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So what do your low-skilled workers do, or do you just not have any in Germany?

A tidbit I found... AN OVERVIEW OF ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS AFFECTING THE US LABOR MARKET

And this, things

What do you have in mind, McGentrix?

Ok, so instead of $4.59 the cost goes to $4.79. The rate of 4.3% works with any starting value.

Can you provide an overview, scientist?

I already know what I have in mind, that's why I am asking Walter what he thinks I have in mind.

Germany has always been ahead of the economic game in providing apprenticeship programs at your factories. Why the US doesn't replicate such a successful program has been a mystery I have never understood. Not everybody has the ability or means to attend university.

Liberal educators have pushed the idea for a few decades now that "blue collar" work is undesirable and isn't something to be proud of. Bernie Sanders might have had a good idea with his "free college education" if it had been applied to trade schools as well as college.

If the trade schools are part of a public university or community college, they would also have applied.

Not like that proposal had a chance in hell of getting passed in our government though.

Quite a few comapnies offer a combined apprenticeship and university education/degree (BA).
For instance, in the biggest comapny in our town (Hella) you can get an apprenticeship as an electric mechanic combined with a Bachelor of Engineering - electrical engineering in three and a half year.

That "liberal" idea has been around forever. George, Tom, ... didn't have indentured servants or their slaves up to the house for dinner and drinks.

Walter can obviously answer himself, but I would imagine that his point of reference is the German manufacturing sector - which really isn't a low-skill sector at all.

Many firms in the manufacturing sector in Germany are small scale, privately owned operations ("Mittelstand"). Unlike bigger corporations, they find it harder to simply pack up shop and move their entire manufacturing to low wage countries. But they also have no interest in lobbying for offshoring constructs, maximizing stock prices through outsourcing, or engaging in share buybacks or maximizing short term profits over long-term viability of their base of operations.

This is reflected in a highly trained blue collar workforce, in apprenticeship programs that are several years long, in an intersection in private and public R&D programs with small businesses, and in offering both greater workplace protections coupled with the option to have flexibility that e.g. allows for short-time work in times of economic downturn. Companies are able to retain a highly trained blue collar workforce, and are able to crank up production as soon as the economy picks up again.

Thank you for a decent answer. Where will all of the immigrants and refugees start working in Germany? Will they start as apprentices or will they just be on state assistance for a long time until they get acclimated to the German way of life?

Unfortunately, we've got them.

But there are quite a few charities, providing apprenticeship for those who failed over a longer period, with a lower qualification.

Many who came to the US didn't speak English, but they contributed to this country in many ways.

You raise an interesting point, McGentrix. The only ones who seem to be complaining in the US are the unemployed white racists who have flocked to Trump because they see him as their Lester Maddox.

http://www.inc.com/magazine/201502/adam-bluestein/the-most-entrepreneurial-group-in-america-wasnt-born-in-america.html

http://www.factcheck.org/2016/11/trump-repeats-criminal-alien-claim/

There are already several hundred of the refugees in apprenticeship, of course just those who younger.
Immigrants usually have already an education.
And older refugees, if their asylum status is confirmed, either get re-qualified according to what they have learnt/studied in their home country (which is a long and stupid procedure) or they do something else, below their previous job.

We get a lot of Bosnian and South East Asian refugees in our area. They have been quite a boon to the area opening many new businesses and cleaning up what was a dilapidated area of town. For the most part they create their own jobs but it would be nice if we still had the GE plant or some of the other large companies that left the area.

There's a distribution key for placing people that takes into account infrastructure, economic factors in the region, availability of supporting facilities, etc. As an example, Bavaria took in a large proportion of refugees, but generally also has good options in placing people (for living, training and integration programs, and workplace options). It also has a low unemployment rate (currently about 3.2%), a very healthy budget and a "blue collar" sector that is actively looking for people to fill positions.

Integration programs focus on teaching language skills along with integrating them into German society. Classes will not only teach the language, but also help people to understand how to navigate daily life.

Workforce integration programs try to determine skill sets and place people accordingly. You're right that this means that people might often start out in a position equivalent to an apprenticeship position. However, apprenticeship positions in the manufacturing sector are paid positions. They are also integrated with the education sector. If you're in an apprenticeship, you might also go to a vocational school. Both education and professional training create a path towards either skilled positions in the "blue collar" workforce, but schools also allow for a path towards higher education.

Current placement programs for refugees emphasize a cooperation of supporting entities (people who teach integration classes, businesses employing people, language teachers, social workers, etc. etc.) to integrate immigrants into society. Germany places not only a high value on language skills, but also on integration into German society. Integration classes are available, offering certificates which serve as qualification and documentation for participants seeking to enter the workforce.

I don't think they are solely to blame. A lot of blue collar workers moved into the middle class in the '50s because the economy was stable and union membership was widespread. And lots of these guys wanted their kids to go to college instead of working on an assembly line or in a machine shop. It became part of the "American Dream" — "My kid, you won't believe it, he's in law school!" More and more kids were pushed into higher education. I think the Vietnam War may have had an effect as well because of the student deferments.

What I do remember, very distinctly, was the gradual lowering of educational standards. Or not so gradual; I was drafted in '68 (having refused the 2s deferment). When I returned to school a little more than two years later, the credit requirements had changed. Instead of carrying five 3 credit classes we now only had to take four 4 credit classes. (The courses were not 33% more rigorous.) We could opt for a pass/fail in one class. And we began to see these "gut classes" showing up — you could satisfy your English requirement by taking a semester-long class on "Hollywood Westerns" or there'd be a class called "Women's Liberation" which was basically a bunch of kids yelling at each other for credit. I'm not saying that you couldn't get a good education if you wanted to work for it. But loads of kids got degrees which weren't worth the parchment they were printed on. See, it's a supply and demand thing. It's one thing when 5% of the population has a degree; it's something very different when 80% of your graduating high school class goes off to college and universities are making big money and curriculum is simplified so that students won't drop out.