The Silent Soul-Crusher: UNDERemployment

I got a job back in June and since then, kind of fell off the blogging wagon. I thought, hey I’m employed now, it’s all good. Hah! Little did I know that with each day I spent at my new job, my soul would be crushed a little bit more.

At first, I was psyched to be back at work – just to be doing something besides searching endlessly for jobs on the internet. Everyone asked me how my new job was and I said things like “I have a whole new perspective now,” and “I’m just grateful to have any job at all.” Which was true.

But in hindsight, I took my job because I was depressed and desperate, not because it was something I was truly passionate about, or a company I really wanted to work for. And as a result, here I am, underemployed and stuck, eight full months later.

Here are some signs that you (and I) are underemployed:

* Your bosses take you for granted and don’t treat you well (i.e. no holiday bonus, no holiday gift, no holiday card, never say thank you, expect you to go above and beyond your job duties with no compensation).

* You accepted a lower salary than you should have because you were desperate, and now you’re barely breaking even. You may have even accepted a job with no benefits (like me), which was a mistake and is a constant source of stress and worry.

* You feel underpaid and under-appreciated on a daily basis and are working in a position below what you should be/are qualified for.

* You dread the idea of having to start the job search process over again and possibly end up in a position you still don’t like, but you know you don’t want to stay in your current job.

* You sometimes consider going back to school, but have no money to pay for it or means to support yourself while doing so.

* You watch your friends and old coworkers advance in their careers while you remain stagnant in yours, and even feel like you have regressed.

* You are depressed that you can’t get unemployment again if you quit your job and regret not spending more time looking for a job you really wanted.

* You want to feel sorry for yourself but know you shouldn’t, but no one really understands who hasn’t been through the same thing.

So that’s it, that’s my sob story of underemployment. I don’t want to feel sorry for myself, or wallow in my underemployment, but it’s hard. All I can do is try to maintain a somewhat positive attitude while going into my job that I don’t like (verge of hate) every day, and hope that someday soon, I’ll get my big break. I keep hearing that there are “millions” of my fellow underemployed Americans stuck in the same position that I am and that should be comforting, but somehow it just makes the task of trying to find a new job seem even more daunting.

Still, it’s good to know that I’m not the only one. So if you’re out there, fellow underemployed, sound off here. What advice do you have for me or anyone else in our shoes? In the meantime, I’ll keep you updated on my struggle to break free from underemployment (have an interview Friday!).

I’ve been fired from 30 different companies and I’m not yet 25

Question: How do you get hired over and over again?

Answer: I used to list only the most recent three and lie about the dates in which I was employed. Now, I site my side IT jobs as a business and that allows me to list many as independent contracts.

Comment: You know some people say, it’s not you, it’s me? Yeah, it’s you.

Answer: Oh definitely. The biggest reason I get the ax is because I’m a huge prick.

Comment: Hey man, at least you’re upfront about it. Props for that.

Comment: Well, that clearly doesn’t solve anything. Being an ahole is pretty disrespectful, regardless of whether he admits to it or not. Also, the fact he’s been fired 30 times and still doesn’t change is almost laughable.

Comment: Now there’s a straight shooter with upper-management written all over him. What if – and believe me this is a hypothetical – but what if you were offered some kind of a stock option equity sharing program. Would that do anything for you?

Answer: I’m thinking not. If it was offered, I’d probably take it, then get pissed when people didn’t do things my way. I would openly express my views and get the ax. I’ve been in similar situations- not upper management and stock options, but having a vested interest.

Question: What do you do to get fired?

Answer: It differs somewhat from job to job, but I can name a few. I was canned for getting caught with my mouth on the shake machine at a certain fast food chain. I got caught making out with an electronics girl at a department store in a back room. I’ve been in several name-calling arguments with managers in front of customers or other employees. A couple have been no call/no shows. Had a customer’s car’s oil pan drain out for a quarter mile down the road. I’ve been accused of being too harsh in emails, too condescending over the phone, and rude in person.

Comment: No offense, but grow up. Jesus.. you’re 25 dude. This isn’t excusable after 16.

Comment: He’s got upper management written all over him.

Read the complete conversation here.

