Posted on 04/24/2013 2:34:52 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Two men named Bob. Both are over fifty. Both had been working consistently for nearly three decades before losing their jobs in 2009. Both were out of work for more than 99 weeks.
Now there is one glaring difference. Bob Greeney is employed. Bob Sullivan is still fighting to get back into the workforce.
Friendly and candid, the 61-year-old Mr. Sullivan worked in the travel hospitality industry until his former company closed its Boston branch. After taking a brief pause to care for his mother, he said he went through job agencies, attended job fairs and applied to scores of jobs online.
“Still, no bites,” said Mr. Sullivan, whose ongoing search, day in and day out, continues. “It’s just a malaise you fall into. It’s like having a slow disease, especially if you get rejected or don’t hear back.”
The battle to get back to work is indisputably grueling, and Mr. Sullivan and the other roughly 4.7 million people who have been unemployed for over six months know all too well that as each month goes by the stigma of long-term unemployment can make it increasingly more challenging to find work
“If someone is out of work for a while the perception from employers is that there must be something wrong with you, and after a couple of years the people themselves begin to believe they don’t have value, that it’s over for them,” said Joe Carbone, creator of Platform to Employment, a five-week program that focuses on retraining and placing “99ers” into eight-week internships with the possibility of that turning into a job. The term “99ers” refers to those out of work for 99 weeks or longer and whose unemployment benefits have run out.
“We don’t see bread lines. But that despair is there, it’s just behind closed doors,”
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
We should already be rioting in the streets but Americans are trained to be docile and stupid.
Raise the import tariffs and put Americans back to work.
Add: Stop all immigration for 2 decades, at least; then you have plan.
But, hey, Obama’s stopped walking on water long enough to put the economy right, all praise to Obama.
All talk of unemployment is thus rendered null and void by the magic of media indifference.
>>Friendly and candid, the 61-year-old Mr. Sullivan worked in the travel hospitality industry<<
Is that code for “Travel Agent?”
That avocation has been on its way out since Orbitz came into existence.
Yeah, and raise minimum wages along with that thought! Keep as many people poor as you can!!!
Or continue to compete against $0.17/hr wages in communist China and blame our regs and taxes while hollering free trade and watching our industries shut down.
Oh and don’t ever mention China’s 90% tax rate, while blaming our taxes.
In the past managers made hiring decisions based on who can best do the job. Now it is about minimum labor cost factoring in the elements. Hence the over 55 crowd gets nailed. Nature of the beast, I can speak from experience.
And don't give me the old dated skills argument, it is largely crap.
Many if not most of the over 55 who do find work are either contract labor or work for themselves. I had to do the latter.
I am one of those “older” workers. Went on an interview about two months ago (accounting position) and was told to my face that “we don’t want anyone at the end of their career” - sounds like age discrimination, however, because I didn’t record the conversation nothing can be done about it. Also, due to “sequestration” unemployment benefits here in MA are being cut 12.8%, not sure what the cut % is in other states.
Article said the recession’s over and recovery has been weak. And gubmint action is required.
Whew I feel better now. /s
(see tagline)
Wonder how much a “Metro North ticket collector in New York City” pays. That’s the job Mr. Greeney got according to the article.
SEE HERE:
http://secondavenuesagas.com/2010/06/03/a-salary-too-high-or-simply-too-many-employees/
EXCERPT:
The Empire Center’s press release offered up some good tidbits. In the $150,000-and-over club were 11 LIRR car repairmen who nearly tripled their base salary through overtime shifts. Others included:
65 Long Island Railroad and Metro-North Railroad conductors who averaged $86,837 over their base salaries which averaged $75,970;
53 Bridge & Tunnel Sergeants and Lieutenants who averaged $94,962 over the average base pay of $82,594;
34 Long Island and Metro-North Railroad engineers who averaged $89,109 over their $77,953;
28 MTA police officers; and
23 Long Island Railroad gang foremen averaging $81,718 over their base pay rate $82,249.
____________________________________
I would have to say that an MTA Ticket Collector’s salary is not bad ( It’s a Unionized position ).
RE: We should already be rioting in the streets but Americans are trained to be docile and stupid.
As long as the unemployment benefits, the food stamps, the government subsidies, disability payments etc. continue to come, there will be NO RIOTING.
Rioting starts when the money runs out as it eventually will.
That's when you start working temp, particularly in Accounting. Contracting pays more, but then you have to do your own 'books.' (Oh wait a minute.)
So 42% are men, and 41% are women. And the missing13%?
It’d be interesting to see those numbers including the “out-of-the-workforce” group. Maybe the 55-and-over group are just to stubborn to quit looking like Obama wants ‘em to, so they’re overrepresented in the long-term unemployed.
I’d bet 16-24 and African Americans are likely underrepresented in that chart ... because many have switched from long-term to out-of-the-workforce and living with momma.
SnakeDoc
I believe the chart is saying 42% of all unemployed men are LONG TERM unemployed. The rest of the 58% unemployed are NOT long term unemployed ( at least not yet ).
Which means that 41% of all unemployed women are LONG TERM unemployed.
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