Rant: Not to knock the unemployed but...
 

http://money.cnn.com/2010/04/21/news/economy/long_term_unemployment/index.htm

if you get laid off from a six figure job, there is no rule that says you cannot take a job that pays less.

If there is 10% unemployment, that means there is 90% employment!

I suspect there is a superior attitude amongst those who claim they cannot find work after two years! Two years is a long time!

They should say instead " I cannot find work that pays the same as my old job and I refuse to accept a job that pays less".

If they say.... I say....

-There are no jobs in my area..........then move to place with jobs
-Gas is so expensive.......................then drive a car with better gas mileage
-My mortgage has to be paid............sell the house and rent
-My wife is a stay at home mom........Kelly girl time
-I have no skills other than XXXXX because that is all i know.......delivering pizza requires no skill
-We have to eat.............................time for rice and beans

My point is, the economy is tough and we all have to make adjustments. Just don't tell me there is ZERO jobs out there.

I've been out for nearly 6 months now and it completely sucks out there. I've been trying to get everything from my skill set to entry level office positions but you almost never hear back from anyone unless it's an automated response. This one kinda ticked me off though....the guy had a job selling Mercedes and quit....i'd kill to have that job :mad:

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/news/1002/gallery.discouraged_workers/3.html

If you get laid off from a six figure job, you have no excuses not to have your skills and contacts updated so you can find the next opportunity in a short amount of time. If you are currently earning a good salary and not making any effort to maintain your income, it's you own fault.

I moved from NY to Va to get a job...

It sucks having family back in NY, but you have to do what you have to do to keep up with your responsibilities.

My friend just had to move from Las Vegas to NJ to get a job in an industry he had left 10 years ago. He spent the last year after losing his business in LV training so he could come back to IT...

I think this part of the article explains much of it.

Older workers, longer time out of work. Shierholz said the exceptionally large number of older workers who are unemployed is also a major factor.

Statistics show it is tougher for anyone (regardless of age) who has been unemployed more than six months to find work.

But Shierholz' analysis of 2009 data shows unemployed people aged 55 and older are about 17% more likely to be out of work for longer than six months than their 25-to-54-year old counterparts.

"Older and more educated people are less likely to become unemployed, but once you become unemployed you're more likely to be unemployed for a long period of time," she said.

I'm sorry. Did you say you got laid off from a 6 figure job and had nothing put aside. Here's a quater. Call someone who cares. Or the newer version "My Give a Damn's busted".

I'm thinking you mean quarter.

Anyway, I see people living in tents on the entrance to the highway. I can't imagine they haven't looked for a job. Or they figured it was better to live that way then take a lower paying job.
I'm just really glad it's not me and I try to have some compassion for the unemployed. With the exception of 6 figure salaried out of workers.

If you have a job were in a recession, if your unemployed it's a depression!

Danny

When you pick up a temp job, you lose the benefits that you paid for with your taxes.

Some of the solutions you posted, while perfectly acceptable, are significant in the sense that moving out of a home/ buying a car are financially significant events in a person's life.

Moving is also especially difficult for people. Are you about to tell your wife and kids that the town they live in sucks and we need to move? What if Johnny is a junior in high school looking at colleges?

Granted I do agree that people need to be more flexible when it comes to things like eating out vs cooking at home. I cook much better than what most restaurants can do.

My family has had a significant event recently and we had to make some hard choices. We cut down our cell phone bill, stopped buying satellite TV/radio, and various other frivolous luxury goods.

We rarely ate out to begin with, but apparently a lot of families go to restaurants on a weekly basis. That is just crazy in my mind.

That means 10% of people have no jobs. This does not mean that part of the 90% who are employed should give up their jobs so the 10% have jobs.

Absolutely. 100%

If you found out that one of your relatives was going to die UNLESS you.....

-moved away from a town that had no jobs
-leave your friends and family
-Johnny will have to not go to college and work in the cheese factory
-sell the house and move to a trailer

If you are not willing to do this (to survive), you are not facing reality.

You have to do what you have to do.

The one bright spot is, nothing lasts forever. After the storm, you can always move back to the town you love, and Johnny can go to college. Not facing reality only prolongs the pain.

In todays America we are not forced to face reality. why should you move for a job? Isn't that what drove America for the entire 19th century? I'm pretty sure I live in California today because my great great grandfather got a deal on some farm land. why didn't my family just stay in Missouri and get federal aid to support their growing family on the land they already owned... because there were opportunities waiting for them just over the horizon....

I'm not sure if this is what the OP was going for, but I think Americans have gotten to a point they no longer dream big dreams, and chase them. instead we have built up the government to the point that we now expect it to cover for us when things go bad. I think that line of thought will kill off the creativity and drive that made this country what it is today.

well said.

Think of your own ancestors who might have left their motherland for one reason or another. They didn't move to America because it sounded neat. They did it because they had to.

The government is not going to solve your problems. Only you can solve your problems (If you choose to).

Exactly. When the wife got a degree in something more worthless than a roll of toilet paper because the country she was in gave her a choice, that or nothing, and she came here and it was worthless, she took an RN degree. When she realized she had Lupus and couldn't be that physical, she had to go get something else to keep a job. When I saw writing on the wall, I cut and ran and found a different career.

Neither "Horatio Alger" or "Socialism" are exclusive answers to the situation our country is in.

I've been unemployed for 16 months, and NOT from a six-figure job. I'm gonna play devil's advocate here - from personal and the experiences of people I know that are either unemployed or were unemployed at one time in the recent past..

- "-There are no jobs in my area..........then move to place with jobs"
"-My mortgage has to be paid............sell the house and rent"
Easily said but when you owe more on your house than the market will now bear during a sale, you're stuck..

- "-Gas is so expensive.......................then drive a car with better gas mileage"
Same as above...

My sister was unemployed in the early 90's when banking got hit for 27 months It took her that long just to find a bookkeeping job and not because she refused to take a job at less than her A.V.P. level. More often than not, potential "lower-paying" employers wouldn't hire her because they felt that since she was "over-qualified" for that job, why go through the hassle and expense of training someone like her for the job when she will most likely leave once she finds a job more in key with her experience. I know three people experiencing this same thing today....

To side with you in a sense, if you've been making six-figures for the last few years and don't have a substantial amount in an "emergency fund," then you're an idiot.