Still More Scenes from a V-Shaped Recovery

First, there was "Scenes from a V-Shaped Recovery." Then there was "More Scenes from a V-Shaped Recovery." And now, we bring you the latest installment, courtesy of a recurring feature at The Daily Dish, "A View From Your Recession," where Andrew Sullivan highlights sad vignettes submitted by readers:

May 28th:

Thank you for the outlet.  I am a 58 year-old male, and my white hair proves it.  I was laid off an executive position in a real estate company in January 2009.  I directed international marketing programs and was responsible for over $200 million in transactions.  But I have been unable to find work, even well below my former position.  I am told that I appear too smart, too qualified.   I have applied for many, many jobs - jobs I could do in my sleep.

Playing by the rules, I post and scour Monster and Career Builder to no avail, not even an interview.  When I see a job that particularly fits my skills, I break the "rules" and contact the employer directly and consistently.  Still, no job.  The State of Florida has a service to help the unemployed.  When I met with my counselor, she was shocked that with my resume I didn't have a job.  As we pursued opportunities, she finally suggested that I dumb down my resume.  That proved a bit difficult.  I was in charge of a large development marketing operation.  My former company was extremely successful (until the financial world changed and mortgages disappeared).

How do I feel?  I cry.  From there it is anger, then depression. As I like to say, I lost my job that January, and lost my pride by June.  I have now lost hope. I eat very little during the day then my (employed) girlfriend comes home and I cook dinner.  She has been terrific.  She is more worried about me than our finances.  As I like to tell her, I guess I used up all my good luck when I met her.

May 27th:

A fifty-something reader writes:

I type 50 words per minute. I've had decades of customer service experience and can handle almost any customer. I have a good grasp of bookkeeping, payroll and could if I had to, effectively cover for the manager of Human Resources. I acquired all these skills in sophisticated Information Technology environments. I can't find a job.

Right now I'm working for the Census. To verify I do have skills I've taken civil service tests for jobs with titles like Administrative Assistant or Accounting Clerk or Payroll Clerk. I score very high on the tests. I can't find a job.

When I apply for things like cashier at the local convenience store I have a delightful conversation with the manager ,,,, and I don't get the job. When I apply for sales jobs in places like Best Buys they are thrilled to see me, seem to be anxious to place me in the computer department. I don't get the job.

I have been able to get work here and there which means I don't collect unemployment while I'm working the temporary job. Even with the extensions I will run out of unemployment in July. I just paid my health insurance bill for June. I don't know how I'm going to pay the one for July. I suspect I'm going to have to apply for welfare and medicaid. If you are able bodied and single with no dependents to maintain your welfare benefits you have to make a reasonable attempt to find a job. That usually boils down to applying for a few jobs a week. I'm going to run out of places to apply in a month or so, there aren't that many employers around here. Which means I won't be eligible for welfare. 

I'm considering waiting tables, assuming I can get a job. Forest Ranger for the summer might be possible too. That just puts this off until Labor Day. ... live in the Adirondacks, employment is very seasonal and very oriented to tourists. Might have to move in with my sister so that I'm in the metro New York City job market with more options.

Comments

[Luke]

I, too, am 58. I also held a very well paid job in the FIRE (financial, insurance, real estate) industry. I totally sympathize with your everything you are experiencing and feeling. The cold hard facts are that you are NOT going to get hired in your former capacity. In fact, you will be lucky to find any position. I work two minimum wages jobs that I am thankful for. I sent out over 1200 resumes with few nibbles and fewer interviews. Those who are employed do not have any understanding nor comprehension of how awful the job market is for those who are too old to be hired yet too young for social security. You MUST reinvent yourself while you put in the time to work in some menial position. You MUST get creative and think outside of the box. The matrix is rapidly changing. 40 million on food stamps hides the soup kitchens from the 30s. There is 20% plus underemployment and unemployment. You MUST stop feeling sorry about what you've lost. Those who are still acting like it is 2007 will soon enough be hearing the wake up call to a new reality. You cannot and must not dwell on what you had. You have a future which you must seize. For every job you see advertised there are over ten applicants and many of the jobs are just a fake scam to get your information. I once worked at an employment agency thinking I could do people some good getting them a job. NOT! They are meat markets. They laugh at those over age 50 thinking they're still employable at a level they once had. Quite possibly the worst job I ever had. It isn't hopeless but it is very tough. Good luck. I've lost my family, my home, my job, etc yet I am still here---God must have something up his sleeve for me.

