'Acceptable' number of casualties

No matter how you interpret the data, or whether you're a glass half-full or half-empty type of person, you have to admit one thing, today's job numbers aren't causing anyone to jump for joy.

At this rate, the economy will never fully recover -- well, at least not in most of our lifetimes, and that's all that really matters for people already on the edge. There probably is going to be a new economic norm that is somewhere below where it was in previous decades. Sure, some folks will land on their feet. Some businesses will flourish, maybe even exceed pre-recession revenues. But for millions of Americans, this slow trickle of so-called good news -- this one step forward, a half step back approach to economic recovery -- means their pain is going to get worse. A lot worse. We need about 10 steps forward to even begin to get back to where we were in normal times. And that doesn't appear likely.

As I ponder the whole situation it seems to me that like in war there is some acceptable number of casualties that society is willing to live with. Whenever we as a country emerge from this war, however that is defined, a lot of people will be left behind. Whether that number will be in the hundreds of thousands or millions remains to be seen. But it does seem obvious at this point that many folks who were previously in the middle class will not be returning to that status. As long as that number doesn't exceed a certain percentage, most Americans will go about their lives just fine, happy to see a trickle of good employment/economic news each month. Happy that they weren't the ones who got shut out from the recovery.

Where will we hide the homeless?

There is a proposal in Hawaii to ship the state's growing homeless population to the mainland.

As the economy continues suffer and jobs remain scarce, homeless people are showing up in places usually reserved for tourists. Some state officials believe it would be more prudent to spend $300 on a one-way plane ticket for each homeless person than to pay $35,000 a year to shelter and feed them. Furthermore, the state has concerns that the sight of homeless people roaming plush beaches will hurt tourism, which overwhelmingly supports Hawaii's economy.

Welcome to the future of America, where homeless people are no longer confined to inner-city soup kitchens and out-of-sight trash dumpsters. The homeless will be everywhere and will include educated people who were living in 3-bedroom suburban homes for most of their lives. The new homeless will look different. They'll be your grandparents and former colleagues. They will be well spoken and mentally coherent. Many will be young adults who couldn't navigate their way into a failing job market despite possessing multiple college degrees. They won't be content to freeze in a back alley in a decaying Detroit neighborhood. They will migrate to places where they can survive in the elements.

Where will we ship these people?

As distasteful as it might be for some folks to picture the new homeless camped out in the parking lot of Whole Foods in suburbia, it's going to happen because of our inability to extricate ourselves from the economic mess we're in. Some people won't even acknowledge how severe the unemployment problem has become. The Rush Limbaughs of the world think there are plenty of good jobs for anyone willing to work.

While those who are still sailing along, bathing in a kind of blissful ignorance, tend to not think about these things, I am here to tell you that current and former middle class people can't continue to drain their savings forever without ending up on the streets. They need jobs. They need to restore their nest eggs.

Tourist areas, tidy suburbs and other places that are usually shielded from society's ills will be inundated by a new wave of homelessness in the next decade if the employment situation doesn't improve dramatically in the next year or two.

Read more about Hawaii's proposal.

Greed is to blame for lack of jobs

This Washington Post columnist, Harold Meyerson, explains how businesses are "defying gravity" while refusing to expand payrolls. More economists and commentators are beginning to see what is causing the economic bottleneck. Once again, it's our old nemesis, greed.

Everything is in place for the economy to grow. Bailout and stimulus packages have been provided by the government. Financial reform will create a more level playing field for businesses. Profits are up. The pool of talented people looking for work has never been more robust. Yet, employers still won't hire because they've learned to make a buck with fewer employees and have shipped many jobs overseas.

What these employers fail to understand is that by shutting the door on American job-seekers they are sealing their own fate. With no money circulating through the U.S. economy, consumers will buy less and eventually profits will go down. These businesses are also burning out their current employees and degrading the quality of whatever it is they are trying to sell. Additionally, many corporations are boosting the economies of places like China, which provides cheap, abundant labor, not to mention inferior products. Oh, and let's not forget that China isn't exactly our friend.

