Reflection 4: Take This Job and Shove It—What's Going on with American Workers?

Despite the September 2021 US unemployment dropping to 4.8%, an October jobs survey revealed that half of US companies still report a skilled labor shortage. So far this autumn, the so-called "Great Resignation" has shown no signs on waning. As the country slowly emerges from the pandemic, American workers are feeling emboldened. From workplace safety conditions to remote work options to pay raises and equity, both white and blue collar workers are seeking unprecedented employer remediation. Even typically reliable service sector workers are calling it quits, fed up with low wages and increasingly rude customers. Republican-led states, hoping the curb the shortage of workers, even cut off additional federal unemployment benefits for their citizens this summer—to little or no effect. Meanwhile, the fast-growing subreddit on Reddit the past few weeks has been r/antiwork, where workers of all stripes are sharing their employment gripes. Where will this all end? Is this a case of US workers, as some contend, feeling greedy (or lazy), or is this a backlash attempting to correct an exploitative system? If you currently work, have you noticed a shift in your mood or in the mood of your co-workers? Finally, what could and should employers do to better treat their employees?

Include at least two of the following in your discussion: 

• "Workers Press for Power in Rare Advance for US Labor Movement" (Bloomberg/Business Week)
• "Why American Workers are Quitting in Record Numbers" (Yahoo! News)
• "Why are Workers Really Quitting? You Can Boil It Down to One Simple Reason" (Inc.) 
• "It’s Not a ‘Labor
  Shortage.’ It’s a Great Reassessment of Work in America" (Washington Post)
  
• "Smoothie King on worker shortage: 'Hire them right. Train them right. Treat them right.'" (Yahoo! Finance)

Required:

• Approximately 2 pages
• MLA Style, including parenthetical citation and works cited
  

Due: Thu 11.4-Tue 11.9 (via Canvas)

Expository

Prior to his 2019 guilty plea on federal charges (including money laundering, racketeering, and obstruction of justice), Edge College & Career CEO Rick Singer routinely pitched his unique approach to college admissions: “There is a ‘front door’ getting in where a student just does it on their own; and then there’s a ‘back door’ where people go to institutional advancement and they make large donations, but they are not guaranteed in; and then I created a ‘side door’ that guaranteed families to get in.” What his initial pitch often failed to mention was that his guaranteed “side door” admission relied on a number of illegal tactics. 

For this assignment, you will illustrate three of these “side door” tactics (from separate cases), highlighting why they run afoul of not only standard “front door” admission practices, but the law.

You will not submit this as a finished, 750-word essay. Instead, you will submit only an outline of the essay. Despite only representing the “skeleton” of your essay, it should still be as detailed as possible, including a solid thesis. Use any outline form you like (e.g. Roman numerals, bullet points, graphic organizer), but it must include all the quotes (and citations) that would’ve been included in a fully-composed essay. Remember to cite only from Unacceptable to support your thesis.

 Requirements:

• MLA Style, including parenthetical citation and works cited page
  

Due: Thu 10.28-Thu 11.4 (via Canvas)

Week 11: Tue 10.26/Thu 10.28

According to a 2021 Brankrate survey, 51% of Americans have less than three months of emergency savings. Additionally, 25% of survey respondents indicated they have no emergency savings at all.

Week 11: Tue 10.26/Thu 10.28
Class: Multimedia presentations
Due: EXPOSITORY

Upcoming:

Week 12: Tue 11.2/Thu 11.4
Read: NICKEL—Introduction: Getting Ready - One: Serving in Florida
Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations; Lecture—“Close Reads: An Introduction”
Due: REFLECTION 4