job offers.

[Avicenna]

Things do look bad. And that’s before mentioning AI‘s effects on other job markets.

[Twalli]

Can they, yes, but we don't have people focused on that in government long enough.

[DrPepper12]

Not until USA is fumigated of maga

[beefcakebradybatson]

Nope, nor do the Trumpsters care.