What are these jobs that Americans won't do?

Hi task Just today, we were talk about this in my introduction to industrial engineer class. My teacher was talking about it and how in USA, Spain, and others, when there is prosperity, the people wont take small jobs. Thats because if one is a lawyer(to say an example), this person would not accept(nor want) a job as a waiter for example. They create a higher standard of what they want. Of course now with the crisis, this "i do jobs that americans wont accept" would not be valid since there is a big necessity and probably most americans would accept the first job they can get. Still these inmigrants also have a necessity

A much more accurate statement would be something like "Illegal immigrants work for wages Americans most likely wont work for." Take that fruit picking job and attach at least a fair minimum wage to it and I guaranty it will be filled by legal American workers. Though I also suspect as bad as the economy is, there are a good number of Americans who would be happy to pick that fruit for 3 or 4 bucks an hour. Money is money and low wages are better than no wages.

I'm a Canadian who owns a Mobile in an RV Park near McAllen Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. Living 20 minutes from the US/Mex. border for 5 months each winter, one soon gets very familiar with the Illegal problem. The Rio Grande Valley contains some 80,000 acres of vegetables and fruit, and a great many man hours are required in the production of this very valuable resource. Much of this work is done by Illegals who are hired by Fruit and Vegetable Farmers to pick vegetables. Americans do not apply for jobs that pay $3.00/hour from daylight till dark. The illegals leave Mexico for the US because wages in Mexico are $3.00/day, versus $3.00/hour in the US. There are no lineups of Americans in McAllen, waiting for a job, hand-picking cabbages in the fields.But there are plenty of American Farmers, Restaurateurs, small Business owners, and other employers, breaking the law every day by hiring illegals (under the table) to do work that Americans will not do!

Truthfully, I think that whole "they do the jobs Americans won't do" line is only said--believed, rather--by the haughty uberliberal people who condescend to minorities and believe that most all labor work is beneath them. Elsewhere, the line's just picked up and ran with by the everday folks looking to make their voice matter in the ongoing debate about debate. I also think it's said mostly with full knowledge that it's basically overlooked sweat shop labor at slave wages a lot of time that's fueling these jobs. And I feel that ties right back into the whole condescending, smug, racist-at-heart attitudes of the haughty priviledged among us. Perhaps like the team of lawyers we have running the country today.

The people who claim Americans won't do these jobs are trying to tell us that before all these illegals came, the crops did not get harvested and the beds were never made. I do not believe it. It is all about cheap labor. Arrest the people who hire them and the problem will solve itself. A few people go to jail, and the rest will stop hiring illegal immigrants. The jobs will dry up, and nearly all of them will go home.

I am certainly glad you brought this up. Yet, I think I know your conclusion and if I'm correct, you are wrong. First I'll tell you what those jobs are. Farm work and housing are two I "know" of. I don't know your age, but I do remember in the sixties when there were plenty of jobs and there were also jobs "Americans" wouldn't take. As a kid I worked on farms picking string beans and other vegetables. The only workers I saw doing this kind of job were the Mexican "migrant" workers. I was a kid and it wasn't such a big issue, so I don't know if they were migrants, illegals or whatever.. From that time on the saying was that "there were jobs that we won't do." But with plenty of jobs going around, there were jobs (farm work and housing) that were beneath most folks to have. Also in the sixties, here in Ohio, basically the only jobs a Black female could get would be cleaning. It was mostly a woman's job there at the park and there might be a couple White high school girls doing it also. When I worked at Cedar Point in the 60's, you would never see a Black waitress. And although you could see a Black cleaning lady, the supervisors were all White. And if an "American" didn't want to clean toilets and things, then there was always the migrant workers. So there were "aparently" jobs that some folks wouldn't take. Now days, with the illegal alien mess, Cedar Point has its cake and eats it too. Most of the illegal aliens and foreigners who get the so called "unwanted jobs" are hired and given most of the work, I think, because they don't know our laws. The park can basically treat them almost any way they desire. Most recently I've seen in the local newspaper in the comment section where locals were mad because foreigners (not neccessarily illegal aliens) were getting jobs that we needed. It reminds me of Halloween, Season of the Witch because Cedar Point is basically the only job one can get here. But when you talk to an American who is lucky enough to have a job there, you will see how Cedar Point takes advantage of the foreigners by giving them more work and somehow gives them less hours on their paycheck than they actually worked. While working I've had my foreign friends tell me their tips were stolen, yet the American workers I know passed rumors that the foreigners were stealing tips. Talking about ugly American. Here are examples. 1) I worked in Housing at the "Point". A Thai girl was contracted to work with her buddies at Castaway Bay. When she got here, someone moved her to Housing. Of course she was upset, but what could she do? Most people (Black or White) from this country would have protested and pointed to the contract. 2) My Housing supervisor from the past told me that one American girl gets a day a week while the foreign girls get all the work. 3) I bumped into a coworker from '04 who worked in the laundry part of the hotel. He was the man! But last year, he was given one day a week to work while the "girls" took his place in the laundry room. (for those of you who can't figure it out, the "girls" are the foreign girls who are the maids.) He complained and got two days a week!!! He thus knew his boss was mad. So this year when he handed his application in, he was told it was too late and didn't get hired. There was a foreign girl with him and he told me that they cheated her out of some money. And according to my supervisor friend, many foreigners have jobs that Americans should have. So who do some folks around here blame" That's right, the foreigners. I have a million tales I could tell such as my coworker from Romania who kept bugging me to bug Cedar Point about her last check (she left in September and didn't get paid until January!) To make a long story short, it's easier to hire foreigners, use them for everything you can get, and abuse them because "they don't speak up for their rights like we do" and "they don't know or understand our laws", and they have to pay CUSA for that plane $1200 plane fare, so they're stuck until they make enough money (they still make some money for schooling.) I've seen too much of it (the Canning Factory, Cedar Point, the kitchens of the little shady hotels, the farms.) And speaking of fast food, places like McDonald's always have an excuse while they hire the foreigners and not Americans. So before you start lambasting the liberals, open your eyes and look at the true culprit. The greed mongers continue to make their money by making America a third world country (as in low pay) with the hiring of illegals and foreigners while many on the right (so called Christians -- of all people) point and blame the illegals, foreigners, and liberals. Babylon the Great is here and you don't even see it.

