Spam in a can

As all of the nation is quite aware the job situation is pathetic, to say the least. One of the things that I have read in the media recently are articles saying that the outlook for the young getting a job is poor. If this was the case why are there so many young managers? Maybe a certain age group; like fresh out of college is affected, but the old are affected as well, if not even more. The problem is not so much age ( although I wish I could prove it was ), the problem is the narrow focus of the companies presently. Companies are looking for what I term spam in a can; in other words they want to open it up and partake of the it without having to prepare it. Customers want you to to hit the floor running and are not willing to take experience into consideration that you could quickly learn the job. The other issue is location; Chicago for instance where I live does not have any IT high technology companies, so if you have a hardware storage background it is already strike 2 against you. Most of the positions in Chicago are for administrators and a great deal of them are contract positions. Nobody wants to hire full time any more; nobody wants to pay for insurance or other benefits. The high tech jobs seem to all be in every location except Chicago; Boulder, Arizona, Texas, Eden Prairie, MN, and of course Silicon Valley and Southern California, They even seem to be in the most obscure locations, like Nashua, NH! A third problem is the sometimes ridiculous qualifications and certifications that the customers require. Come on, a master degree in computer science, really!! Some of the certifications only require a 2 day class. I have heard tell that project managers with 20 years experience couldn't get a job because they didn't have a PMP certification. Since when did silly certifications outplace experience. The biggest issue is customer loyalty, this is something customers no longer have. Employees have become disposable and are just a number at the company. There is no personal attention anymore when applying for job, it is all done via the Internet on job application software that you submit along with a 1000 others. Some companies will acknowledge receipt, but a lot do not and it just goes to the bottom of a long list of applicants. America is in desperate need of going back to a friendly, loyal workplace; lets not end up just spam in a can.