It seems more evident by the day where the blame lies for the lack of true economic recovery and the destruction of the American workforce. It's going to take a unified effort by the government and private sector to save this country. There is no more time to waste on politics and greed. Read more.

The bigger story beyond Sherrod

A couple of folks have asked me what I think of the Shirley Sherrod situation. The former USDA employee was fired for making what seemed to be racist statements in an old speech captured on videotape. As it turned out, the comments appear to have been taken out of context and Sherrod has since received apologies from almost everyone involved in the rush-to-judgment, including President Obama. The USDA is even offering to rehire Sherrod.

A lot of things about this story don't surprise me, which is part of the reason why I haven't felt compelled to comment on it until now. Journalistic standards, which played a role in this debacle, have been declining for years and are currently hitting what I hope is rock bottom. Misinterpreting comments/data is one of the pitfalls of today's reporting. As the online rush and economic climate have created less experienced newsrooms, quality control has nosedived. The gatekeepers in many newsrooms have gone extinct. It is also obvious that certain media outlets have an agenda and have lost the ability to be objective and thorough, particularly when it concerns race and politics. I haven't heard any apologies from Fox News regarding how some of their commentators prematurely spun the condensed Sherrod video.

Beyond the media's role in fueling the fire in this case, there is another problem. It has become so common for employees to be unfairly fired or laid off that I am not sure what all the hoopla is about in the Sherrod incident, especially considering all the other important news that should take precedence over this story. To my way of thinking, the bigger story goes beyond Sherrod. The story should be about the American workplace and the relationships between employers and employees, covering the full spectrum of why and how so many people were laid off in the recession, why jobs aren't coming back and the trends that are eroding basic trust and productivity.

Employees have been fired and laid off for unjust reasons for a long time. Some can't even find work or get promoted for reasons such as race or age discrimination. Depending on where you work or want to work, you can either be too young, too old, too white or too black. The recession has led some companies to get rid of workers based on "last hired, first fired" or other seemingly random criteria or false perceptions. From all the media coverage over this one unfair workplace dismal, you would think the Sherrod firing is a new phenomenon.

So the Sherrod story in and of itself doesn't motivate me that much to watch 24-hour coverage of it on CNN, MSNBC or Fox. If it shines light on what should be obvious to everyone by now, then fine.

The only unusual aspect of the Sherrod case is that she was actually offered an apology and a new job. Most people who are let go from jobs because they were misunderstood, didn't smile enough, or simply spoke their minds too often aren't given apologies, let alone hired back. Sherrod will prosper from being victimized. She will land on her feet in better shape, which is more than can be said for others who have faced similar situations but received no media coverage.

Businesses now swimming in cash. So why aren't they hiring?

Nonfinancial companies have $1.8 trillion -- far more than they had just two years ago. Sadly, they aren't spending much of it on hiring jobless Americans. Some business leaders say they aren't confident that the economy is improving, despite profits being up. Way up. So what's it going to take for company leaders to invest in their businesses by hiring more folks? Hiring not only improves the psyche of the America, but it would also help those who have been pulling double-duty in understaffed offices and factories across the country since the start of the recession.

With executive bonuses still flowing liberally, I would guess that CEOs and CFOs aren't cutting back much on personal spending, which leads me to wonder whether they are being truthful in their economic forecasts for their companies or just hoarding profits in order to buy another summer home or exotic sports car. Perhaps they are angry at President Obama and the pressure he's putting on big businesses to clean up their acts. Maybe they are resisting hiring out of some sort of political payback. Or maybe they are sincere in their cautious approach. Could be all of the above.

Whatever the reason for the lack of hiring, it's bringing down the country and a lot of innocent people with it. Employers who have the cash and a need to hire but won't are acting in an unpatriotic manner. Their reluctance to hire is ripping apart families, crushing the real estate market, and hurting retailers and smaller business from coast to coast. State and local governments are suffering because fewer people are paying taxes. Highly profitable companies that aren't filling much-needed positions aren't being fiscally prudent. They are being selfish.

