Some don't have a clue...
Some don't have a clue...
You've got that right.
It's easy to sniff at the unemployed when you're in a secure position, own your own (profitable) business or are retired and out of the rat race. Jobs are hard to get in many areas, age discrimination is rampant (tough luck if you're much over 35) and the low-end employers don't want anyone too old (over 40), educated or coming off a good-paying profession as they assume you'll either leave quickly or won't take supervision from a 20-year-old high school dropout. Being willing to work is important but it's no guarantee of a job. It's clearly an employers market and they even expect a college degree for commission sales jobs.
To the gainfully employed it always looks easy and 'get a job' rolls off the tongue along with 'do whatever you have to do' except that when the employers have their pick of applicants it isn't quite that easy. The hi-tech jobs are the worst. I still see age discrimination as the real employment killer. If you're over 40, it's tough. Over 50? You can just about forget it. Every job-loss is different in every era. Low end jobs have become rather scarce and the good jobs are harder to find. Been there, done that. I know of which I speak and I resent the implication that anyone unemployed is simply lazy or too fussy. Easy to say when your paycheck is secure but the reality for the unemployed is quite different. Some folks need to lose their assumptions and knee-jerk reactions.