[thephyber]

I don't understand why some HNer is expected to have an answer for this because no part of US society does.

We've underfunded career counseling in public schools for generations. We don't have any healthy career retraining system like other OECD countries do. Unemployment systems in the USA are nearly useless when it comes to retraining employees -- they really just act as job boards. Most states don't seem capable of attracting different industries, so when a batch of jobs leave a region, those employees struggle to find a near replacement. We have massive mental health and addiction problems so companies spend a lot of effort to avoid hiring anyone who might raise these costs for the company.

US society doesn't actually care about employees who don't take care of themselves. It's time we stop pretending like we do and call a spade a spade.

[mbrodersen]

Yep agree. At least be honest about not giving a s* about other people. That would be a small improvement.