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Old 02-18-2012, 06:18 PM
 
Location: under a bridge
580 posts, read 2,290,984 times
Reputation: 1042

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Quote:
Originally Posted by bobtn View Post
I'm saying those who did not save much cannot take the haircut ui represents, as they have no margin for error. Those who did save can afford that luxury, and like the OP, they truthfully do not put forth the proper effort until they see the end of benefits approaching.

The reality is few unemployed beyond just the first 6 months will end up avoiding a large haircut in pay anyway, which is why IMO, we need benefits to start closer to actual pay in the first 26 weeks, but reduced at each change in tier. That would make haircuts more attractive to the long-term unemployed, and structured properly, result in the same total benefit payment. I'd like to see first 26 paid at 80% of old wages, with each tier thereafter dropping a double digit percentage of the benefit check. There is no reason to pay week 99 at the same level as week 1, as in many cases, recipients are simply unwilling to accept Fair Market Wages, which often are far lower than their last pay.
That would never fly. Imagine somebody making 100,000 a year or more losing their job. At 80% their unemployment would be over 1600 a week. Even if they only received this amount for 26 weeks, they would have received over 40,000 which is just as much as some states would pay if you would have received benefits for 99 weeks.
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Old 02-18-2012, 06:27 PM
 
Location: NJ
18,665 posts, read 19,936,526 times
Reputation: 7314
frizzo100, I actually meant 80% of the max salary level at which benefits are capped. In most states, that is under $1k per week, as the maximum benefit is in the neighborhood of $550-600/week. So I would not mind starting that person around $800, with double digit cuts (percentage) at each change in tiers. Imagine how haircuts would get attractive if 100k earner went from 800 to 680 to 560 to 440....All of a sudden, in late stages, that $10 per hour offer with benefits seems better by comparison.

Since right now, I suspect, many will be taking $10/hr after 99 weeks anyway, why delay.and drain an overburdened gov't more than is needed?
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Old 02-18-2012, 07:22 PM
 
Location: Staten Island, New York
3,727 posts, read 7,020,444 times
Reputation: 3753
Hmmm. Seems people here, on both sides, have no idea how bad it really is.

To the OP; I'd suggest getting your resume out there. Jobs are very hard to get, and you will most likely take a BIG pay cut. The longer you are out, the worse it is. Employers will not interview the unemployed anymore.

As for those who think the unemployed are lazy, bite me. It took me 2 years just to get a low-paying survival job that will never go full-time or have benefits. I started looking for a new job nearly 3 months BEFORE the layoff. (Actually, I went to a few agencies in the spring of '08 and they told me that no one was hiring at that time but to come back after the election.) In those 2 years I used most of my UI, all of my severance and most of my savings. In the 16 months since getting the survival job, I closed most of my 401k money to pay off all my debts, minus my student loans. 2 years ago I moved back in with my parents and they pay for my medical insurance. My hours have been cut to about 10-15 per week for the next few months for the slow season. I desperately hope to find a second job soon, but so is everyone else in my situation. I will have to put my student loans in forebearance, again.
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Old 02-18-2012, 08:33 PM
 
60 posts, read 166,348 times
Reputation: 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fargobound View Post
It’s easier to find a job once you have a job. Trying to have a full go on extended unemployment might be the modern equivalent of leprosy. I don’t think a lot of people realize how badly it will hurt them in the long run.
what's my choice? McDonalds?
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Old 02-18-2012, 08:52 PM
 
Location: NJ
18,665 posts, read 19,936,526 times
Reputation: 7314
w99w, The reality is employers largely diss the long-term unemployed, so if you become one, only the least picky employers will be an option for you. This period where you have not looked much represents your best shot at getting something better than a McJob. You said, more or less, you wasted it so far. Time does not come back, and only you can decide if you want to keep wasting time, or rise up and meet the challenge.
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Old 02-18-2012, 09:15 PM
 
60 posts, read 166,348 times
Reputation: 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobtn View Post
w99w, The reality is employers largely diss the long-term unemployed, so if you become one, only the least picky employers will be an option for you.
employers largely dissed me since I graduated from college and started looking for work. their beef back then supposedly was that I didn't do extracurriculars, and it somehow meant that my lack of interest in social activities meant that I spent too much time partying, as if I were so cool I actually had a network of people who invited me to parties.

