Mixed Feelings about new Unemployment Extension

[semisweetcocoa]

Funny how only the people with a job are the ones who have mixed feelings about unemployment extension. If you (or someone you know) is on unemployment, it becomes a lifeline!

Even if the unemployment rate fell to 4%, you would still have deadbeats. The majority of people on unemployment need it and paid into it when working. Believe me, I would rather be an employee paying into the system as opposed to being out of a job receiving a small percentage of a former salary.

Our country hasn't seen the worse yet. As unemployment benefits and extensions continue to dry up, we will see more and more families and individuals hit rock bottom, lose their home, autos, health insurance, etc. This mess ain't over by a long shot!

I'm happy for those who haven't been affected by this economy, but please don't judge those who have been affected. Until you walk a mile in their shoes, you have no idea.

Couldn't agree more, no one should pass judgement on how anyone else should live their lives. It's easy for those who have a job to assume "people are milking the system" when they don't have a clue of what's going on out here in the work force. No one should pass judgement, cause you never know when the shoe will be on the other foot.

 

[leahjade]

there are hundreds of people on there who are looking everyday and many with college degrees

And there are companies who can't find good help either. My husband's company has been looking for manufacturing workers (at a great wage) for months, and he doesn't require a degree. It seems like everyone says they won't work nights or weekends. Well, that's how the entry level jobs start.
My brother also can't find enough construction help - they work a day or two then quit saying "it's too hard" or "it's too hot". I see it from both sides. There are people genuinely looking for work and there are those who are too lazy too work.

 

[ccgirl]

I am not sure I understand how unemployment works in other states. I know here in VA you only get unemployment if you were employed for a certain amount of time and you PAID into it. Then it is based on what you earned. Not everyone maxes out at the top pay rate. I also don't understand those that are so irked by those getting unemployment even it they are financially secure. If you worked and you paid into it you should use it when you have the option. If you pay into Social Security then become a millionaire at 60 should you not get your Social Security Benefits? I work hard at my part time job and school. Hubby works long hours. But I am not begrudging a father or mother for getting UE (which they paid into) to keep the family afloat when execs are pulling down millions each month after being fired ....where is the outrage there?

I have now put my soap box away!!

I think people get irked because, due to the extensions, you actually end up getting more than you/your employer paid in. Where is that money coming from?? It's coming from the state/federal gov't (depending on what extension you are on). Social security is a form of retrirement. UI is meant to supplement you as you are looking for a job. Not as you sit around and do nothing. When you call the UI you have to answer questions. Are you available to work? Have you looked for work? etc.... Quite frankly, a lot of people I know are flat out lying. As I said before; I'm all for it when the person is out there looking for a job. I just know far too many people myself not looking for a job. Here in MA the UI benefits are incredible compared to other states. So many people say why should they go back to work when they make work staying home. Ummm...because it is the law and you are draining the gov't that's why. Again...I have read from posters that are actively looking for work and/or going back to school. I'm very glad for them the benefits have been extended and hope they are able to find a job soon.

 

[Kathi OD]

And there are companies who can't find good help either. My husband's company has been looking for manufacturing workers (at a great wage) for months, and he doesn't require a degree. It seems like everyone says they won't work nights or weekends. Well, that's how the entry level jobs start.
My brother also can't find enough construction help - they work a day or two then quit saying "it's too hard" or "it's too hot". I see it from both sides. There are people genuinely looking for work and there are those who are too lazy too work.

Not sure what part of the country your brother is in, but here, there are no construction vacancies to be had. those that didn't lose their jobs in the past 2 years are the only ones still working. No construction companies are looking to hire, especially personnel that does the actual construction.

 

[comicguy]

I really like this idea...not only great for the places where they volunteer, but helpful for the individuals also, as they can use their volunteering experiences to aid them in landing new employment.

Now why can't the U.S. implement such ideas?

One reason and one reason only the ACLU

 

[Colleen27]

Not sure what part of the country your brother is in, but here, there are no construction vacancies to be had. those that didn't lose their jobs in the past 2 years are the only ones still working. No construction companies are looking to hire, especially personnel that does the actual construction.

The unemployment rate within the construction industry is running about double the overall rate both locally and nationally right now (20.1% nationally as of 06/10), and while most other sectors of the economy are holding steady or adding small numbers of jobs, the construction sector is still contracting.

 

[Virgderon]

A former co- worker of mine is using his unemployment time to launch his own business. If it doesn't work, he will start looking during the last month or so. I know several other people who took a long term vacation from life while they were unemployed.

As much as I don't want anyone to suffer, I am a recruiter and I can tell you first hand that people aren't taking jobs just to work. They do still demand the hours they want and the pay they want.

