Free Range Talk columnist Deborah L Born has a fantastic look at why exceptional greed is marking some of the unemployment lines for at least a semi-permanence. _________________ The plight of the long-term unemployed is explored by the New York Times with a focus on one woman’s story. On a cold October morning, just after the federal government shutdown came to an end, Jenner Barrington-Ward headed into court in Boston to declare bankruptcy. Thus begins an exploration of hopelessness in which positive thinking cannot help, and in which there are no winners. As the Times points out: Long-term joblessness — the kind that Ms. Barrington-Ward and about four million others are experiencing — is now one of the defining realities of the American work force. The unemployment rate has fallen to 7.3 percent, down from 10 percent four years ago. Private businesses have added about 7.6 million positions over the same period. But while recent numbers show that there are about as many people unemployed for short periods as in 2007 — before the crisis hit — they also show that long-term joblessness is up 213 percent. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that businesses are not stepping up to hire long-term unemployed with a lot of older people just trying to hang on until their retirement and some applying for and receiving disability when they would much rather be gainfully employed. The attitude of prospective employers is similar to that of those refusing to hire newly minted graduates in that they want experience and fear the rustiness of the skills of long-term unemployed. Economists have long thought that the strain of unemployment, plus the erosion of skills and loss of contacts that naturally occur, helps explain the “structural” unemployed in a nation’s work force. But new evidence shows that bias plays a much larger role than previously thought. Some of the long-term unemployed might never find work because businesses simply refuse to hire them. This is the crux of the matter. Yet you would think that employers would consider other factors, like, I don’t know, intelligence and willingness to learn new tasks and new ways of doing things. But this has not proven to be the case and no matter how much you say the loss is theirs, that doesn’t put food on the table or clothes on your back. I hope the mindset changes, but I fear that as long as employers think with their greed uppermost in their minds, the long-term unemployed will be reduced to living hand-to-mouth, much as in the old days. Some fear that it may already be too late to prevent long-term joblessness from permanently scarring the American work force and broader economy. International Monetary Fund researchers estimate that the level of structural unemployment has increased significantly since the recession. And striking new Federal Reserve research shows that the scars from the recession have knocked the economy off its long-term growth trend. The scars are deep and may never heal completely. What a waste of humanity.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 15:09:07 +0000
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