Codifying service jobs as springboards

Home from the Rockies, last night at dinner we found ourselves discussing Graham's summer. Right now he is scheduled to be working at a chess camp for 3 hours a day for 4 weeks starting July 4 and also filling in on some shifts at the lake. I think he can and should do more, maybe get a shelving job at a grocery store. Mary doesn't quite get the point.

For one, he could generate earned income which we could use to put in a Roth IRA for him, which could grow tax free for the rest of his life. For two, he could get valuable experience in the world interacting with other people and doing things other than just reading. It would be good for him.

Reading an article in the Journal this morning about a small manufacturing Renaissance in Singapore involving automation and also Powell's comments on the possibility of a recession as higher interest rates impact the economy, it occurred to me that if there is a recession, our institutions need to be prepared, by which I mean not just social service agencies but community colleges, churches, etc. Us in general. One thing the confluence of the two stories brought to mind is that if the share of manufacturing jobs in the economy is unlikely to recover, we need to do a better job codifying and thematizing the things about service jobs: waiting tables, manning registers, stocking shelves, etc. -- that can help people grow, improve, add more value and advance in their careers. The things I recall from waiting tables include: learning to juggle tasks and execute quickly and consistently, cultivating and maintaining short-term memory, learning to deal with difficult customers, recentering myself in flight, etc.

I don't know if community colleges and/or HR departments have any formal programs helping people learn how to abstract up from client-facing service work to get better. Not just classes (though those could be great), but maybe something like Toyota's Kaizen, maybe a touch point at the end of each shift or weekly where people can come together, share, reflect and improve.

As populations age and it becomes ever more difficult to attract and retain, building and empowering organizations from within should become progressively more important. If enough people feel more validated and invested in, they should feel less threatened and more secure and might even become less reflexively opposed to and scared of immigrants.