Urban inner-city unemployment has reached a much higher than average level as the work skills needed in modern industry have moved beyond the reach of inner-city residents. The technological revolution has radically altered the job market around the world. Labour saving, sophisticated business practices have diminished the market for unskilled personnel with limited education. It is a common practice for training programmes in low socio-economic areas to use out-dated equipment, such as letter presses and manual typewriters, which do not prepare the student for competing in the labour market where offset presses and electric or correcting typewriters are used. Also, industry has found it more profitable to move out of the inner city, which adds a complex, expensive and time-consuming burden to the inner city resident.
Those who continue to yearn for the personal relationships of the rural style experience shifting to the urban style an overwhelming risk. The style and idiom of the streets which has equipped ghetto residents for survival is not easily translated into the sophistication of the business world. Low pay, long hours, hard work and the inequitable nature of manual labour result in available jobs going unfilled while the unemployed stand by, hoping for something better. The inner city resident is further discouraged by hiring practices which, in effect, promote discrimination.