Pemo TheodoreThe United States job market is far from perfect, but fortunately it has gained back over half of the positions lost during the initial dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is great news for many Americans, especially as the “unemployment rates declined among all major worker groups in October,” according to the Department of Labor.
There is, however, a dark side. Unfortunately, people who have been out of work for a long while are experiencing a hard time getting back to work. The number of long-term unemployed—officially designated as 27 weeks or more—increased to 3.6 million, accounting for about 32.5% of the total unemployed.
Many people run through their savings, including blowing through their emergency funds. Since most states only offer a maximum 26 weeks’ worth of unemployment funds, they have lost—or will lose—their safety net. As a result, their self-worth is destroyed. Tensions within the family over their unfortunate circumstances escalate. Then, there’s a sudden withdrawal from society.
To make matters worse, job seekers face blatant discrimination throughout the job search process. They’ll say that companies look unfavorably at applicants that have been between jobs for a long period of time. Interviewers look askance at the unemployed applicant and demand to know why they haven’t found a job after about six months or longer.
They’ll grill the candidate as to why they were picked for downsizing and not some other employee. Hiring managers will wonder aloud if the job seeker did something wrong, was a poor performer, a problematic employee or committed a heinous act that made other companies pass on hiring the person.
- Get your head together
- A fresh start
- You need to be seen and heard
- You must fight back against wallowing in self-pity
- Consider creating a new you
- Putting it all together Read more via Forbes
