Yep. This is all very true. I’ve never understood the “logic” that if you have a gap in your employment record...say if you were out of work for a year or more even in the midst of THE worst economy in 3 generations....that somehow means you are now damaged and/or worthless and we should never hire you. That’s just stupid. If anything, somebody like that is probably very hungry for work and would be eager to do a good job. Yet that is exactly how many employers treat it.
The economy has really picked up in the last 6 months. My income has gone up 20% in the last year. But there are still people out there who are fully capable and who are qualified and still need a job. The labor market participation rate will go back up if the good economy persists. Many of those who the government claims “gave up” did no such thing - they were just long term unemployed during the Great Recession.
My guess is that those who had good jobs 10 years ago and have been unable to find work now are small percentage of a big workforce. But given the tightness of the employment market now, Companies would be smart to throwaway their HR guidelines.
There are many anecdotal reasons why good people cannot get a job. Many are just not good at selling themselves. They are too honest and dwell on what they can’t do rather than what they can do. They had romantic problems or alcohol or drug issues. Some are fat and ugly. The #1 employment discrimination is not based on race or sex or age... It is based on ugly .. what PC calls lookism. We want people working with us who look like they came straight out of Hollywood casting.
I tried to get my manager to hire a person for back office IT and the manager insisted that despite her admitted top notch IT skills, her ugly looks would be detrimental to the productivity of the others. We werenot talking some receptionist impression on customers. It was back office.