Americans will do anything they have to in order to provide for their families. The claim tat their are jobs that Americans won't do and that the illegals will is nothing more than a lie. A lot of these illegals work construction which most definitely is considered something that Americans will do. Farm labor is also something that Americans will do, as is digging ditches and flipping burgers. There are o jobs that Americans will not do... why should American workers be forced to compete with illegals?

we hear the same retoric here in canada. that the unemployment number has gone down because like you, many have stopped looking for work. i have to tell you though that you shouldnt give up. it took my hubby 9 months to find a new one and he just started it a few weeks ago.

I know of two privately owned apple orchards that higher only citizens of the united states, mostly high school to college students but still how is it they being privately owned can afford to do this but the giant farms can not, greed. I know of two farmers markets that also only higher citizens of the united states. Now I know of two industrial companies that higher illegal immigrants and they have been raided numerous times and all they ever got was some small fine and it was business as usual. The only thing that is going to stop this is to stick these owners/ corporate leaders in jail. Speaking of Craigslist the only jobs I have seen on there that are being offered is those scam ones trying to get you to buy into selling insurance from home and other scams that are close to pyramid schemes. One of my friends invested a lot of time and money in this crap and got burned. It is hard to read the discussion boards on there its pretty sad to hear people in this country that gives millions to other countries talk about how they are on the verge of loosing their home and don't know what they are going to do. All the stories on job searches are depressing also.

I don't mind grunt work at all. The busier the better. I also think some (not all) who are basically getting below minimum wage on welfare would be happy to work for what they get. Yes, I know there are lazy ones who will sit around but I think given the opportunity many would step up and work. Finding one's self in a bad situation doesn't automatically make them a bad person because they need help. When I started out working minimum wage was $1.55 an hour and that wasn't all that long ago.

This is such a pet peeve of mine...it's a cop out attempt to justify what is in reality the stealing of jobs from American workers. Since I live in a rural area I have some first hand knowledge about these "jobs Americans won't do". My daughter's friend recently went to work at one of the dairy farms in the area. This is a major cattle operation with many "barns" and I believe she's working in Barn #5. She milks cows, rounds of calves, gives vitamins and does cleanup. She's making $11 an hour and is one of the very few legal workers there. She's on the books...she gets a check and is responsible for her own transportation. There are also other workers there who arrive in a big van and, at the end of the week, are given an envelope containing cash. They don't speak English, she doesn't speak Spanish, so she doesn't know what they're earning per hour but I'm betting that it's less and that these people are working off the books. She's most likely one of the *token* employees since this business can't operate with no staff on the books. There are plenty of out of work people in my town alone who would gladly do this job. Several years ago U.S. Sugar started contracting the harvest to outside contractors. Suddenly the Americans who had been harvesting sugarcane every year had no work because these contractors brought in their own people. Several of them have been busted for using illegal workers. The same situation exists in the citrus groves and produce fields. The Americans down here are not "too good" to do these jobs...they're not given the opportunity because illegals can be paid less, there is less bookkeeping involved and less payroll taxes for the employer to be concerned about.

