Unemployment Lessons: GET A JOB!!

1stFreedom

[1stFreedom]

Democrats want to extend unemployment benefits by another 13 weeks. President Bush is proposing incentives to find work (incentive accounts of up to $3000).

One has to wonder why some people have been unemployed for so long so as to require an extension of UI benefits.

Over the past two years I've seen the IT job market drop dramatically. IT workers went from being King to being beggars. I've known of people who had to work at Borders bookstore because they had worked for a web firm and got laid off during the dot com bomb. They cound't find ANY job. Laid off employees of web firms were a dime a dozen.

I know other IT workers who had non-web IT jobs. They have been laid off for a variety of reasons: consolidation/mergers, stock pricing, cost reductions, and so forth.

I've noticed a trend among many of these people. They hold out for jobs that paid them what they had previosly earned. While this is a good idea in the short term (less than two months) it is a very bad strategy long term.

The choices these people face are: 1. Accept a step down. This means taking a job, regardless of the salary, travel distance, etc. 2. Hold out. Wait till a job is offered which pays the same/more. 3. Change careers. Probably the least desired option, but at least it's employment.

I've noticed that most have tended to hold out instead of taking a step down. Now these people are scrambling because UI benefits have ended.

These people had no incentive to find work quickly while on UI. Now that the benefits are finished, there is a whole lot of incentive to find a job, any job. This is the problem with providing a safety net that doesn't truely provide incentive to get back on one's feet.

Extending the benefits another 13 weeks will just keep giving people more time to hold out for a better offer that probably isn't there. It will just enable them to continue the same behavior -- and to seen another extension when this one runs out.

People need real incentive to get work. Any work, any pay, and career.

I myself have been in the thick of it all. I'm a IT consultant and have had to adjust with the employment market. Over the last two years the income I've earned has been cut by about $15k per year. And, being self-employed and having an active business, I don't qualify for unemployment insurance.

One thing I learned from seasoned consultants is that if you hold out for high rates during a bad market you will stay on the bench. You have do adjust with the market, and if you do so you'll stay working -- and you'll get paid. Sometimes you'll make out like a King, and sometimes you'll just be able to get by.

So many people earned so much during the "good" times and were basiclly overpaid. Think about it. Is an expert Microsoft Access programmer worth $120k a year? No. But I earned that back in 1998. In all honesty, I should have earned about 60-70k. Just like stock prices were overpriced, so were IT salaries. Now the market is readjusting to correct this.

People shoun't expect to make the big fat salaries they were once making. I know people who were making great money who held out for the same -- their UI benefits ran out. Now they are running out the door to find ANY job.

[AppyPappy]

I've known lots of people who rode Unemployment until it ran out and did side jobs to make money.

[TomServo]

Just like stock prices were overpriced, so were IT salaries.

Heh heh...I've always low-balled my salary. I remember always reading the VB salaries on DevX and being somewhat envious. Guess what? I'm still employed in IT.

[Eagle Eye]

Unfortunately this doesn't address the all-to-common problem job seekers face when they want to take a job that is substantially less in pay or something that is 'work, any work', and that is that many employers WILL NOT hire popel taking a step down. Walmart and the like often won't even interview people who made substantially more than what is now offered.

In Florida, unemployment maxes out at $275/week, hardly something one wants to ride out.

[SERE_DOC]

Here in KC you can't buy a job, I took a 3 month contract to NM that lasted 6 months, and am now looking again. I took a part time job at an office supply store while out there, and regretfully there is none like that here. I have applied to > 300 companies from NY to Saudia and from KC to Korea and I understand that some companies are swamped but to get no reply is so unprofessional.

Off the soap box now. have a groovie day

[RLK]

I find your analysis and assertions here to be superficial and devoid of certain critical realities.

[acs]

>So many people earned so much during the "good" times and >were basiclly overpaid. Think about it. Is an expert >Microsoft Access programmer worth $120k a year?

Not in my book. I am in IT, and I am shocked at some of the salaries that were being paid during the DOTCOM explosion. I cannot see a programmer being worth that kind of money. YOu are right. The over inflated salaries had to come back down. I think the whole IT profession is overrated anyway.

[motzman]

People shoun't expect to make the big fat salaries they were once making. I know people who were making great money who held out for the same -- their UI benefits ran out. Now they are running out the door to find ANY job.

Yes, how dare they expect big fat salaries. But you seem to have no problem with the big fat taxes those of us with those big fat salaries were paying for all those years.

Instead of focusing on the real problem, which is the massive influx of Socialism in our lives which caused this mess to begin with, it's much easier to slander the highly-skilled unemployed. Personally, if I wasn't getting legally robbed every year, I would have had much more money to put away and work for me in case I had ever been unable to work. But, that's the point; governement dependency is not the fault of the victims--it's the fault of the government. There is no "opt-out" option.

Billions for airline bailouts?---No problem.

Billions upon billions for "foreign aid"?---Hooray!

Untold bllions "lost" by our Federal Accounting agencies? --Whoops!

Ah, the skilled unemployed---let them work at McDonalds!!

Sorry pal, I've watched my father get destroyed by our tax system, and now I've been destroyed by the tax system---now you expect people (like me) that have had literally hundreds of thousands of dollar stolen from them to say "Oh, well--I'll just dig ditches now!"

This is a Socialist country. Don't blame the unemployed--blame the people who implemented this crap and those who voted for them.

[templar]

The choices these people face are: 1. Accept a step down. This means taking a job, regardless of the salary, travel distance, etc. 2. Hold out. Wait till a job is offered which pays the same/more. 3. Change careers. Probably the least desired option, but at least it's employment.