[Fed up taxpayer]

All I can say is, they are not alone.
I know of 2 friends in their 50's, college educated, great business experience, both out of work for over a year.
One of my relatives, broad experience in office work, extremely organized and responsible- will run out of unemployment checks shortly.
And yet are teacher's union is demanding another raise this year, "or else." Apparently greed is boundless.
Expect them to put cute little 5 year olds on the picket line, for the benefit of tv cameras.

[Omitted Kingdom]

Regarding Real Estate 2009, no sympathy from me. I am a Republican and I sure as h3ll did not vote for George W Bush. When I heard "offshoring," my thought was economic disaster, and here we are. Bush and his dimwit US Secretary Elaine Chao, Mitch McConnell's wife, rarely, if ever, met their monthly jobs creation target. Anyone not paying attention is a certified moron. When you hear Buffet state "it's class warfare; my class won," you should learn to pay attention. How in the heck anyone in the FIRE economy or investment community thought mortgage payments could reset to a higher monthly payment, I have NO idea. It's just a measure of how dumb Americans are.

Alan Greenspan and Elaine Chao both chirped "health sciences" as the ONLY jobs left in the US. So, yes, it was planned job destruction. I suggest you get busy getting into health sciences, whatever way you can.

[roger]

Social responsibility was never part of management philosophy.
To day many are paying the price for their selfish egotism and
greed. I was part of management for many years, we had our economic
lows and anytime I proposed sharing the pain, the usual response
was: what? are you a commy or something..Sharing would have benefited
people and the company. Sorry not much tears here.

[nb]

I understand your frustrations. However, if you are truley worth what you think you are, do something selfsustaining, don't wait for others to offer you a job. The larger part of the problem is often psychological. Look at yourself and ask youself the question. Am I goning to do something or cringe for the rest of my life?. Hopefully, with your former income, you should have the house paid off, so financially, maybe you can do with much less. Why not be helpful to yourself and others, assist where you are not expected to pitch in.
Start a business, pursue the hobbies you never had time for, yes, cook for your girlfriend, and enjoy it! Life is maybe trying to teach you a lesson, embrace it for what it is worth.
I have been self-employed for 20 years. At the moment, selling our products are slow, for many reasons, not least competition from China. I can sell and make nothing, or I can stop selling for a while and make nothing. I have chosen the latter. In the meanwhile I do what I never really had the time to do, restore old motorbikes and cars, bake, cook, grow vegetables, install solar heating and I have designed and built a small part for petrol engines which I manufacture. I am not making much, but I get by.
And, honestly, I enjoy it! I have maybe 20 good years left, hate to waste them!!
I hope this helps!!

[Blurtman]

Would it be wrong is such a despondent person assassinated Lloyd Blankfiend? Really, would such a person be a hero or villain?

[AustinCompany]

I would suggest the following for those over 50 looking for a job. First, get in shape! Any employer would be more likely to hire someone that is fit and active rather than someone who is obese and minutes away from cardiac arrest. Secondly, do a makeover - new clothes, hairstyle, etc. I am shocked at the number of women (and some men) that have had the same hair styles they did in the 1970's.

Third, learn a new skill (computers) or a new language. Not only would this possibly help with employment, it will also keep you busy and mentally moving forward. Fourth, have a bit of humbleness yet be confident. Many older, experienced people sometimes give off an air of superiority that turns many people off.

And lastly, do not be afraid to MOVE. Older people sometimes have a fear of new places and things (having lived i the same house for 30 plus years). Believe it or not, there ARE pockets of relative prosperity in the U.S. One just has to look for them. Hope these tips help.

[rhon]

My cousin's husband hires field supervisors for his company. With each new job opening, ten or more applicants telephone him daily inquiring if the position remains open. My husband and son work in legal fields. Every month they see an increasing number of resumes from lawyers hoping to find employment. At least in my area, there is overwhelming competition for a decreasing number of jobs, in all fields.

[LJ]

I want to rob a bank, such as JP Morgan, B of A or Citi and run out to the street and throw all the money up in the air with a note saying, "this is your money, enjoy."

Watching the traffic stop in a downtown area would be poetic.

[Michael]

Hmm, strange comments here. Typical 'well it's not me so sucked in' attitude, not realising you're all in this together. Blaming the 'greedy unionists' is totally absurd - what is so greedy about demanding and having the ability to get a liveable wage? Oh how nasty that the middle class demands to keep themselves middle classed? I don't have much time for teachers myself, but where is your country going to end up if you gut the education system?