Doing business has always involved a degree of risk. Many companies have been rewarded for taking those risks. But we now seem to be in a new era where innovation is trumped by cutting jobs, where the quickest and only path to profits seem to be in eliminating employees or exporting jobs overseas. If this continues, not only will the American dream fade away, capitalism itself will be at risk. Simply put, without jobs people can't buy things. That fact will cause many more businesses to go extinct. So in a way, businesses that are refusing to hire are sealing their own fates.

Getting back to the concept of risk. Republicans like to argue that cutting taxes allows the wealthy to take risks, to open or expand businesses, which creates jobs. But from what we've seen so far in this modest recovery, bulging profits aren't sparking expansion. Cutting taxes on the rich seems to only grow the deficit and the money pocketed by the wealthy. If there was hard evidence that more tax breaks would create more jobs, I'd say go for it. However, the opposite seems to be true. This is not the Reagan era. The wealthy have enjoyed the fruits of the Bush tax cuts, yet have not increased hiring. So why continue with this strategy?

The mindset of those who are prospering in the recession seems to be to hold onto every dime they earn or get back from Uncle Sam. If businesses want to make a case for more tax breaks, they need to start taking more risks by hiring. I don't say this just to get people back to work, but to illustrate that one hand washes the other. Businesses that hire should get certain concessions. Those that don't, even though they could, should not receive any breaks from the government or taxpayers. In addition, hiring could actually increase profits. I think too many businesses have lost sight of that in the quest to reduce the workforce. There is a price for cutting too close to the bone. Competitors that maintain or grow their businesses could gain a huge advantage over those who refuse to take smart risks. Perhaps this is why smaller, more nimble companies, like Martin Guitars, are weathering the storm. The family-run Martin company has not cut jobs, yet they are still selling quality instruments, innovating and maintaining their position in the market. The company did not panic and as a result are being rewarded.

A new report suggests that there will be one million home foreclosures in the next 12 months. This is another sign of the stagnant job market and unemployment benefits running out. It is hard to find a job when you don't have a home. It's difficult to obtain credit to buy new things in the future when you have been foreclosed upon. Until jobs return, this cycle of pain will continue to ripple through the country and the entire economy. And some believe that we lost so many jobs in this recession that things will never return to normal. So it is in the interest of everyone that profitable companies resume hiring sooner rather than later. Payroll is the top expense for most businesses, but there are other ways for many companies to tighten their belts. Some family-owned businesses are particularly good at cutting costs without cutting jobs, maybe because smaller companies tend to view employees as human beings and not just numbers.

I have long suspected that there were far more layoffs in this recession than there needed to be. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that some job eliminations were a way for companies to raise their stock prices by fattening their profit margins. Wall Street seems to react favorably to slash-and-burn tactics. In this recession, it appears too many businesses jumped on the opportunity to get leaner, whether they needed to or not. The job losses spun out of control. A hundred here, a thousand there soon added up to millions of laid off workers. People who held jobs for decades began collecting unemployment benefits for the first time, and were made to feel bad about it by those on the far right. That travesty continues.

Now that the stimulus money is circulating through the economy and companies are making larger profits, one would think that jobs should return -- not all but far more than we're seeing. However, given human nature, greed and the tendency for some companies to embrace doing more with less, it is probably going to take something more dramatic from the government to force what businesses should be doing on their own by now. It appears that if businesses want to avoid further federal mandates, it would be in their best interest to begin using some of the $1.8 trillion to hire qualified people who have been desperately looking for work. It's up to profitable businesses to help restore America. This is no time for hoarding profits.

Read more in The Washington Post.