My opinions:
(1) A valid strategy in good times or hard times. You gotta start somewhere and it usually isn't on top.
(2) Holding out will work if you have more resources available than the other guy who is holding out. Eventually the competition will dissapear to somewhere else and you will be in demand again. UI extensions work against you.
(3) Best strategy for those who don't have the resources to hold out. Versatility will serve you well over the course of your life. No one knows the future and you may end up doing this more than once, so learn how now.

[1stFreedom]

In terms of taking a step down, it is true that employers aren't exactly jumping at the opportunity to hire you.

But if the step down is merely in pay, then they are more wiling to do so.

I should have said cut in salary instead of step down.

[1stFreedom]

In terms of taking a step down, it is true that employers aren't exactly jumping at the opportunity to hire you.

But if the step down is merely in pay, then they are more wiling to do so.

I should have said cut in salary instead of step down.

[wbill]

Fortunately, I'm an IT person that is (so far) still employed. The market needed a shake out.....unfortunately, the expectation for most people has been set so high that the current standard doesn't, and probably will never again, meet it.

I knew the end was near when I started to hear "Get your Microsoft Certification and earn big $$" ads on the local radio station. In 1999, companies didn't care if you were a good employee.....they hired you if you could recognize a computer 3 times out of 4. Now, all of the chaff has been separated out - those that were looking to make a fast buck, or who made poor employment choices ('DrKoop.com' anyone?), or who just aren't qualified. Without re-thinking their position, these people are going to have a hard time finding re-employment. Adding another 13 weeks for them to think about it won't help.

[motzman]

But if the step down is merely in pay, then they are more wiling to do so.

I should have said cut in salary instead of step down.

They are (almost) always the same thing.

And taking such a step down is absolute poison for anyone with a succesful career. Try explaining that to an HR manager, if you ever even get that far...

[HEY4QDEMS]

No-one who was making six figures will depend on unemployment checks which very commonly amount to three times less than they were making.

Also employers know that hiring somebody at a salary which is much less than they were used to making usually results in having an employee with a bad attitude and who always has his eyes out the door looking for something better.

[JohnGalt]

I agree with you in so far that anyone can sell anything and have an income, however, you are wrong in so far as Unemployment Insurance is a product that workers are forced to pay for. While Bush does not go far enough, he is on the right track.

UI should be privatized and individual workers should feel free to tap it when they need it and save and invest when they don't.

[mg39]

Gee, maybe people are unemployed because THEY CAN'T GET A JOB! I have a friend in New York City who is in the same boat as hundreds, maybe thousands of other are in that city post 9-11: the economy is in the tank, well-educated professionals are competing with people without college degrees for any damn job (as someone else pointed out here, unless you lie on your resume, employers for less skilled jobs won't hire you if they think you're over qualified), and people are scrambling to take any temp job they can to pay their bills.

Do some people abuse unemployment? Sure, just like some CEO's abuse their positions and rake in millions while laying off workers. Most unemployed people, however, are desperate for work.

[templar]

Instead of focusing on the real problem, ...

The real problem ... Lack of consumption. Do your part in correcting this. Go out and buy lots of IT in order to employ IT professionals. Buy it at high prices so they can be paid high salaries.

[Eagle Eye]

Lay offs don't normally include the option of a pay cut.

I'd rather have half of something than all of nothing.

When people cannot find openings in their field locally, employers are frequently reluctant to hire 'overqualified' people or those who are taking a substantial pay cut.

This article sounds as if it was written by someone who has sat on the sidelines and not had to look for work using the strategies that he advocates.

[Lee_Atwater]

So many people earned so much during the "good" times and were basiclly overpaid. Think about it. Is an expert Microsoft Access programmer worth $120k a year? No. But I earned that back in 1998. In all honesty, I should have earned about 60-70k. Just like stock prices were overpriced, so were IT salaries. Now the market is readjusting to correct this.

Give yourself more credit for your good year in 1998. You were providing a service that was - at the time - in high demand due to technological investments. Now, due to economic changes, you are earning less. Overpaid and overpriced are usually worthless terms. I will say that I find it hard to believe that an expert specializing in MS Access programming earned 120k at any time.

What technology do you specialize in and what sector(s) do you serve?

[vannrox]

My first layoff was in 1981.
My last layoff was in 2002.
Between the years of 1981 and 2003 I have been laid off 15 times.
I was programming in "APL" at a Steel Company in 1981. How many "APL" programmers do you think found work after the Steel Industry collapse?
Not Many...
So I learned...BASIC...Then COBAL...then PASKAL...etc.


Things are very complex and the issue is very complex. I applaud the President's "out of the Box" thinking. But I can tell you that it won't help me, nor any of the mostly aged 35 to 45 white-collar technical professionals out there.


I am working at Burger King.
I am finalizing a Divorce.
I just completed my Bankrupsy papers...Still no work.
My career is shot. Unemployed for almost one entire year. Even during the 1983 layoff (the so called military defense dividend - lay off all military workers) it wasn't this bad.


So, I have to ask you.
How is this propsal going to help me find work? How is it going to help me on a personal level? How does it take care of the unique needs of the unemployed technical professional? His family? His employment prospects? His career? His sanity?


neither the Bush Plan, nor the Democrats plan addresses these issues. And they should. I personally think that the Bush plan will make a real effort to address these issues, whereas the Democrat plan is pure vote buying.


But, given a choice, I would take the Democrat plan, because on a personal level it helps me out much more than the Bush plan would.