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More Americans face underemployment
Pam Giguere works at a staffing agency in Brunswick, Ohio.
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Kai Ryssdal: I mentioned as we got going today that the January jobs report is going to come out tomorrow. The official unemployment rate will probably be somewhere within a couple decimal points of 10 percent. But there is a whole other group of people who're holding on to work by a thread. They're called underemployed. People who've been laid-off, and who can now only find part-time jobs or fewer hours. If you count them, the full measure of slack in the labor market is closer to 20 percent.
From WCPN in Cleveland, Dan Bobkoff reports.
DAN BOBKOFF: Pam Giguere has long worked in human resources. These days, she's working just 20 hours a week at a staffing agency in Brunswick, Ohio, called The Reserves Network. It's not an ideal situation, but her new bosses Kent McNickle and Marilyn Szendrey definitely appreciate her help.
KENT McNICKLE: We can take advantage of her expertise.
MARILYN SZENDREY: She's educated, she's skilled.
McNICKLE: Quite an asset to us right now in her role.
Giguere ended up here after she lost her job at an auto-parts producer at the height of the recession.
PAM GIGUERE: On tax day, April 15, I was downsized.
As an HR person, she knew what to expect.
GIGUERE: That I would probably be asked to leave right away, and it's just very shocking, very, very shocking.
So she gathered her things and called her connections at The Reserves Network, which had been her client.
GIGUERE: They knew I was looking and Marilyn said I'll watch for any opportunity. We'd love to have you work in our office.
It took a few months, but the agency found her a part-time gig. She now helps the team place temp workers. But it's really an entry-level position. And, a huge drop in income.
GIGUERE: It's enormous. Not even 50 percent.
That puts Pam Giguere among the nearly nine million Americans who are underemployed. They're still working, but only part time.
ANDREW SUM: Not only do they receive this large cutback in hours, but we also find these individuals also take large cuts in their pay. So their hourly wage also falls.
Andrew Sum is a labor economist at Northeastern University in Boston. He says underemployment has more than doubled in the last two years, a bigger rise than at any time since World War II.
SUM: This is far greater than any of the previous five recessions that we had in the U.S. So this problem has become extraordinarily intense.
Sum says there are two kinds of underemployment. Employees still working at the same company, but with their hours drastically cut back. Or, those like Pam Giguere. They were laid off and could only get part-time work.
SUM: That group is the one that typically undergoes the large wage decline.
But experts say finding some work, even if it's beneath you, can help long term.
Debra Stitt is a recruiter in Cleveland.
Debra STITT: People are really taking a step back, saying, OK, you know, 10 years ago I did that. I can do that again.
With so many people both out of work and underemployed, Stitt says companies can be harsh.
STITT: I have employers that say, "Don't send me anyone that's unemployed. Don't want to talk to them." Right or wrong, that's the thinking, because they think good employees are not laid off.
Pam Giguere holds out hope that continuing to work in her field, even for low pay, will help make her more attractive to potential employers.
GIGUERE: The good thing is I know that it all takes time. I know that they are overwhelmed with resumes. People without skills apply for your jobs, and it's very overwhelming. And, it does take time. And it is disheartening.
After all those years in HR, she knows how it works on both sides.
In Cleveland, I'm Dan Bobkoff for Marketplace.
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I'm one of many people who put together the shows an conferences and the like for major corp. and associations and we've been hit real hard also.Florida is lagging behind and esp. Orlando which is usually a top location for many said shows.So my clleagues are making 50% less then before;we can collect unemployment which helps but usually leaves you behind in bill payments.Some weeks are good but mostly making same or less then UE.The companies that hire us are only using their small core group which makes sense,can't argue that but we were there to help when things were too busy for them,now everyones scratching for anything.I tried for other jobs even at half my regular rate but they were all part time also(Seaworld,Disney,Universal:not known for good wages or fair treatment)so here I am ,barely holding on to my Modest 1000 sq.ft. home by myself.Never thought it would get this desperate but here I am!
Oh yes, one more thing. Labor standards. In Vermont they basically don't exist, unless you belong to a union. Lunch breaks? Overwork without pay? What's that? Like it or lump it, that's what! There is also a rather pernicious policy out there in many states, including Vermont, known as "at will." It means that an employer can let you go that very afternoon without stating a reason. Of course, you can also leave that very afternoon without stating a reason, but you won't be able to use that job on your resume. It's supposed to be an equal transaction, but the deck is clearly stacked in favor of the employer. Until states pass laws that require employers to provide appealable justifications for letting employees go, employers will have it all their own way.
Re Douglas Fine's post: and I suppose those very employers have never themselves laid anyone off for any reason! Gimme a break! In my view there is a very simple reason that fixes for unemployment and underemployment are so elusive . . . look who they benefit! Susan Meeks' employer (Rutland--I wish I knew who it was!) hit it on the head: be glad you have a job because there are so many out there who would love to have yours. With people hurting and ready to do almost anything, for any kind of pay, employers are laughing all the way to the bank. This is why capitalism is the best and most successful economic system in the world. You can't kill it! It's like a chameleon, every time you lop off a leg it sprouts another one somewhere else. They will always win.
