Back in 2003 I had been unemployed for a while, mostly by choice, but was trying to get back into the IT field. My skills were outdated and I was running into a whole lot of “since you haven’t been working lately, we’re not interested in you”. I went to a gathering with my wife, meeting all the people in that group for the first time. I was introduced to someone with the same first name, who also worked IT. People expected us to get on famously. I said something about having a hard time getting back into the field. He sniffed at me, turned away and said that he had NEVER had an issue getting a job and it had to be me. Then he walked away, leaving me, my wife, and several bystanders thunderstruck.
A few months later, he was laid off.
A few years later, I was divorced and had no contact with that group, but was gaming with some other people who knew the guy in question. They allowed as he had FINALLY got another IT job after not being able to for three years.
Karma is a bitch, I said.
Part of the problem is that companies promote a lot of “fast track” managers and push people forward when they are in their 20’s and have a relatively short life experience with the work force. They haven’t been through this kind of thing before, so they think “I’ve had no problem working, so something must be wrong with them”. They also have a very hard time hiring people who are older then them, or who have a lot more experience in the field, both for that first thought, and due to personal insecurities. Thinking that person is not going to respect their authority and leadership, or will show them up.
In a way, it’s kinda like the woman I used to know who thought I was damaged goods when I was single, but the moment I got married, I was perfectly ok. Unemployed? Something wrong with you. Employed? All good.
Not defending someone who would quit after only three days, but if you’re desperate for a job and someone tells you’re going to have to put in 68 hour work weeks, you’d probably just go “fine, when do I start.” You’re not really thinking about getting burnt out. And frankly 68 hours a week probably looks pretty good after an extended period of working zero hours a week. You figure you’d probably be making pretty good overtime (I’m assuming the jobs you’re talking about are hourly and salaried positions).
Again I can’t make a proper judgement call as I don’t know what all your job entails. Maybe you really are getting a bunch of lazy assholes applying (I’ve worked at a few places over the years where that was certainly the case). But once you start working those six days a week, those 12 hours a day, I can see how a lot of people would tire out.
It’s hourly based. We make bolts for the car manufactures. We are a Tier 1, 2, and 3 supplier. The hours are a blessing and a curse. I think it goes back to do you want a job or do you need a job. Putting the wants in front of the needs seems to be the way things are going. This is just what I have witnessed at my job, not to say this is whats going on around the country.
You seem to think that employers should care about the unemployment rate and should work to reduce it. I find that kind of odd. It’s axiomatic that an employer is going to care about their own business more than the unemployment rate.
Allow me to illustrate: let’s say you are in the market for a widget, and your research shows that widgets cost about $20. Now, you start talking to a widget manufacturer, and he tells you about the rough times in his industry and how he’s making much less than he used to, and for that reason he asks you to pay $50 for a widget. Would you pay $50? Why or why not?
My point is, of the 20 there might be some who are qualified AND unemployed, but a lot of employers dismiss the unemployed candidates regardless of their qualifications.
If I was a hiring manager and I had two or more qualified candidates, then I probably would choose one who’s unemployed.
Second, as I mentioned previously, unemployed people aren’t even given a chance. We may be qualified, we may not be. But a lot of employers won’t get past the unemployed status to find out.
But honestly, and this sounds harsh, that’s your problem, not theirs. They have qualified applicants who have shown that they can hold a job through tough times. They are weighting that higher than people who haven’t done that. That is a logical thing to do when they have plenty of applicants to pick from. When the labor market is tight, they don’t usually have that choice.
You’re missing my point. I’m saying that an employer wouldn’t hire someone they view as inferior anymore than Ýoud pay over twice the market rate for a widget. IOW, you expect employers to do something you’d never do yourself.
My overall point was this. From what I’ve been hearing on the news, even though the recession is officially over our economy is still really bad off. A big part of this reason, I thought, was because of the high unemployment rate. I thought the bad economy was affecting individuals and businesses alike negatively. And I also thought that in order to get a better economy for all of us, getting down the unemployment rate would be a big step. So it would seem logical for businesses to hire the unemployed because they would be helping themselves. But apparently businesses are doing just fine in this crappy economy.
And if paying an extra $30 per widget would help the economy, and I could afford it, then I would pay the extra money.
I want a job. I also want a life outside of said job. If I needed a job, I’d be willing to do sacrifice the outside life if that’s what it took. But I don’t, I merely want one, so I can be a lot more finicky.
No one is interested in hurting themselves to “get a better economy for all of us.” It’s that simple.
If you truly would pay $50 in the widget example, then I have a proposition for you: I have a way to make the economy better for all of us, and the first step is for you to send me $1,000 through paypal. So when can I expect payment?
That is a choice I don’t have. More power to you. Your statement pretty much sums up the problem that the unemployed are having. Being finicky now will cost you later when the want evolves into a need. If you quit a job cause the hours are too long or you just don’t like the job then the person who interviews you for the job you need is going to take that into account. They don’t care why you didn’t want or why you couldn’t work the hours, or why you didn’t like the job. All they see is someone who is a liability to walk. Not saying this is how you are, or am I bashing you at all. Just my opinion.