If there was no unemployment being paid, I am sure that many of the people I deal with would be back to work.

 

[Kathi OD]

The unemployment rate within the construction industry is running about double the overall rate both locally and nationally right now (20.1% nationally as of 06/10), and while most other sectors of the economy are holding steady or adding small numbers of jobs, the construction sector is still contracting.

Thanks, Colleen for supporting what I had posted. DH and I are all too aware of the horrid state of unemployment in the construction industry, with him being out of work for 104 weeks. Construction was the first industry hit in this recession and it will be the last out. Thank God, DH's experience is in government/education sector, or he'd still be out of work. Commercial & residential construction is just about dead.

 

[Kathi OD]

As much as I don't want anyone to suffer, I am a recruiter and I can tell you first hand that people aren't taking jobs just to work. They do still demand the hours they want and the pay they want.

If there was no unemployment being paid, I am sure that many of the people I deal with would be back to work.

Guess things are good in Tampa, then. DH couldn't even get recruiters to call him back, although one did call out of the blue from Albuquerque, NM. He had 9 interviews in 104 weeks? No way he was in a position to demand the same hours and pay. He took over a 25% cut in pay and has no benefits to speak of. He interviewed for, and would have taken, if offered, a job 4.5 hours from home that paid 1/2 of what he made previously. On several of the interviews he was told there were over 500 applicants for the job.

We have a friend who has been out of work for 17 months. She has had 1 interview in all that time. Just 1. The pile of resumes she has sent out is utterly ridiculous.

When you're not getting calls for interviews, even though you are sending out resumes and filling out applications, there isn't much else you can do except collect unemployment.

 

[rumrunnergirl]

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[rumrunnergirl]

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[Colleen27]

Thanks, Colleen for supporting what I had posted. DH and I are all too aware of the horrid state of unemployment in the construction industry, with him being out of work for 104 weeks. Construction was the first industry hit in this recession and it will be the last out. Thank God, DH's experience is in government/education sector, or he'd still be out of work. Commercial & residential construction is just about dead.

We're in the industry too - DH started a small residential home improvement company years ago, and we've never seen business this slow. We probably get 3 calls from out of work laborers/tradesmen looking for work for every one customer calling for an estimate, and our booking rate on estimates is dismal. We're scraping by, which puts us in a lot better position than many in the industry, but many of our friends in the field have been out of work a long time and are facing the end of unemployment benefits, foreclosure, bankruptcy, etc.

 

[windycitymom]

We are two hours south of Tampa. The jobs being offered pay the same as unemployment - so after taxes you'd be making less. If you can't live on UC, how can you live on less? I don't know anyone who expects the same hours, nor anywhere near the same pay, but the job offers DH finds are laughable. Seriously, they pay minimum, offer no benefits, and they want you to have experience, your own tools/truck, drive hours to jobs with no gas reimbursement, etc.

Other industries are doing that as well. Believe me, employers are taking advantage of the surplus of employees available. Employers now offer "contract positions" at less pay (than before) with no benefits! (for Executive positions). Many employers are paying less because they can!

Can't people see this is a Catch-22? Until people start going back to work this economy will NEVER turn around. Paying people low wages with no benefits is not the way to get them spending again. Employers are cutting off their nose to spite their face.

 

[SanFranciscan]

I do believe that anyone relying upon Unemployment to pay his or her bills would rather be working. I think that any claims to the contrary are hogwash. However, I also believe that people who got cushy severance pay are using Unemployment to pay for luxuries that would enrage anyone struggling and suffering guilt by association.

The problem is that workers who need to move into new positions after their old jobs have been outsourced or lost to automation and so forth are in a bind because employers are not willing to train, even while the companies are being given federal stimulus money for the stated purpose of providing jobs. Would I support something like the old Work Services Projects that brought the U.S. out of the first great depression? Of course because our infrastructure sure could use the helping hand as well. Those are the employers who are worthy of a government handout. I am very much opposed to letting those who are privatizing their profits and socializing their costs continue to freeload off of the system and then condemn the unemployed or the under-employed in need of any social assistance.

 

[SanFranciscan]

And there are companies who can't find good help either. My husband's company has been looking for manufacturing workers (at a great wage) for months, and he doesn't require a degree. It seems like everyone says they won't work nights or weekends. Well, that's how the entry level jobs start.
My brother also can't find enough construction help - they work a day or two then quit saying "it's too hard" or "it's too hot". I see it from both sides. There are people genuinely looking for work and there are those who are too lazy too work.

May I ask what it is that you manufacture? I think that the U.S. has become a country that makes nothing. We are all selling things to people who are on break from selling things.

