In the past few months, we've heard a lot about job loss. This morning’s headlines: “In February, 63,000 jobs were lost, the biggest job decline in 5 years.” Last night’s newscasts citing the same statistics. Candidates are talking about Ohio unemployment statistics. Alarming numbers! And numbers make news!
But I find that I can’t think in numbers; I think in “people.” I see faces.
For 18 years I’ve worked with people affected by layoffs. I’ve seen the faces…and heard the stories. Take John, who was an engineer with a very large company in the defense industry. John and I sat together the day he was notified that he would no longer have his job. John started out the conversation, as so many do, with a stoic stance. Holding back emotions, he listened to what I had to say about the transition program available to him and what support services we could offer in the career center. As I attempted to bring hope to the situation, I saw John looking at me as though he could not comprehend what I was saying. Finally, he interrupted me and looking into my eyes he said: “Rita, who is going to insure us? My wife is on dialysis.”
And then there was Richard who had been displaced when a major airline went bankrupt. He told me that he wasn’t worried. He could always get another job. He was a good machine mechanic. I remember wondering if he was as confident as he seemed. I hoped he was because I knew that genuine confidence is an asset in times of transition. So, we talked some more about new job possibilities and resume development. Richard left and I did not see him for a couple of weeks. When he returned, we sat in the conference room to review his activities. Suddenly, John interrupted the process and banged his fist on the table. “Rita, I have a family, two teen-age sons, and no health insurance. When I attempted to get a policy, I was told that I would need to pay 3 months dividends ($1500.00) up front. Where am I going to get $1500.00?” And, in case there is a part of you thinking that Richard should have had some resources, you need to know that when the company went bankrupt, his pay and benefits stopped immediately. He was at his job, happily employed one minute, and the next minute, he was going out the door, unemployed, with thousands of other workers.
And I see Ethel. Ethel, a petite woman, looking older than her 50 years, had worked her way up in a manufacturing company to a quality control inspector position. She had done this, in spite of little education, and she took pride in her accomplishment. However, when the plant closed, Ethel lost not only a job but her self-esteem as well. Unable to believe she was marketable, Ethel lost her home and savings. Last I knew, she was sleeping on a relative’s sofa.
So when I hear the “numbers,” I see the faces of John and Richard and Ethel and thousands of others that I have worked with over the years. What’s happening to all of the faces losing jobs today in a labor market pitifully lacking in new job opportunities? What happens to their lives? How do they survive? What is day-to-day living like for them? How has their job loss affected relationships with spouses, children, friends, former coworkers, and the community? Do you ever wonder? (to be continued)
Comments