Recruiters have a bird's-eye view of job woes

I e-mailed a newsroom recruiter acquaintance. He has worked at a Florida newspaper for over 25 years. The newspaper, which I won't name in order to protect this man's privacy, has always attracted top talent. The publication benefited from the efforts of this recruiter. It's been one of the best papers in the country, winning numerous awards and doing well in terms of circulation.

I discovered this week that the recruiter's job was eliminated last year. Another casualty of the recession. However, the company that he works for let him stay at the paper in a non-managerial editing position. I am sure it isn't ideal, but it's a job. As a senior staffer, at least he was given the option of remaining on the payroll when his recruiting job was eliminated. He didn't have to go on unemployment or relocate in his 50s.

I talked to another recruiter this week. She is at a well-regarded publication in Virginia. She is a couple years older than me. I told her of my situation. She was impressed by my resume. But I noticed a shift in her tone when she learned more about my extensive efforts to find work. She went from professional and complimentary to sounding scared and pessimistic -- scared for herself and her job, seemingly realizing that if I can struggle, so could she.

I figure my story scares a lot of people. Folks look at my credentials and can't believe I was laid off, let alone unable to find work for more than a year. They then look at their own precarious situations, wondering if they are about to fall through the ice.

The woman from Virginia told me how money is still being made at some newspapers, but that profits aren't going into hiring. Some papers are using revenue to pay down debt. She ended by saying she'd pray for me.

Another recruiter I know in another profession recently had to leave her job. It's not just newspapers that are struggling. Fortunately, she found a new job before being laid off. She saw the writing on the wall. The large company she worked for had lost a lot of employees in the last two years and wasn't hiring. Her position became unnecessary. She got out while the gettin' was good, something I regret not doing when I had the chance.

If you can break through the HR-speak, many recruiters will give you the real scoop on how bad the job situation is in this country. They are very well aware of the millions of very talented, very eager folks waiting in lines for jobs that don't exist. It has to be tough for these recruiting professionals to remain optimistic in the face of certain realities.

The new face of political folly

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky. Remember that name. He's the lone Washington politician blocking an extension of federal unemployment benefits to millions of Americans.

Here's the deal, Mr. Bunning. Either you cough up the money now or you add to the growing economic crisis if millions of folks start falling off the cliff this Sunday. Many of these folks have never been unemployed in their lives and are trying very hard to find work, keep their homes and pay their bills despite the increasingly long odds. They have decimated their savings accounts while Washington has dragged its feet on creating a climate that would be supportive to job growth.

You, Mr. Bunning, and other politicians played a big role in getting us into this recession. Now is not the time to play political games. Read more about what's at stake here.

Update: Apparently small-business owners aren't too happy with Sen. Bunning, either. In fact, even Republicans aren't supporting Bunning's obstructionist grandstanding. How can this happen? One politician shouldn't be able to do this. Read more.

McDonnell plays it moderately right

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, sworn in less than two weeks ago, gave the GOP response speech to President Obama's State of the Union address tonight. It's a tough gig and others have gone down in flames trying to provide a substantive opposing view. However, McDonnell's performance, while predictable, wasn't offensive or clumsy. He seemed moderate in his opinions and likable in his demeanor. Like during his campaign, he led his speech off by talking about jobs. A wise strategy that undoubtedly got him elected last November. However, McDonnell didn't reveal a lot of new ideas or details about how he plans to create those jobs.

At times McDonnell seems to be too packaged, but it looks like he might be on the fast track to national politics. He may even have a shot at the presidency if he gets people back to work in Virginia and reduces the state deficit.

As for Obama's address, the president continues to be a master of public speaking. Even when I disagree with Obama, I find him easy to listen to and think his heart is generally in the right place. I was glad to hear him place the focus for 2010 on jobs -- meaningful jobs, as he stated. However, I still can't help wonder why it took Obama a year to become more engaged in the quest to get people back to work or why he continues to take on a campaign-like tone of blaming the previous administration for much of what ails us. He's a smart guy. We elected him to do a job. It's time to stop the George Bush bashing and get on with the business of leading the country out of this economic mess.