Working nights and weekends is not a problem for me. I actually prefer it because I can get so much done on a weekday morning by scheduling all of my medical appointments, etc. at such times that they don't require me to miss any work. The only time I have ever had to refuse a job is when the employer wants me there during hours that public transit is not available because I sure can't afford a car on the wages they expect me to accept.

I worked a number of years in a college bookstore and watched the average age of students climb higher and higher because when there are no jobs school is not higher education but hiding behind education. If a big factory had been opened up on that hill behind the community college, there would have been a mass exodus out of that school and onto the assembly line out back.

The reason I asked whether you were truly looking for manufacturing workers is that it has been my observation that in every industry companies are really just looking for one job category. These days there often is not even a receptionist when we enter a business, just a bell out front. It seems like all that employers are looking for is a take-no-prisoners salesperson who is pushy and rude and behaves more like a bill collector than someone there to serve the customer who does not owe the company any money because entering a place of business is not a contract to buy.

I am not saying that that you is true of your family's business. In fact, if you truly are manufacturing something that is affordable, I wish you every success because companies doing that are the only ones who can pull this country out of this mess. It is not hard to sell something if it is affordable.

 

[wendydarling826]

I understand that many people have situations in their own realm of experience that color their view of this issue, but it saddens me that there is a growing sentiment that blames the unemployed for the unemployment crisis in our country. It's comparable to blaming abused women for the abuse they suffer. I can only speak from my own experience. My husband worked for 25 years for a company that was acquired by a larger company that promptly shut them down, and my husband lost his job. This occurred just at the time our economy tanked. For 18 months, he spent hours literally every day except for Christmas day, applying for every job that was even remotely a match to his qualifications, interviewing, networking, following all the advice he could gather on how to find a position. He worked part time for as many hours as he could get - part time jobs are not easy to get either. The pain and embarassment he felt at having to collect unemployment broke my heart to witness. When he finally was offered a job, at a much lower level and much lesser salary than he had had, he accepted it gladly. My husband and I have worked our whole lives and paid into the system, never asking for or wanting any handout from anyone. Unemployment is a form of insurance for people who have paid into the system and who find themselves in time of crisis. If there are people for whom collecting unemployment is a preferred lifestyle, I don't know any and I don't think there are many. If you have been unaffected by the economic situation in our country, count your blessings. And be careful before you criticize someone else. What you see isn't necessarily the whole picture, and a little compassion goes a long way.

 

[Goobergal99]

Don't even get me started about extending FUNemployment

Is everyone on it taking advantage well of course not but there is truly no regulation to control it either way, just more government in our lives

 

[allison443]

Don't even get me started about extending FUNemployment

Is everyone on it taking advantage well of course not but there is truly no regulation to control it either way, just more government in our lives

Which is it, there isn't enough regulation of the system, or there is too much government in our lives?

Also, the people who have posted here don't seem to be having much FUN while on what you call FUNemployment. Maybe you could tell them what they are doing wrong?

 

[Goobergal99]

Which is it, there isn't enough regulation of the system, or there is too much government in our lives?

Also, the people who have posted here don't seem to be having much FUN while on what you call FUNemployment. Maybe you could tell them what they are doing wrong?

The govt in our lives that gives a hand out to everyone in line... And I didn't say that some people are not deservent of it but the old motto is "Mcdonalds is always hiring" and I have heard the whole mantra of getting more money to stay home and collect but I have to tell you... it gets to the point when you are 3/4 years on unemployment that it is time to look for a different kind of career if you are down on your luck it's time to go back to school and use that govt money in the form of grants and loans to pick a job that is in demand. I am thankful everyday that I picked a profession where there is always money to be made and I have job security and I get that not everyone is that fortunate but while one is not working maybe they should concentrate on making themselves fortunate...

And yes we do pay in to unemployment when we pay SS but it is in no where near the ammount that someone collecting for 4 years is paying in

 

[Goobergal99]

I think people get irked because, due to the extensions, you actually end up getting more than you/your employer paid in. Where is that money coming from?? It's coming from the state/federal gov't (depending on what extension you are on). Social security is a form of retrirement. UI is meant to supplement you as you are looking for a job. Not as you sit around and do nothing. When you call the UI you have to answer questions. Are you available to work? Have you looked for work? etc.... Quite frankly, a lot of people I know are flat out lying. As I said before; I'm all for it when the person is out there looking for a job. I just know far too many people myself not looking for a job. Here in MA the UI benefits are incredible compared to other states. So many people say why should they go back to work when they make work staying home. Ummm...because it is the law and you are draining the gov't that's why. Again...I have read from posters that are actively looking for work and/or going back to school. I'm very glad for them the benefits have been extended and hope they are able to find a job soon.