Those jobs Americans won't do are the ones employers don't want to pay even minimum wage for. It's not that people won't do these jobs, but that employers don't want to pay what the federal government requires. If the government would let employers set wages, maybe more American citizens would be working instead of the jobs going to illegals. Those out of work who want to work should do like the illegals and tell the employer they'll work for under the table cash at the employer's rate. Even if they're not paying tax on their earnings, at least the money is staying here in this country. It might also get the government to understand that we need to do away with the federal income tax and replace it with the fair tax. I'm not holding my breath.

The jobs that Americans won't do are the ones that employers don't want to hire Americans to do because they don't want to pay minimum wage for the job. The government makes a mistake determining wages when they don't know the value of a service. It causes job loss. The government should really keep its nose out of what it knows nothing about, and it's obvious they know nothing about business.

It is a total lie, much like the Hitler inspired "The Big Lie": tell it long enough and loud enough, make it big enough and people will believe it. (Sort of like O was "born in HI"). Even in college one of my best friends came out to California to pick fruit so he could make a living, several decades ago. Just the other day I went to one of my favorite Mexican take-out places, the order taker was a young Caucasian male. The order was delivered courteously and perfectly. THIS IS NOT A RACIST STATEMENT FOR YOU LIBERALS CHOMPING AT THE BIT. A day or two later, when my daughter went back for the exact same order, it was not even recognizable as the same food. Some excuse may be made for the "language barrier", but it goes beyond that to Mexico's total disrespect for America and the feeling among many (NOT ALL) that we owe them and they really don't have to work or work hard for what they feel entitled to. Our government and Mexico's are to blame as well, not just individual workers. It's not true that Americans won't do these jobs, and others, such as servers and bussers in restaurants, even cooks in restaurants, etc.

well, your discussion brings to mind a job that I think is losing its appeal. They are underpaid, over worked, in a very dangerous situation and way way way under staffed. Mybe it is Border Patrol Agents.

These jobs are the one that illegals will do for a dollar an hour. The real villains in this is the B@$#%$@&s that hire them. If the government will not do anything and will try to stop those that do(AZ is a perfect example of this) its up to us to do what we can. Do not go into a store that you know hires them. If you are doing work on your house make it part of the contract that if they hire any illegals the contract is voided. I am sad to say that we can no longer depend on our so called leaders. I always try to do business with companies that only use Americans in their customer service offices. Believe me this is getting harder and harder to do.

You may already know I've been saying for ages that it's a leftist MYTH we won't do those jobs, & that I've done those & know many others who have! If I were still physically able to scrub floors, dig ditches, bus dishes, pick vegetables, look after farm animals, clean toilets, paint walls & all those other "dirty" (ooo, s c a r e y . . . work! ) jobs lefties are so terrified they might have to do, I WOULD!! I need money! (Oh, speaking of which, I sold an article to Helium today!!! Yippee! I hope soon to rack up some more, but I still have no idea how it really works. Yet.) Anyway, I scrubbed walls, supermarkets, kids, I did grunt work, right alongside adults, teens, & a lot of hungry college kids trying to afford books & meals. So forget the LIE that Americans won't do those jobs; we will! Maggiepie "Man is not free unless government is limited." ~ President Ronald Reagan

If it wasn't for the mexicans doing most of the farm labor there are a lot of things you wouldn't find on the supermarket shelves. Any of our fruit and produce that can't be harvested by a machine would rot in the fields if you had to depend on the Americans to pick it. And if you will look close you will see that most of the machines that do the harvesting are operated by Mexicans. I have lived all my life in the middle of farming country and I know what I have seen with my own eyes. Very little fruit and produce is even grown in my country that can't be harvested with machines. What little that is you will find the Mexicans harvesting it. Back in the 30's and 40's there was a lot of food grown here that was picked by Americans but not any more. My Dad was a farmer all his life and I grew up on a farm. Im 71 years old and I saw the way it was back then and the way it is now. No matter what anyone tells you the Mexicans are doing us a service by coming up here and harvesting our food. It's the ones that take other jobs here that are doing the damage. That's where we need laws to regulate the jobs the Mexicans cxan do. Art

All of the trades on the west coast are illegals or first generation Americans. From concrete to welders we do not have a willing "class" to work in the trades.

I agree with you 100% there is no such thing in these days that any American will refuse any job. I live in the State of Nevada USA and the unemployment rate is about 20%. Some of these unemployed people are willing to go to another State just hunting for a job.