A good question, and Times’ readers weighed in with answers in the comments section. A sampling:

Perhaps the sad reality that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer with the aid of our elected Senators, Congressmen and Presidents is depressing. Perhaps the fact that the United States is a plutocracy has dimmed people’s hopes for the future. Perhaps the fact that America doesn’t really have a sense of community or true social fabric woven into its core is upsetting. Perhaps we’re all upset that the herculean Wall Street thefts of the rich always seem to be legal while petty stealing is worthy of immediate incarceration. Perhaps the duplicity of life is a bit sickening to those with a sense of right and wrong.

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There are NO JOBS in many areas, except for temp work. The young my age put in anywhere from 50 to 150k getting their educations and came out with massive debt, and even if they had a previous full time work history and resume couldn’t get a job, and can’t still. I’m one of the phony census hires, so I’ll have 6-8 weeks more of work, and that’s it. After two years of unemployment one of my friends got a job for 10-15 hours a week, and it is thrilling for her to work in any way at all. This does not touch on the burdens of the unemployed middle aged to pre-retirement aged worker (employers have literally put my older aunt on the shelf), or our retirement aged parents who are lending us money, and shouldn’t have to. This does not touch on the people who don’t have parents or relatives or friends and are homeless and destitute. There are no luxury items either; just minimum payments on bills, and food. Everyone I know has applied to McDonald’s, to Target, to wash dishes, and are registered at countless temp agencies. (And like your article of last week described, I’ve done a full time “unpaid internship.”)

But someone says we are in recovery. Wow – that makes it ALL different. Absolutely we need a new stimulus package. Because to call millions of people getting seasonal work every year or two a “strong recovery” is madness.

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I think people are cautious because we were informed that this financial collapse was much larger and more widespread than any since 1929; that many financial institutions continue to misrepresent their balance sheets; that there is a huge oversupply of residential and commercial property that will take years to resolve; that many governments have severe financial problems; that unemployment in the US and other countries is large; that state and municipal governments are making unprecedented cutbacks; that manufacturing is well on the way to moving to China;that US infrastructure needs are not being met; that the US Government debt is at dangerous levels.

These seem to be serious problems not mollified by fluctuations in the stock market or 0.8% rise in employment, most in low-paying dead-end jobs.

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Although anectodal evidence admittedly does not a strong recovery make, my older brother got laid off from his engineering job in Silicon Valley at age 58 when the dot com bubble burst in 2001, and he remained unemployed for the next 9 years. However, he just landed a great new position a few months ago. When a person old enough to be on Medicare, and who has been unemployed for many years, can find a job commensurate with his education and experience, it would appear that the tide is indeed turning. I know this little bit of personal history will not put food on the table of those still amongst the unemployed, but perhaps it will provide some hope for the near term future.

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I believe the average American will remain dubious because they no long trust or believe elected officials–top to bottom–and most are still suffering from this downturn.

The same federal officials who boast that the recession is definitely over are the same self-proclaimed experts who tell us there is no price inflation. Anybody with half sense and one eye who has shopped for anything in American during the past year knows the current inflation rate is at least 15%. So let’s give the average American credit for being savvy enough to be wary of any news coming out of the federal government’s sunshine mill.

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Talk about Manhattan elitism! I noticed back in the 1980s that the stock market had nothing at all to do with the way the economy felt out in the real world west of the Hudson. In fact, Wall Street has always seemed to love mass layoffs and get nervous about high employment causing inflation.

I have never known so many unemployed and under-employed people in my life. I’m self-employed, my business is way down, and the clients I have aren’t willing to pay as much as they used to.

That’s REALITY, something New York Times writers often seem unacquainted with.

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I’m glum; and I’m an Economist. The pundits are saying that we are in “recovery” and that it will be a “jobless recovery”. As an Economist, I can tell you that there is NO such thing as a “jobless recovery”. If you doubt me, just ask anyone who is unemployed.

When I last checked, the “true rate of unemployment” in the USA was 21.9% and climbing; not the government”s and media reports of 9.7% and holding near steady. We’re due for a second, deeper dip in the economy (which is the opposite of all the political “experts”) are telling us. If you’ve got two bucks in your wallet, hang on to them!

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Why do I not believe it? Because my income took a 70% hit two and a half years ago when I got laid off. The only job I could find was in retail, and I had to ask a friend of a friend to put in a word for me to get me in the door there.

It’s been all I could do to hold on to my house and car, I’ve been sued by a credit card company for a $3000 debt that I’ve paid a total of $14,000 on over 10 years, and now they’ve gotten a judgment against me for $10,000 more. Nice way to make 80% per year on an investment, eh? I remember when there were usury laws.

