7 Ways to Survive the Jobless Recovery

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working for a national company as store management and being senior as i learned was going to turn things upside down. 2009 i lost my management responsibilities, as i was told for no particular reason, just that it was time to make a change and so all i could do was go along with the decision and keep a good attitude, doing all i could, what i didnt see was that the new management was going to make my daily activities of working a demeaning excess of verbal abuse. so to make a long story short i just retired . now after a year later have not even been to get a parttime job doing anything. people give out applications, smile, i return applications but never hear from anyone. a life time of working and now a senior learning to live as tight as possible. its true there is a bias in the work place. stay young my americans and save your money cause things are changing and we all have to change with ...........

senior in south of SC 12:13PM May 21, 2010

I'm on the same boat as a lot of people. My solution to make things better was to join with other people who are in similar circumstances and we now share expenses and live a sort of co-operative life, which in many ways reminds me of my college days. If you have people you know and like who are in a similar situation, you might want to think about pooling your resources. Rent a place together. Cook together. Share expenses. Etc. Might not work for everyone, of course. YMMV.

Jenna of VA 12:22PM March 31, 2010

I congratulate you on your spirit to keep going amidst the trials you have been through in the last 3 years. You know, it is God that is getting you through all this. You mention that God does not give you more than you can handle. I do not believe that commonly known expression. While God is "all-knowing", he is not "all-controlling". God did not create this economic mess we are in, nor did he create illness and the bad things. Man created all that. God does not controll the world, but he gave individuals free will and the necessary graces to be able to handle all that comes their way. I too, lost my spouse in December 2009 after 32 years and am now on my own, coping, with God's Grace, the best way I know. At this point, I still have a job, but anything can happen at any time and I am trying to be a good steward of all that was given to me to weather this economic storm. Prayers to you and your family

Donna of IL 7:49AM March 26, 2010

I just lost my job of 14 years on tues of this week. I have 2 small kids. You have insipired me to keep postive and cont. my prayer belief. This too shall pass is what my friends tell me on a regular. Thanks for your story and I am sorry for your loss.

AJ of TN 8:52PM March 25, 2010

I Lost my job in Nov 2008 after 21 years at the same company - The rental property that we owned since 1987, that we thought would be our 'security blanket' is now unable to be sold for any profit - the rents that we receive are just enough to give me a $4.86 profit every month.....AND - I lost my husband of 32 years to cancer 1/2 hour after President Obama was inaugurated......Every day I wake up and get back onto my computer to try and find a new job. As of March 6th, I have applied for 199 jobs with only 3 interviews which I never received as much as a call back to let me know if the position was filled. Through all of this I have moved out of my house to avoid depleting my savings to pay the mortgage and slowly pluck away at that saving monthly to pay the little bills that I have. As hard as this is, you have to keep a positive attitude that things will get better.....if not; I will totally loose every bit of sanity that I have left. You have to find peace in the little things that life gives to you....My therapy is my granddaughter....she is the shining star that we were blessed with in the spring of 2008. We were given this joy 5 days before finding out that my husband had cancer. With one new life another life was taken. We have to hope that the future will provide for our children and we have to keep praying that God will not put more onto us than we can take. Everyone needs to try and make some sense out of all that is going on....I know this is difficult, but we all must keep on looking forward as best we can even though each day is a challenge in itself. Yes...I have enjoyed the "good life" and now is time for a reality check. I no longer can afford to travel or buy the little extra things that I enjoyed in the past. But the food that I am able to buy, keeps me going and allows me to wake again the next day to see what is in store for me as I try to rebuild my new life. At night before going to bed, I look at the stars and know that my husband is still my strength that looks down upon me and watches over me while I sleep. When the birds chirp the next day, I get up and start my life over yet again with hope that something positive will be in store for me.
hat looks down upon me and watches over me while I sleep. When the birds chirp the next day, I get up and start my life over yet again with hope that something positive will be in store for me.

Stephanie of IL 10:12AM March 23, 2010

Being an Agnostic, I'll leave the Bible references to the gentle Ms. Glenda... but I WHOLEhearted AGREE which every point she is making in her comments elsewise. FEED and SHELTER our needy U.S. Citizens FIRST and FOREMOST !!!!

