I understand; the dream is dead for many. I’m glad my children never knew how good this used to be, since it would probably depress them (and they are too young for that). I’ve never owned a new car, and my house is an old fixer-upper (thankfully purchased before the bubble). If Americans had continued having families there would be a political solution to this; instead, they are voiceless now at the ballot box.
Stores in my area are staffed at bare-bones levels; the few jobs out there are part-time with various shift availability required (in other words, they are not designed to be a second job - they are designed to be your only job). NJ continues to drive employers away with burdensome taxes and regulations; besides the casino industry job losses, we now have Mercedes moving its HQ down to Atlanta.
It is just grim...
In the 1990’s, my work phone would ring with at least 3 new job offers every month. Always a switch offered, many times better pay. How they found me, I’ll never know. Probably don’t want to know.
For years now, nobody will acknowledge a resume, or even a submission, most of the time. I even tried those ridiculous temp agencies. Yes, one of them in Texas a couple years ago. Lotsa jobs. Or so they claimed. Did all the paperwork, wasted all my time. Found them months later at a “job fair”. I asked them, got jobs? Oh yes, many. Well, why haven’t you ever responded to a drug-free applicant with several degrees? Oh call me in the morning! So I did. Not a peep. Not a single peep. And they had office jobs, too.
A complete waste of time and gasoline. And that’s just one of several experiences not too different. They talk it up real good. This year I got called from 5 different recruiters from the same organization. I told the last one, let’s move beyond talk to action. Haven’t heard jack squat from him in two months (I’m not waiting on him, of course).
It’s beyond ridiculous.