Quote:
This period where you have not looked much represents your best shot at getting something better than a McJob.
I have spent this period acquiring new skills. Believe it or not, I haven't been sitting on my ass all day. I just haven't been applying to 50 jobs a week, because quite simply there aren't that many jobs for which I might be qualified. Even entry-level jobs ask for at least a year of experience with specific technologies.

Quote:
You said, more or less, you wasted it so far.
I said, more or less, that I didn't bother searching for "McJobs" because collecting UI beats McJobs. I didn't say, but I say it now, that I find the acquisition of new skills infinitely more valuable than doing mindless work

Quote:
Time does not come back, and only you can decide if you want to keep wasting time, or rise up and meet the challenge.
Just like I lack the power to make time go back I lack the power to make employers want to hire me. when I started taking the medications, soon after I got fired, I thought that my life was finally going to be "normal". turns out that not feeling distress on a daily basis wasn't enough to help me convince employers they should hire me. turns out that the medications didn't magically give me the skills I needed. but fortunately they motivated me to acquire new skills instead of just killing myself and getting it over with, but those new skills are pretty worthless because I don't have professional experience using those skills. the way I see it my "career" was done even before I got fired. to be honest, I blame my parents. I should have been first medicated nearly a quarter of a century ago. now all the meds can do for me is help me happily accept the McJob that awaits me. maybe I'll ask my shrink to give me a med that will pretty much make me a zombie

Last edited by w99w; 02-18-2012 at 09:24 PM..
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Old 02-18-2012, 09:25 PM
 
Location: NJ
18,665 posts, read 19,936,526 times
Reputation: 7314
w99w"Just like I lack the power to make time go back I lack the power to make employers want to hire me. when I started taking the medications, soon after I got fired, I thought that my life was finally going to be "normal". turns out that not feeling distress on a daily basis wasn't enough to help me pass the few interviews I got invited to. turns out that the medications didn't give me job skills. fortunately they did motivate me to acquire new skills instead of just killing myself and getting it over with, but those new skills are pretty worthless because I don't have professional experience using those skills. the way I see it my "career" was done even before I got fired."

Which would mean you are making the assumption these newly acquired skills will not translate to a good job for you. The reality is, if your work history is bad, with frequent white space, you may need lesser jobs for several years to convince employers to take larger chances on you, in better positions. I can tell you are depressed, and I hope you are being treated for that, as it will play a key role, no doubt, in rebuilding.
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Old 02-18-2012, 09:40 PM
 
60 posts, read 166,348 times
Reputation: 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobtn View Post
Which would mean you are making the assumption these newly acquired skills will not translate to a good job for you.
you can take a course and even if it seems challenging it just teaches you the basics. employers want you to know more than just the basics. it's hard to learn more than just the basics when you lack the opportunity to do so.

Quote:
The reality is, if your work history is bad, with frequent white space, you may need lesser jobs for several years to convince employers to take larger chances on you, in better positions.
yeah maybe meds would have helped me survive the frying pans I threw myself into in hopes that one day they'd lead to "better" positions. but now I need to jump into another frying pan -a much hotter frying pan - and hope that this time the meds will be the crutch I've always needed.

Quote:
I can tell you are depressed, and I hope you are being treated for that, as it will play a key role, no doubt, in rebuilding.
being honest about one's reality is not the same as being depressed. even with the biggest smile on your face you need to be likeable and skilled enough to make the hiring manager want to hire you.
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Old 02-18-2012, 09:46 PM
 
Location: NJ
18,665 posts, read 19,936,526 times
Reputation: 7314
w99w, I agree with much of what you said, but you also must measure progress in small steps. If your skills only get you a job a few levels lower until you prove to the employer you are capable of better things, the investment would be worth it. There are MBAs working as baristas now; people sometimes need to do stuff they would not have once considered to survive. By the sound of things you have written, your work history is spotty, so do not add long-term unemployment to that, for your own good. If it is spotty, you have more reason than most to get any job that will consider you fast, and again, where one starts need not be where one ends up.
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Old 02-18-2012, 10:00 PM
 
Location: Staten Island, New York
3,727 posts, read 7,020,444 times
Reputation: 3753
Quote:
Originally Posted by w99w View Post
what's my choice? McDonalds?
Possibly. or other retail. If you can get it - there's lots of competition for those entry-level jobs.

I have a BA, 30 years of experience, and I now work in retail. One of my coworkers was a VP at a large, now defunct, financial company.

If it's good enough for us...
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