On the eve of new "dark ages?"

The Labor Department released the job-loss numbers for December today. The news is not good. The U.S. economy shed 85,000 jobs last month. After some modestly better numbers the month before, December's figures show what most ordinary folks already know -- things are not improving in the job market in any meaningful manner.

I saw an interesting documentary last night that predicted where human beings might be in 100 years. The scientists and educators on the show talked about global climate change, pandemics, population explosions and dwindling natural resources. Essentially, the experts who were interviewed laid out a scenario that we may be entering the beginning of the end for human beings unless we turn things around in the next decade or two. Extinction may not come from nuclear war. It might come from our common behaviors and failing to connect the dots.

At the end of the two-hour program, the narrator spoke of the growing unemployment problem and how it actually ties into larger global issues outlined during the show. For instance, it has been proven that women with lower or no income tend to have more children. That in turn leads to more poverty and a larger draw on resources. Humans must start thinking more about population control.

When economies collapse there is no investment made in science, conservation, infrastructure, medicine, etc., because there are no tax dollars to pay for it. Everything, including the planet as a whole, tends to deteriorate. Diseases form and spread. Species vital to the ecological balance become extinct. Crucial "greener" technologies are not developed. Education falls by the wayside. Crime and illegal immigration increases as people fight to survive. Systems get overloaded. Many experts believe the next big world war will be sparked by the need for clean water.

We have to be caretakers of our lands and oceans. We can't simply become greedy, starving nomads, taking more and more without thought or concern for the next generation. We need to be productive and not destructive. We need to be innovators of something other than iPods and 3D movies.

Part of being productive individuals involves employment. Whether being paid for researching a method to fight off the next deadly virus or cleaning our streets to keep them safe to navigate, we need to fully understand that employment is vital to everything and that every job has value.

Without tax dollars from me in this year of my unemployment, the state of Virginia is that much less equipped to pay a state college professor's salary or to hire a park ranger. That professor might have been the person who teaches a student who goes on to cure cancer one day. That park ranger might prevent poachers from creating havoc in a sensitive ecosystem that in turn harms humans in ways we can't even imagine.

The connection between unemployment and global disasters isn't an obvious one at first. We tend to think of unemployment as an individual or personal hardship. But as you begin to realize how closely the dominoes are aligned, you can clearly see why solving the unemployment problem is of the utmost importance in maintaining everything including our freedom as a nation.

There will always be terrorism, health care and other important issues to deal with. But Washington and business people need to understand that rising unemployment is far more dangerous and prevalent than young men with exploding underwear on airplanes. According to some experts, prolonged double-digit unemployment will lead to new "dark ages." At that point, air-travel safety won't be an issue.

In my own Sterling, Va., neighborhood, burglaries are on the rise. I don't think it's a coincidence. I recently heard of a man stealing meat from a nearby grocery store in a fairly affluent suburb. Another sign of troubling times. Job loss leads to desperation. Desperation leads to big problems for society and the planet. Joblessness robs us of hope, order, innovation and a maybe a future on Earth. Joblessness destroys the collective good of mankind and our ability to grow as a culture. When everyone is engaged and contributing, we and the planet are better off. Crime goes down. Ideas are born. A sense of awareness and learning are heightened.

Unemployment isn't just a financial hardship. There is more to life than work, but without employment governments fall and spirits die. Because we are at the crossroads with many other global issues, it's more important than ever to fix the economy and get people back to work so that we can address the other problems we face.

Past catching up to the present

Even in 1960 my displeasure with winter was obvious. Didn't like it in Brooklyn, where this picture of me was taken. Didn't like it when my family moved to Long Island. And didn't like it while in high school in Rockland County, N.Y. No wonder I ended up going to college in southern Virginia. Winters are milder there, but still not mild enough for me. I recall being in shock the first time it snowed. The usually green campus was pretty in white but my anxiety rose with each inch of the fallen flaky stuff.

