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Sad but it is the reality of the market place. That was the reality in the '70s when I graduated high school and had put no effort into my education, made no plans for my future and had no familial connections to get a job I didn't deserve. So, on average, I pounded the pavement for hours a day, filling out employment forms, for two weeks to get a minimum wage job.

Which didn't last long because some employers wanted to put family or friends in the spot, wanted to cut back on expenses or, as in one case, found it easier to fire the "kid" for stealing than the manager who actually was stealing. (and they knew he was but had some connection needing protection) Then repeat the two week job search process.

That's the way it is when you have fifty people ready to take any position on a day's notice. You can afford to fire people for anything at all. To be fair an employer in such an environment is under the same pressure to some extent and has a lot of motivation to tighten up their operation.

An old girlfriend of mine, several years older and a workaholic, gave me the best advice I know of for staying employed. Be indispensable. Be irreplaceable. Know more about your job than your employer does. Then, even if your employer's business goes under, you will be hired by someone else or you can start your own business and do it better than your old boss.

It is sad that due to human nature people sometimes take advantage of circumstances in unnecessary or greedy ways. Like when the job market is tight and people milk their jobs knowing that their employer can't readily replace them. It is simultaneously the harshness and the balance of an open market place.

Of course all of that is thrown out the window in a socialist/unionist environment where market conditions aren't allowed to intrude in the employee/employer relationship. No harshness. No balance. No accountability in good times or bad.