Retired of KY 6:28AM March 06, 2010

My husband got fired from his job is nov.09 because he is a independent contractor for a trucking company,leasing his truck from them, for getting a ticket he promply got out of in court. so instead of giving back his job they say he has to have a doctor look him over before he can drive again. After 15 years with this company they tell him he is too fat to drive and his diabeties is 1.1 to high. So no more driving because they black balled him. He also was a trainner and these people will hire people with terrats before putting him back to work. I don't understand. We are about to lose everything and CRST is out to get my husband because he would stand up for the drivers when there was a conflict. Yes, he is a dibetic and it was out of control but 1.1 give me a break. They found anything they could to get ride of him because he was making good money.

Deborah Janes of KY 10:23AM February 10, 2010

Time to stop the ENDLESS wars and sending our wealth overseas via bailouts for global companies and "aid" (=bribery)
to other countries . We are sinking to Third World level FAST !

bluemamalu of NM 7:04AM February 09, 2010

I get sick everytime I see our government and wealthy citizens sending money elsewhere. Aren't your eyes opened. Even the bible states that taking care of your family first is priority. We have so many deserving people right here at home, I pray someone will listen to this message. Taking care of others in other places besides these U.S. we live in, is a noble thing indeed. But wake up America, we have people right here that are in need of surgery, in need of food, in need of shelter that don't have a prayer. I have a prayer that I say to God, wake up the U.S. and let them truely be Family again like it used to be long ago. We are a good, noble, loving, caring country, but we have forgotten about our closest neighbors, and started looking in others back yard. Don't let us turn a blind eye to see what needs we have here at home. GOD BLESS US EVERYONE!

Glenda of MS 3:15PM January 29, 2010

Did others of you see the movie Swing Vote? Kevin Costner's character came up with the term insourcing after having been replaced at work by non-English speaking outsiders willing to work for less money. The glut of illegal workers that so many contractors and some major businesses hire have one more advantage beyond work for substandard wages, and that is they work "on call" to some extent and seem to accept that they labor when there is clear demand but don't have hours or income when business is slow. My feeling is that the latter issue may be the more detrimental to citizens here in our country who labor for wages that are supposed to cover living expenses: home/shelter, food, utilities, etc., which cannot be done working two or three days a week. Here in the Denver metro area, some statistics suggest the Hispanic population has exceeded 30 percent, and the two largest school districts in the state, Denver and Aurora ISD(s), have been dealing with majority Hispanic student populations for most of the past decade. And the staggering numbers are largely illegal aliens' children. The term offered up front in the unusual political comedy seems apt and appropriate. We appear to be just as determined to destroy the local economy by way of "insourcing" as outsourcing jobs overseas. In this part of the country and along much of the corridor from Mexico northward, local economies and opportunities for US citizens to find gainful employment have been devastated.
Of course, the movie is not the issue, but if you want to consider some highly charged issues approached with a measure of humor, consider watching the DVD. So much of the current economic problems have been caused from within, it's just astounding. And turning ones head or burying it in the sand like an ostrich does no good. We must come to grips with outrageously poor decisions and greed which seems unaffected by any tinge of morality or reason. Insourcing has taken jobs from millions of Americans and hiked the curiously conservative assessment of unemployment levels significantly. Perhaps it's supposed to comfort someone somewhere who would look at the statistics to keep millions of us out of the 10-plus percent unemployed currently offered because many of us have been out of work too long. In each of my wife's and my families we have other relatives who have been unemployed for significant portions of the past several years who similarly won't show up in any of the statistics because of the lengths of time they were unemployed or kind of jobs that were lost, which would never show up on typical payroll assessments.
Policies which support the destruction of jobs for American workers are tragically misguided and must be altered. Addressing the insourcing problem would be a great place to start, but there is the potential for significant political cost and repercussions. We need greater resolve and real courage at leadership levels to turn this awful economy around.

DGH of CO 1:17PM January 29, 2010