My first choice of colleges was the University of South Florida in Tampa. However, due to not being the best of test-takers, I screwed up my SATs and ended up in Lynchburg, Va. I have no regrets. Lynchburg College was a fine liberal arts school in a very scenic area of the state. In some ways, I wish I could have settled down there after graduation. Instead, I went on journalism career-driven romp up and down the East Coast before eventually coming back to Virginia in the mid-1990s.

As I look out over the gray, northern Virginia sky today, I wonder what course life would have taken if I would have ended up in Florida in 1979 -- what relationships would have been forged, what career would I have chosen, etc. One wonders about the road not taken when the current path seems to have led to a dead end. The winter slows everything down, allowing for the past to catch up to the present.

Of course, it's impossible to say things would have been better or significantly different -- that I would have become a physical education teacher (my original career goal) if I went to Tampa, or played in a great rock 'n' roll band (my first love). I might have gotten swallowed by a shark in the Gulf of Mexico at the age of 19 or been flattened on the streets of St. Petersburg by a runaway Buick driven by an infamous "blue-hair" with over-sized sunglasses. I might have eventually ventured back north, just to test my tolerance for winter or for nostalgic reasons, only to perish in a frozen park lake.

Still, it's interesting to consider what better things might have happened with a left turn at the intersection instead of a right. Unfortunately, when you're making those life-charting decisions at 18 you really don't have enough data or a crystal ball to choose the best course. Who would have thought in 1980 that newspapers would be dying because of a thing called the Internet and that seasoned journalists, such as myself, would be scrambling for jobs in 2009? Who would admit at 20 years old that they really don't know themselves yet or that they might be forced to reinvent themselves later in life when most folks are beginning to look forward to retirement? While I do know of a few people who knew exactly what they wanted from life early on, and made their visions into reality, I think most of us just stumble around, bumping into furniture as we go. The key is to try not to fall down the stairs.

The biggest challenge for me this winter will be in dealing with the unknown for the second year in a row. I still feel disoriented from the events of last year. The cold and dark days makes navigation more difficult. There is something about sunlight and warmth that makes impossible things seem possible. Maybe it's just an illusion, but it's a good illusion.

We've already had our first significant snowfall in the D.C. area. Luckily, we don't get the amount of snowfall that places like New York and Boston do. I am keeping my fingers crossed that good things can happen in the winter months. Maybe it will change my perspective on this time of year. Maybe the apparent dead end up ahead is just a dark tunnel across the harbor's icy waters. Perhaps there is light on the other side, even in the winter.

Poll: Mental health issues on rise

Excerpts from The New York Times:

“Everything gets touched,” said Colleen Klemm, 51, of North Lake, Wis., who lost her job as a manager at a landscaping company last November. “All your relationships are touched by it. You’re never your normal happy-go-lucky person. Your countenance, your self-esteem goes. You think, ‘I’m not employable.’ ”

Joblessness has wreaked financial and emotional havoc on the lives of many of those out of work, according to a New York Times/CBS News poll of unemployed adults, causing major life changes, mental health issues and trouble maintaining even basic necessities.

An anniversary worth forgetting

This week marks the one-year anniversary of my being laid off from USA Today. I was planning to write about it at length but decided against it. I think I have said enough on this blog about my own situation and the predicament of other unemployed folks (see the archive). In doing so, it appears I have also lost many of my readers, which in a way was predictable based on what I have experienced in my personal relationships with folks during the last 12 months.

But a declining audience isn't the main reason for my not wanting to mark this week with an extended anniversary post.

While my layoff is in many ways similar to the millions of others, particularly in the field of journalism, it is also fairly unique and somewhat personal. The circumstances surrounding my layoff are particularly tough (some might say surreal) and almost impossible to explain to people in a way that they can fully grasp. It's been a rather lonely experience.

