Jobs ......... div

I normally don't get to watch 60 Minutes since I'm out there risking my life and sanity navigating the pavement in and around the GWTP.
Since my "vacation" has been extended due to a rotten cold, I got the chance this past Sunday.
The segment on jobs  - - and the fact that there are so many of them out there without any "qualified" applicants was pretty amazing. A couple of things really struck me:
1) basic skills  - -  like showing up on time and paying attention  - - was really no shock. These are basic social skills that aren't being taught any longer. Perhaps it's the fact that families no longer sit down and eat dinner anymore or that Mom and Dad are so busy holding down two jobs each that they can't recognize their kids.
2) The business owner saying that he had no need to train his people. What, you expect workers (and at $12 bucks an hour for a machinist) to spring fully formed like Athena from the forehead of Zeus ??
Used to be that unions (before they became management institutions) trained apprentices to fill vacancies.
3) the fact that basic supply and demand  - -  i.e. the marketplace  - -  seems to have failed. If there aren't enough applicants (low supply), and unfilled positions (high demand), shouldn't there be a "bidding war" to get people on board ???  Seems that business owners only tout the "marketplace" when it's to their advantage, eh ??
I remember when I retired from the service   - -  over 600 resumes, 3 interviews and no job (this was during the Bush I recession). I certainly had the basic skills and was willing to start at the bottom (hell, I even sanded drywall to buy groceries) but (and it was never said) being over 45 didn't help.
Later working in the travel industry, my "rigid" background of the military was a basis for not moving up.
With the conflicts in the sandboxes drawing down, why aren't these "job creators" utilizing the people with the very training they say they need. The US military establishment is probably the finest training organization in the world. You learn fast, you learn well and are soon teaching others. As the Marines say, you adapt, improvise and overcome when presented with a challenge. Why is it that only the worker is expected to make the sacrifices ??
Today's WaPo cited the fact that  companies are maintaining profitability by "squeezing" worker pay.
Wanna bet that "Executive Compensation" and "Shareholder Equity" are being squeezed as well ???
I've got a dollar.