Stories of the Unemployed

Discrimination against the unemployed is rampant. Some job ads explicitly require applicants to be "currently employed," and Americans who have been out of work for a year or longer report employers rejecting them as soon as that tidbit comes out. And this is legal in virtually every state. A congressional ...

#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-323545{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-323545, #postcontentcontainer ...

I don't want a part-time job. I'm fine with freelancing, which I do now; I'm a self-employed writer and editor. What I mean is that I'm not actively seeking a 20- or 25-hour-a-week job working regularly for someone else. ...

Like many older, unemployed workers, Geoff Dutton would like to find a job. The former software-manual writer has been out of work for 18 months, and during that time businesses have increasingly shifted to Internet-based systems for storing data rather than having their own in-house servers. "The companies ...

In the couple of months since my blog about unemployment has been running on AOL Jobs, I've heard from many people, both across the U.S. and around the world, who are dealing with the unique and sometimes painful challenges of unemployment. A lot of us feel very isolated in what we're experiencing, so ...

There's no question about it: being un- and under-employed for more than 2½ years teaches you things about life. I was pondering this in between applying for jobs (I've been extra busy with these recently) and wanted to write about it. But the more I thought about it, the more I saw that my "lessons ...

I haven't seen too many articles about anger in connection with unemployment, especially long-term unemployment. So I thought I'd write one. Now and then, I do feel angry. Angry that I was laid off, angry that I can't find my "dream" job no matter what I do, angry that my chances of finding a job diminish ...

What do you try when you feel like you've already tried everything to find a full-time job? I've been at this now for 32 months. I'm no novice at the search for work anymore; luckily for me, my skills have become well-honed. Actually, it's ironic: Usually experience is a good thing, but the more job ...

The unemployment rate dropped from 8.3 percent to 8.1 percent. Whoopee! My good cheer is sarcastic because the reason it dropped is nothing to celebrate. Quite the opposite: The unemployment rate only came down, according to today's Bureau of Labor Statistics report, because 368,000 people who'd been ...