It also means companies thinking more expansively about who is qualified for a job in the first place. That is evident, for example, in the way Alex Lorick, a former South Florida nightclub bouncer, was able to become a mainframe technician at I.B.M.<\/p>\n
Mr. Lorick often worked a shift called \u201cdevil\u2019s nine to five\u201d \u2014 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. \u2014 made all the more brutal when it was interspersed with day shifts. The hours were tough, but the pay was better than in his previous jobs, one at a retirement home and another serving food at a dog track. Yet it was a far cry from the type of work he had dreamed about in high school, when he liked computers and imagined making video games for a living.<\/p>\n
As a young adult, he took online classes in web development and programming languages, but encountered a Catch-22 many job seekers know well: Nobody wanted to hire a tech worker without experience, which meant he couldn\u2019t get enough experience to be hired. College wasn\u2019t for him. Hence the devil\u2019s nine to five.<\/p>\n
Until late last year, that is. After months on unemployment during the pandemic, he heard from I.B.M., where he had once applied and been rejected for a tech job. It invited him to apply to an apprenticeship program that would pay him to be trained as a mainframe technician. Now 24, he completed his training this month and is beginning hands-on work in what he hopes is the start of a long career.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a way more stable paycheck, and more consistent hours,\u201d Mr. Lorick said. \u201cBut the most important thing is that I feel like I\u2019m on a path that makes sense and where I have the opportunity to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sometimes as a writer, you sense that something big is changing before your eyes. Stray data points and anecdotes all point to a big shift.<\/p>\n I think this is one of those times: Workers are gaining the upper hand over employers for the first time in ages.https:\/\/t.co\/M1uCvQcLcv<\/a><\/p>\n — Neil Irwin (@Neil_Irwin) June 5, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n