Essay 3

Saif 1
Reem Saif
Honors 1000
Unemployment
As humans move around the world they explore their options and as they settle down
they settle for a place that aligns best with their priorities. People tend to look for a place that
will be able to take them in, and provide them with a shelter and a job so they can be able to
support their loved ones. Jobs have been one of the most influential aspects that has attracted
people to city life at one time: What attracted people to Chicago was the promise of
employment.1 Chicago is one Americas largest cities and at one time employment was the
contributing factor to its growth, and the same goes for Detroit. Although, lately unemployment
has been a national crisis due to the economic recession, it has also been the biggest problem
facing the City of Detroit. Unemployment leads to many other problems and that serves as a
threat to the wellbeing of the city. Unemployment leads to people leaving the city in search of
jobs just like Martelle described in his book: The city and region lost population as
unemployment skyrocketed and young families moved out.2 Also, as people leave the city the
economy in the city gets worse, and more businesses start to shut down and that will keep
increasing the unemployment rate. In hope to find jobs in other places, people leave their lives in
the city including to their houses, and as businesses start to move out the city they leave huge
vacant buildings, and all these structures become projects of graffiti and further vandalism.3 On
Rybczynski, Witold. City Life: Urban Expectations in a New World. New York: Scribner, 1995. Print.
Martelle, Scott. Detroit: A Biography. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review, 2012. Print.
Oswalt, Phillipp, ed. Shrinking Cities. Vol. 1. New York: Distributed Art, 2005. Print.
Saif 2
the other hand, the people who still remain in the city after they lost their job live below the
federal poverty line. Certainly, unemployment is the biggest problem facing Detroit because of
the resulting factors that come along, but it is attainable to be fixed by assisting the residents by
training them for high demand jobs and introducing to other employers just like the Michigan
Works! Association has done.
Since, the economic recession in 2007 the unemployment rate in Detroit has extremely
increased. In 2010 out of 468,000 adults only 138,000 were employed, and there was a huge gap
between Detroits employment rate and the American average.4 That also caused the wealth rate
to decline and soon enough more than half of Detroits population was living under the federal
poverty line, and that alone resulted for Detroit to be one of the poorest big cities in the nation.5
Also in September 2010 Detroits unemployment reached 22.6% and that was twice as much as
the rest of Michigan.6 Then, the citys population decreased from 951,270 residents in 2000 to
713,777 in 2010.7 Also, Detroit for the rest of the world had died out and didnt seem as
American as it once had when employment was available.8 As, the population declined there
were more and more abandoned buildings, and the graffiti and vandalism was spread throughout
the city becoming one of the signature looks the city holds.9 On the other hand organizations
Saunders, Lisa. "Employment and Earnings: A Case Study of Urban Detroit." The Review of Black Political
Economy 39.1 (2012): 107-19. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
7
The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
Saif 3
started forming to put an end to this problem and the most effective was the Michigan Works!
Association.
Furthermore, the Michigan Works! Association was first initiated in the year 1987 to
assist the Michigan Workforce Development System. It is there to help the unemployed create a
plan that will aid them in finding job in the near future. There are many locations that are wide
spread around Michigan, but there are particularly five locations in the City of Detroit. 10 One of
the main goals of this association is to train unemployed workers in order to become professional
in the fields required because of the high demand of trained professionals needed in the current
workforce. The training they offer is available to everyone living in the community even though
they currently are employed. This also helps the employed worker with low wages to seek for
higher paying jobs in order to be able to support their family properly. On the other hand, the
work done in this association is hopeful that it will aid Michigans economy as the
unemployment rate declines.11 It serves to complete any gaps or shortages of the type of workers
demanded in a specific area. The Michigan Works! Association was primarily made to serve the
unemployed and make available to them many ways to not only get jobs, but to get decent jobs
that are assured to help them raise their families properly.
Moreover, unemployment faces the city and raises its problems, and therefore the
Michigan Works! Association has been a result of the lack of assistance towards the unemployed
population. The unemployed become discouraged after being rejected from several jobs and they
end their search, and give in to their horrible circumstances. Due to that, the Michigan Works!
Associations aim is to give these people hope for their future and make available all the
10
"Michigan Works! Works for Detroit." 1999.Michigan Chronicle, Sep 22, 0-A, 4:3.
http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/390010941?accountid=14925.
11
Saif 4
resources needed for their new and improved search through the association. The people in this
city need all the help and training offered by the Michigan Works! Association because of the
lack of effort of changing the jobless rate in Detroit contributes to the nation as a whole. As the
unemployment rate declines in Detroit the better the economy gets in the time being, and this is a
crucial move in order to get this city back up. Also, as result of the associations work the citys
workers will be employed in higher paying jobs and that will initiate more families to enter the
middle class and that lowers the need for public assistance.12 The association contributes money
to other associations that were created in Detroit to help people get jobs, and spread the
assistance.13This association does all it can to be available to everyone and it has been the reason
many people have been able to attain jobs in the past couple of years.
In conclusion, unemployment is the biggest issue facing Detroit today. While it was left
without any efforts to stop the growing rate. On the other hand, the Michigan Works!
Association looked into why employment in Detroit was particularly worked to face those issues.
Most of the unemployed seek low wage jobs and are low skilled jobs, therefore training
programs were open for the unemployed. Also, they were registered under the system and were
introduced and spread on bigger scale in Michigan. These techniques have strengthened our
workforce and were the stepping stones to decreasing the unemployment rate. Many people have
joined this association and are very satisfied for its assistance because it has been the solution
they have been looking for.
12
"DETROIT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, MICHIGAN WORKS! AGENCY, FUNDS GOODWILL

INDUSTRIES' EMPLOYMENT PILOT." 2005.US Fed News Service, Including US State News, Dec 05.
13

Saif 5
Saif 6
Works Cited
"Michigan Works! Works for Detroit." 1999.Michigan Chronicle, Sep 22, 0-A, 4:3.
Saunders, Lisa. "Employment and Earnings: A Case Study of Urban Detroit." The Review of Black Political
Economy 39.1 (2012): 107-19. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.

Essay 3

Enviado por

Dados do documento

Título original

Direitos autorais

Formatos disponíveis

Compartilhar este documento

Compartilhar ou incorporar documento

Opções de compartilhamento

Você considera este documento útil?

Este conteúdo é inapropriado?

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Essay 3

Enviado por

Direitos autorais:

Formatos disponíveis

Saif 1

"DETROIT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, MICHIGAN WORKS! AGENCY, FUNDS GOODWILL

"DETROIT WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, MICHIGAN WORKS! AGENCY, FUNDS GOODWILL

Você também pode gostar