Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Unemployment, Underemployment, and...what's next?

I've got so many friends and loved ones who have lost their jobs and have been trying to keep their heads up and stay afloat. I want to pursue my yarn business full time but it's just not supporting itself, so I've been looking for a job myself. It's quite discouraging to have the experience and the education and still be unable to find anything.

But things are looking up...a little bit. A good friend who lost her job as AP manager for Longs Drugs (when CVS took over Longs and fired everyone in the Longs main offices) has been unemployed since April 2009. She's done a couple of temporary gigs but those have no benefits, no paid time off, and generally no recognition. She was offered a perm position with the company she's currently temping for, and she'll take a $25k salary reduction from what she's making as a temp and what she was making at Longs. But it's better than nothing, yes? Quite a blow to one's ego but at least there are benefits and paid time off.

So I look at this with hope. Hope that in a short period of time others I know and care about (including myself) will find the opportunity to help the economy begin to turn around. Our elected officials did the right thing today by extending unemployment benefits to those who have been unemployed for a long time. It's a start. Now we need to get all of those people back to work. Including a reluctant me. Crafts Meow won't support us. Yet. But with my loyal customers spreading the news of this product, it should.

2 comments:

Laurie said...

Great post! And if I were not also unemployed I'd be buying more yarn from Crafts Meow. :-) I hope you find something soon.

Eenae said...

Amen to that! Here's hoping that both of our households become fully employed soon.