In order to avoid further frustrations and disappointments in not being able to effectively convey my personal feelings of loss, new challenges ahead and significant limitations in a worsening recession, I am going to curtail postings about my situation in particular and the economy in general. This blog will be considerably lighter (in words, not necessarily subject matter) from now on.

I hope I will be employed again one day and find some closure to what happened one year ago when I experienced unemployment for the first time in three decades. I feel I have a lot to offer to a stable company, big or small, and am open to new career possibilities at a mere 52 years old. But I realize I can't influence the future by airing my thoughts about joblessness or the recession here. Many things in life have their own momentum and timetable. The length of my job search is apparently one of them.

Thankfulness in gloomy times

I was preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday last year, going about my business while working at USA Today, and looking forward to a couple days off. It was announced a week earlier that there were going to be layoffs if not enough people volunteered for buyouts. We were under a similar threat the year before, but mostly older employees volunteered to leave in 2007 so no one had to be forced out. The buyouts in 2007 were more generous and there was no serious recession at that point. Some of the people who took the buyouts said they saw the writing on the wall and wanted to leave while they could. But 2008 had a different feel. Folks saw the economic firestorm that was coming in a business that was failing. So people were more cautious about volunteering to leave.

As I went into the holiday week last year, I was reasonably confident that I would not be laid off. My reasons seemed logical. First, I was there for 13 years and had performed well. Never received a reprimand, was a reliable and hard-working employee, etc. Always got my annual raises and so forth. I knew a lot of folks depended on me and that made me feel good.

Being that it was Thanksgiving, I was certainly feeling thankful I was in a relatively stable situation. Even with the buyouts and then layoffs, USA Today was not doing as badly as other newspapers. Gannett, the mega-company that owns USA Today, seemed well-positioned to navigate out of storm with its flagship newspaper in tact.

I worked in the graphics department but considered myself a complete journalist by trade, not just a visuals editor. Because other supervisors with a journalism backgrounds had left our department in recent years, I was the only manager remaining with diverse editing experience. In a department of about 60 folks, mainly photographers and artists, I figured my editing know-how, managerial seasoning and 16 years of journalistic background at other newspapers prior to USA Today made me a valued resource and would protect me from being laid off. Plus, I worked nights and was heavily involved with production of graphics on deadline. No one else wanted to work that shift, so in my mind I went into Thanksgiving thinking things would be fine.

About a week after Thanksgiving, I was laid off by the long-time managing editor of my department. It was disorienting to say the least. Only two people in my department lost their jobs. How and why I became one of them is still a mystery to me and many other folks. It seemed to defy all logic. The managing editor said little to me in the brief separation meeting. I try not to think about the possible politics or personal reasons that led to the decision, but it's not always easy to block out, especially as the job market worsens and various losses in my life pile up.

On a personal level, I was stunned by the lack of loyalty and empathy I felt as I was given the boot. My manager was someone I had broken bread with many times, had personal and professional conversations with. I was 51. He was about 10 years older than me. He had to know what being over 50 in a recession and coming from a dying business would mean for me. I thought, "why me and why not someone 25 years younger who had no particular attachment to USA Today or newspapering in general?" Why not someone who would have time to rebound when the job market improved? These were my prime earning years -- a gateway into retirement. Now I've shifted from thoughts of retirement to day-to-day survival mode. It's taken a toll on my spirit at times as I am sure millions of other laid off workers can relate to.

Layoffs can ruin lives as this unidentified protester's sign conveys, and I wonder if those making the decisions truly understand that. I don't believe layoffs are always just about business. I think it gets personal and petty at times. Far more people than me have been adversely impacted by my being laid off and by my extended period of unemployment. Trying to get back into a business which is struggling has been difficult. Trying to transition into another related field has been even more of a challenge as the unemployment rate worsens.

