This country’s employment philosophy has for a long time centered around the ability of a person to have a job over a long period of time, and finally retire gracefully after many years of service, being rewarded with an ample pension. Higher pay and better working conditions also were associated with length of time on the job. This system had a name: the seniority system.

The way one was treated on the job was always something different from the hiring practices of an employee. Though the boss would prefer someone to stay a long time on the job, he would also want to hire someone usually fairly young and inexperienced. This way he could pay someone a low salary once that person started work and raise the salary as that person increased his skills the longer he worked on the job. To hire someone outright who had a great deal of skills meant a high ….