It is the same attitude that is embodied in the rather offensive 'club med' moniker for southern europe. It isn't the general people who stole the money out of the country and depressed the tax base required to oil the state. It is corrupt officials, multinationals, big banks and so on that siphoned off the national wealth for their own short-term gain.

I don't have a story of my own, but my sister has been in Florida for the last few years. After working for a while as an experienced admin officer in a doctor's clinic where she demanded and got a half decent wage, the clinic closed last year since the doctors just weren't making any money any more with insurance and drop in customers. Thus she lost her job. After having a holiday till her unemployment ran out (growing vegies, cooking, & her husband still works), the only work she can get is minimum wage as a waitress - an offensive slave-labour wage of $4.20/hr 'plus tips' to make up the official minimum (also slave-equivalent) wage. Tips are ok in the on-season but nothing much in the off.

Well she's finally had enough of that and the asinine stupidity of the people around her and she's coming back to Australia in a month. Not that the people here are any brighter, but at least if she can't find a job she'll get much more than that on the dole here - plus free healthcare to boot. And her daughter will be allowed to play sport at school without insurance.

[AustinCompany]

Michael:

And we greedy and unfeeling Americans wish your sister a fond farewell!

Actually, I have always been of the opinion that the US should cut our defense budget down by 90% (it would still be one of the largest in the world) and then we would have plenty of money for "free" health care, education, etc. The only problem is that people living in Australia, Japan, Germany, etc. would (God forbid) have to spend much more of their OWN money on self-defense - instead of relying on old greedy Uncle Sam. And then Michael, as an American, I could then smile as your country struggled with the decisions of either helping people like your sister on the dole or paying to protect your country from all the bad guys.

[Degringolade]

(pardon, this one is an early Monday Morning Ramble)

I guess that I am one of the lucky oldsters. The biotech industry (where I was an $80,000 senior scientist) started tanking in late 2007 when my work buddies and I found ourselves on the streets. Being a long-time follower of the tin-foil hat and doom crowd, I immediately started applying for every Veterans Administration job that came up and that I for which I was even vaguely qualified. I spent a year on the dole, then, sixty-two applications later, in September of 2008, I managed to land a GS-5 clerk job for $32,000 a year with OK benefits. I was pleased as punch.

The guys who got laid off at the same time just ran out of their 99 weeks.

I think that the real problem that I see is the attitude and the overblown expectations of folks. The vast majority of those who are "overqualified" talk about how they have applied diligently for jobs that are "beneath" them tell the whole story. I have been in on interviews where these folks came in displaying the resume plumage and firmly and completely screwed the interview with their "This job is sooo beneath me" attitude, a line on how they can straighten up all the problems, and leaving the interviewers with the firm conviction that they will be somewhere else in a nanosecond as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

My generation (I am fifty-seven) have the odd idea that their expectations of life carry the weight of justice and truth. The reality is the world is changing and there is currently little or no use for high-level drones with a sick fascination for excel spreadsheets and meetings. I doubt that this trend will change any time soon.

Expectations must be re-calibrated. During the last twenty years, there was a lot of money sloshing around that fed a lot of drones. They called themselves middle management.

I have the enormous good fortune to have two great sons, aged thirteen and fourteen (yes I started late). I harangue them on keeping their grades up and push them toward real things...welding, brewing, carpentry, engineering. If you look around you, folks with real skills are having less trouble than folks with "middle management experience". I doesn't mean life is good for them, they are just getting by a little better.

[alex west]

well, more than 50% voted for Bush 2d term.. I'd say they deserved what they got..

now, seems 90% blame OBAMA... :)

well he didnt start( lie) about Iraq/Afgan war.. he didnt cause housing bubble, finance bubble .he didnt keep 0% rates for years...

only thing could even worse .. Americans will vote for Sara Palin as next USA president... :)

alex

[AustinCompany]

Degringolade - Great post! I agree with you 100%. If you read my first post above, it also says to all those over 50's to be "humble". It also says to get/stay fit and healthy. On my 50th birthday, I started Taekwondo - I am now 52 and a Blue Belt. I feel great and get to be around young and vibrant people. Too many over 50's are fat and unhappy. This comes across in a job interview.

[nb]

Just been to see a fantastic concert with Wishbone Ash, Uriah Heep and Deep Purple. All fantastic musicians. Splendid!!
Went home and checked the age of Ian Gillan lead singer in Deep Purple. 65!!!! Plenty of good years left in all of us!

Go for it.