WHY THE UNEMPLOYED CAN'T FIND WORK

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit I am frustrated and a bit depressed.  I was laid off from my job in August 8, 2009.  I had minor surgery in July.  I emailed my employer a month later to tell them that my doctor had released me to come back to work.  Within four hours I received a phone call telling me that I was being laid off.  My boss was released as well. 

The economy was in the toilet and there were no work to be found so I filed for unemployment and started applying for any position I could find.  When that didn’t work, I decided to go back to school.  I was valued where ever I had worked in the past.  I would quickly work my way up the ladder into positions that normally would require a degree.  Unfortunately, although this said a great deal about my intelligence and skills, it hurt me when I went job hunting afterwards.  I had a double Associate Degree.  So at the ripe old age of 59, I decided to back for my BS.

And I did!  I received my BS in Business Management in January 2012 and I graduated Summa Cum Laude.  Did it help?  Absolutely not!  So I did what I normally do when it is an employer’s market.  I signed up with a great temporary agency that I had worked for in the past.

I have worked contract or as a temp off and on a great deal in my life.  Contract work is a great way for young mothers to get back into the work force.  I would work a nine month contract while the kids were in school and save on child care during the summer months.  I had to adapt and learn at each new position.  My skill levels were such that I was always in demand.  I thought this time it would be the same.

It has been over a year since I contacted the agency.  I’ve had exactly eight hours of work and one job interview.  I have applied for so many positions since 2009 I’ve lost count.  I contacted the temp agency and asked them if it was the economy or me.

One of the supervisors from the agency called me.  He explained that employers are so picky now that he often can’t fill their requests.  He said, for example, that they will say they need an administrative assistant with an engineering degree and five years’ experience.  He said that since I hadn’t held a job since 2009 it would be difficult for me to find a job.  I replied that I was in school during this time period.  My tuition was funded and that I couldn’t work while I taking classes as part of the agreement.  I wasn’t sitting on my hands.  I was updating my skills.  He said that it didn’t matter, that employers want a minimum of five years’ experience on top of school.  I had worked as a project manager and delivery coordinator for AT&T and IBM.  I was a sales coordinator for Air Cruisers at the time I was laid off.  My prior work history didn’t matter.  I was damaged goods.

He added that last year he would occasionally get jobs at my rate of $15.00 to $18.00 an hour.  He said although at this time he is getting more requests for temps, the rate employers are willing to pay has dropped to $10.00 to $12.00 an hour.  He asked me if I had been doing anything else since I was laid off.  My son owns and operates an online business.  He sells his products at auto and motorcycle shows across the country.  Although he doesn’t pay me I have helped him a great deal.  I was told to add that work experience to my resume.  I told him to lower my rate.  I doubt seriously that doing either will make a difference.

So I am 61 years old and the odds are I will never work again.  If I try to get a minimum wage job, I am told I am over qualified.  They are afraid to hire me, because they figure I will leave as soon as something better will come along.  I’ve been told that if I go back and get my Master’s or Microsoft certs I might be able to find a teaching position, but I can’t count on that.  I can’t afford to waste money or precious time on a pipe dream.

Employers are being incredibly foolish and short sighted.  There are plenty of older skilled workers like me.  They won’t hire anyone who has been out of work for more than six months.  They say that we no longer have the skills to do the job.  What utter rubbish!  I proved that when I went back to school.  I ran rings around the younger students.  Older workers are more reliable.  They have strong work ethics and they don’t have the distractions that younger workers have.  Employers are missing out on valuable resources.

Companies are complaining that they can’t find the skilled workers they need.  Baloney!  They are using it as an excuse to import cheap labor from overseas or to off shore the work.  The workers they need are right here in the U.S.  If we don’t have the skills they need, they can train us.

Employers have become lazy and cheap.  They should be ashamed of themselves!