The wars are tough. I have been activated myself but what people also need to consider is that almost 100% of the material for the war is manufactured stateside, not overseas. Not to say there isn't aid money being spent and sometimes wasted overseas. As vehicles and computers wear out they have to be replaced. Also, there are millions of people not factored into unemployment numbers currently working overseas..they will come back and enter the job market. So, as the war ends can you convert these efforts to something needed like high tech infrastructure like high speed trains, nuclear power and power grid upgrades or the space race. I'm not talking about jobs for two months filling pot holes. Let's be a leader again..not a follower. We deicided to go to the moon and made it a national priority and we went. Out of that effort came things like plastic. Think of the impact that that one item has had worldwide. We must also keep in mind that we are learning a lot things about medicine, communications and logistics in these wars that will apply to our future. We lose more people from crime in our nation than these wars and I don't hear people screaming about that. You should talk to a WWII vet that will tell you about 20K casualities in one battle much less a year. So, yes the wars are bad and need to be finished and done right so my friends lives have not been wasted. Keep in mind that while this is going on China keeps moving. Do some research on their human rights efforts at home. Then notice that they have increased their military presence in South America by five times and they own both ends of the Panama Canal ask why is that necessary. We should also be mindful of how much of any industry goes overseas. If you can't buy a 1 cent American screw and no one will sell it to you then you can't build a satellite which controls all our communications.
I also think that the current administration is learning that Iran and North Korea really will never be our friends and will not behave rationally. So, given the increase in technology can the world really afford to give these "new Hitlers" the time we gave to the original ...that mistake cost us many millions of lives...I can predict the end of the game here and it get worse with every year, not only for us but their own people. You think these guys are bad now wait until they believe they can hurt us.
STITT: I have employers that say, "Don't send me anyone that's unemployed. Don't want to talk to them." Right or wrong, that's the thinking, because they think good employees are not laid off.
"That's the thinking."
That's the thinking?
That's being generous to call such idiocy "thought" at all.
So, I wonder, are the bright lights that are saying such things "HR professionals," hiring managers, or company executives or all of the above?
Whomever they are, they best start running if they see me coming.
this has been the situation of my generation and it has been so hard to explain to my parents. The corporate profits and bonuses are at record highs and they will keep buying up other societies resources only to sell them short with part time jobs with no benefits
Tell me war doesn't effect the majority in one form or another and I'll point you to this article and these people here. As a defense contractor I see jobs paying in the six figure range, I see jobs in the US paying above $60k which would be only $30k in the regular commerical world for people who don't even have half the skill set, they just get sucked up by whatever contractor comes along. I didn't vote for Obama nor do I think he is being judge fairly for only having one term in office but, I do know he needs to finish these two $1.3 trillion wars. For fiscal year 2009 under USA government spending the total amount awarded for Dept. of Defense was $365,872,358,362(www.usaspending.gov). That's a lot of small jobs and businesses. Im not saying these things to place blame but to open eyes. Yes tax revenue is derived from anyone that works but, why not make sure the best qualified or those who need assistance the most get priority. What is the difference between this and Equal Opportunity that says a certain amount of minorities must be hired. It also may be time to tax those overseas incomes, people are out of work, our economy is hurting not just because of bad banks but bad politicians. We need to face reality and play a role in getting our country, our grandchildren in a better position than before, we need to raise taxes, let the tax cuts expire and tax overseas income... and that's from coming from someone who's working overseas.
I worked for a company in my state for several years. I had an administrative position with modest pay, lived frugally and for awhile worked two jobs to make ends meet. Unfortunately, due to health reasons, I had to let go of the second job. When the recession hit, many people in my company were laid off. However, this only increased my workload with no increase in pay. I was not allowed to work any overtime hours so I had to clock out and continue working to complete my work at the end of each day. Regardless, my bosses would comment quite frequently that I was "lucky to have a job with the economy in such bad shape and think about how lucky I was because there were lots of people who were without jobs."
I finally reached the point of being so burnt out that my health issues were taking a turn for the worse. I decided to quit my job and move in with my fiance in another part of the state. I was able to get a part time seasonal job as a waitress with the hope that something better might be on my horizon.
I listened to your story on the underemployed with interest, as I have been in that category for some time. You especially got my attention when I heard Deborah Stitt's comment on people who hope to retread the skills and experience of 10 years ago.
I have done just that--going back into college teaching, after 5 successful years of teaching that ended in 2002 with a (disastrous) move to Vermont. But guess what? The landscape has changed, even since 2002.
The paperless campus, electronic delivery of essay papers, and the now entrenched student expectations of edutainment and instant gratification have created a Brave New World that requires complete retooling on my part, including having to revise some long-held convictions about what I do as a teacher and why I do it.
Just a word to the wise...think ahead, look ahead, and try to upgrade to meet the high-tech challenge that awaits you. Your once-solid skills could well be outdated.
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