My Top 5 Solutions to Decrease the Jobless Rate in America

As of September 2009 the jobless rate in America is at a fraction under 10%. Can you imagine that? Almost one out of every ten people able to work is not working. That's beyond absurd, that's almost scary. Where are the people going who don't have work? Where are they living? What are they eating? America, we need to do something about this! It's not just up to the government, but we need to put on our brainstorming hats and think of solutions for this before the next generation doesn't have anywhere to go but the streets. Here are some ideas I came up with as far as solutions to reduce the jobless rate in our country:

Solution #1 - If you can't create more jobs, then create more education.

Here's my thinking: people often aren't hired because they lack one of two things - education or experience. If it's education, then usually people don't have the education because of money or family situations. If it's money then it's because they're not making enough to make it worthwhile to work and go to school in order to get the higher paying job. Do you see the vicious cycle that's being spun here? So let's try this. Instead of creating more jobs, let's create ways for people to get higher education for free. Maybe we say if you're making less than $50,000 (single), or $100,000 (married) then you are eligible to receive a scholarship to the college of yourself equivalent to 25% of the tuition costs, less materials, less room and board. America could reduce the jobless rate by creating more education which would make more people qualified for certain open positions.

Solution #2 - Help people to be able to retire at 50, not 90.

America is a country that preaches financial independence yet with its current economic downturn people are still working at 70, 80, and 90 years old whereas decades ago people were retiring at 55, 60 and 65 years of age. There is a problem with this. When men and women should be enjoying their grandchildren and going on vacations and paying off mortgages once and for all, some are forced to find jobs at Walmart or Target because Social Security or retirement funds aren't enough to pay the bills. If we set up programs where people can retire around 50 or even 55 then you would have more room for new recruits at these countries. Those who have had senior positions if given ways to maintain their income or even increase it would happily move on with their lives opening up positions for post-college entry-level employees. The employer would save money on the entry-level positions and perhaps it could also make room for promotion from within.

Solution #3 - Create philanthrophy that donates jobs.

We have money that we give to people in need for everything. How about we give jobs to people in need? Oftentimes we try and throw money at a problem. Yes, America needs money, but more than that it needs dignity. Men need to work to support their families. In some households both mom and dad are looking for work to support the household and have nowhere to turn. Where is the organization that has jobs available for these people? Not crummy jobs that pay minimum wage either. I'm talking about jobs in various industries that are set aside for the less fortunate but qualified individuals. Where are the organizations that are donating three years salary with overhead so that a handful of people can work outside of the company's expense?

Solution #4 - All this money that nobody has collected from grants, give it to employers to hire new people and thus make more jobs.

If the government really wants to reduce the jobless rate, they should pinpoint or qualify specific employers to get this leftover money from unclaimed grants so that they can create new jobs and hire more people. America is always saying that there are grants every year that no one gets, so where does that money go? We should leave that money set aside and have companies vie for it in order to expand their business through manpower.

Solution #5 - Employers need to take a chance on some people.

Honestly I believe part of the reason that the jobless rate is so high is that employers are so scared of losing money that they're not taking a chance on people like they used to. What happened to the neighborhood small businesses that would take a chance on the guy off the street? Some of these people off the street are smarter and more intelligent than others with a doctorate; they just caught a bad break and can't get back on their feet. I'm thinking that even the big conglomerate companies can afford to take a chance on a handful of people, even if they start at a junior level or at an entry-level position, it would be of some help.

I think that if employers took more of a chance on some people that businesses would actually do better. I don't think everyone taken a chance on would actually survive the respective positions, but I think they'd find some gold mines that they didn't think were worth taking a chance on. I also feel that many employers are passing up on creative genius through some of the people that they've turned down from interviews and people who never got a call from human resources because the resume wasn't all that impressive. Employers, take a chance on some of these people, they could be the people that save your company from the clutches of the recession.