So yeah, I’m still a little gloomy.

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The reason that the stock market is up is because it is impossible to get any return on investment with more conservative investments, thanks to Bernanke. This forces individuals and funds to put money in the market. There is no real underlying economic growth.

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People don’t believe it because human beings tend to look at the present and the immediate past to assess things, and they don’t look to long-term trends. When the housing bubble was inflating everyone thought things were hunky dory — the few who predicted doom were greeted with derision. Then the crash happened and the government went full tilt into trying to stave off disaster by injecting large amounts of capital into the financial system and spending money on a stimulus package, both moves likely staved off a far worse depression.

But people can’t compare what “might have been” with what is…

We keep making the same mistakes over and over again, but we don’t learn from them. The way things have been in the immediate past isn’t necessarily the way they will continue to be forever. Bubbles don’t inflate forever and crashes usually recover.

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Because the University where I teach has announced a significant budget shortfall next year, with an even larger shortfall the year after, and is considering elimination of my department. I landed this job after a year of unemployment; I had lost the previous job due to budget cuts.

Because the number of available jobs for which I could apply is a small fraction of the number of such jobs “normally” advertised.

Because yesterday one of my best friends was informed of a 10% pay cut, effective immediately.

Because thanks to Wall Street and Washington and the insatiable, shortsighted greed of politicians and corporate barons, I can’t help believing strongly that IF there is a recovery, the benefits – at least for a long, long time – will go to a very few who are already at the top of the pyramid.

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I think most of us have lost confidence that our corporate, banking and manufacturing leadership have any capability of recovering. Supposedly smart people ran the auto industry into a ditch. Supposed masters of the universe designed and traded their way into a monetary house of cards. Trusted realtors and builders created a bloated housing bubble that bore no relation to the realities of cost and demand. Politicians now want to starve the beast and make everyone worse off. No we aren’t just glum, we are also angry…

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There will be a substantial psychological impact from this recession that will last years. Americans face of future of less, not more, a future that holds little in the way of promise or security. My parents’ generation lived through the Depression, and they never forgot it. Even though I was a very good employee, I lost my job to forces over which I had no control. I have been out-of-work for nearly a year. While I am hopeful of becoming employed in the near future, until I am, I’m certainly not counting on anything until it happens.

I will not soon forget listening to my wife and daughters cry themselves to sleep because of the stress they were under. I won’t forget months of “your resume is impressive; however . . . ” letters, phone calls, and emails. With our savings exhausted, there is no longer money for home repairs, purchases beyond what is necessary, and, for my adolescent children, college. We lost years of slow saving and now, even if I am employed again soon, it will take years for us to get back to where we were a twelve months ago.

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It’s terrible when someone is out of work but we need a little perspective here. You can be out of work and the economy can be recovering at the same time. Just because I’m barely working (which is true) doesn’t mean the economy isn’t recovering. It’s not about me as an individual. So I welcome this as good news, giving me hope that better working days are ahead for me and others.

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Many college students no longer have the luxury that I had–to choose a major and career based on personal interests–but have to follow the money. I truly believe this will affect their happiness for the rest of their lives–and they will never be optimistic about the economy. Here’s a small example: many people used to buy a new car when they graduated from college or got their first “real” job. Now–the used car or mom and dad’s hand-me-down is good enough.

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If my business–freelance writing–is the proverbial canary in a coal mine, then, yes, I agree that the recession does seem to be over, if not ending very soon. My Q1 2010 billings versus Q1 2009 billings are almost double. Q2 is already off to a big start, too, with a new book deal and six new writing assignments in the past few weeks.

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You know why nobody believes the recession is over? BECAUSE IT ISN’T! I’ve been out of employment since December 2008, as has our 26-year-old son. Our family income is now a third of what it was previously. We’re now in personal bankruptcy because despite all our cutbacks and efforts, every one of our credit card companies RAISED THEIR INTEREST RATES between November 2009, when the credit card reform bill was passed, and Feb. 22, 2010, when it went into effect. And the interest rates went up on our outstanding balances despite the fact that we had NEVER MISSED A PAYMENT!!

We’re dying out here in real America, and no one in Washington gives a damn about us. All they want is the money from other fat cats so they can go on being fat cats themselves. We’ve been betrayed by the system we helped to build. What suckers we all were!