The problem is not US jobs, but job applicants

After reading three recent letters to the editor, I was horrified about some of their statements:

“Our country needs to bring back good jobs for Americans.”

“It seems absurd to bring in temporary people when we have well-trained people here.”

“We must import poor, unskilled workers to do the jobs Americans just won’t do.” (Correction from me: To do jobs Americans are unable to do.)

Last year, because of growing “non-factual” content in our public news, we subscribed to German TV Deutsche Welle, and subsequently learned that most American workers do not have the skills needed to fill open manufacturing jobs.

I also found an Associated Press story on the internet that your letter writers also could have found:

“With 800 workers, GE Aviation is the largest employer in (Concord, N.H.). But in the next five to 10 years, about a third of those workers are expected to retire. The company is scrambling not only to fill those jobs, but to find workers with the skills to take on jobs that are becoming ever more technologically advanced.

“It’s a problem that’s expected to play out across the region and the country over the next decade, driven in part by the growth of the economy and a rash of retirements among baby boomers.”

This story was originally published August 24, 2017 at 2:16 PM with the headline "The problem is not US jobs, but job applicants."