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August 26, 2009
Many unemployed are looking for a job just like the one they lost.
They want to land back in a company that provides good health benefits and earn at least what they did before.
That is happening for some. Some people who are the perfect round pegs for the round holes employers need to fill are getting hired.
But those success stories are spotty. Re-employment for most workers who lost jobs in the last two years has meant a lateral move or step down financially.
Or it’s meant cobbling together a couple of part-time jobs, neither of which provides health benefits.
What most long-term job hunters are coming to grips with is job market reality: The jobs they had might not come back.
So what to do about it?
The blithe answer is to become an entrepreneur. Don’t put your fate in any employer’s hands. Take charge of your own career.
Unfortunately, there are major impediments. Try sitting across from your friendly banker and pitching a start-up loan.
And what about that employer-subsidized health care you had before? Gone with the wind.
Unless and until some kind of health care reform squeezes through, there’s no guarantee a would-be entrepreneur, or small-business employee, or part-time job holder can get or afford health coverage.
The other blithe answer to the lost-jobs-that-won’t-be-coming-back predicament is to retrain for a different career.
That, too, may be easier said than done. Retraining takes time and, usually, money.
It means going back to school and getting a different degree or entering a technical training program. Some scholarships and subsidies are available, but taking time out for schooling means further loss of income.
Remember, most Americans have been poor savers. And even those who saved have seen their 401(k) balances shrink. Many of the long-term unemployed are depleting savings.
Some job hunters tell me that they went back to school or retrained for a “hot job,” but they’re still looking. They’re competing in the job market with people with experience, and their newly minted training doesn’t put them at the top.
These are job-market realities for job hunters. But the employed shouldn’t be smug.
The recession has created an employers’ market. It’s kept the lid on compensation. Average annual raises are down from about 3.5 percent to about 1 percent.
In many businesses and industries, there also have been benefits take-aways — and those aren’t likely to be restored soon.
In short, a lot of workers — unemployed and employed — want the jobs they once had.
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