President Obama said yesterday that he "will not rest" until employers start hiring again. I sure hope that's true because as Thanksgiving approaches, it's getting real difficult for unemployed folks to feel thankful for much of anything other than perhaps their health and a few loved ones in their lives. Like for many people, unemployment is brand new to me. I worked 29 years without a break and turned down other jobs while at USA Today because I thought the national newspaper was a stable, somewhat-loyal employer. What I didn't see coming was that layoffs are not always driven by rationality or a sense of fairness. When GM stops making a certain truck model, a plant can close. It's not the fault of the workers, but at least they can understand the logic behind losing their jobs. No trucks, no plant, no jobs. I often wish I had that sort clarity.There is still a newspaper being produced 14 miles down the road from where I live. Still a lot of good people doing good work for a pretty vast audience. But it's getting hard living here, knowing I am no longer a part of that, and not quite grasping how I got to this point.

The quest this week is to try to find something to remain thankful for even in times where the future looks bleak. The challenge every day is to cling to some thread of hope that I can return to being a vibrant contributor to an employer that shares my values, ethics and workplace standards.

For millions of people like me, particularly those in their 50s and 60s who know that getting back into the workplace is extra difficult despite our experience and solid work ethics, these are some difficult weeks coming up. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's trigger many emotions. People take inventory at this time of year. Kind of assess where they are at in life. The holidays also coincide with when I was laid off, so there is that to contend with.

While 2009 was a time to try to make things work here by finding suitable employment in the D.C. area, 2010 might involve having to pack our bags. We are willing to go where the opportunities lie, but as of right now, I and many others are not sure where that is. Still, I am thankful things aren't worse and hope that by next Thanksgiving these struggles will be behind me and others who have been unemployed for the last year or longer.

Another shattered American dream

ABC's Nightline aired a story titled "Families in Foreclosure" last night. Glad to see the mainstream media reporting more stories like this, but wish they wouldn't wait until 11:30 p.m. to do so. This stuff needs to be in prime time and on every front page of every newspaper, which maybe will force people, particularly government leaders, to wake up.

You can watch the video here: http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/

A Mason, Ohio couple and their young daughter, son and family dog are featured in the piece. They didn't lose their home because they bought too big of a house, drove new cars or were shopaholics drowning in credit card debt. This isn't a story about some slimy mortgage company that conned them into something they couldn't afford. They lost their home because of a perfect storm that is becoming all too common.

Neighbors were in tears watching the family pack their belongings. Apparently, these were modest, well-liked folks. No country clubbers or CEOs with golden parachutes in this humble neighborhood.

Tears flowed again when the parents walked the young girl to her bus stop for a final time. I don't know how parents explain these things to children.

The husband, a veteran, hurt his back badly while on the job at a warehouse. While on disability leave, his firm merged with another company. That created downsizing and layoffs. He lost his job. Meanwhile, his wife has Crohn's Disease, which has hospitalized her 19 times in 20 years. Her medical bills began piling up and the couple was evicted from their modest $115,000 townhouse. The show documents their last few days in their home.

Fortunately, the couple was able to move in with a family member. But you could tell that losing their home was nonetheless painful and tragic. Another of those life scars we all accumulate at sometime or another. Still, they did have shelter in the aftermath. Could have been worse.

One has to wonder where others, without family members to take them in, will go when they lose their jobs, savings and homes.

Once again, another American family, through no fault of their own, has fallen victim to corporate downsizing, unmanageable medical bills and just bad luck. These tales are increasing at an alarming rate, hitting closer and closer to home, and are eating away at the core values that made this country strong.

As a journalist and quasi blogger, I consider what is happening now as the biggest story of our generation, yet it still doesn't get the play it should. Judging from my own declining blog traffic, it appears people just want to stick their heads in the sand about the economy, unemployment and the domino effect of it all.

Meanwhile, the president is continuing his globetrotting ways and the deficit is getting bigger by the second, which potentially means if we ever get out of this recession, rampant inflation will follow. Most economists believe taxes are going to have to go sky high in future in order to pay for all the government spending going on now. Interest rates on mortgages and car loans could return to the upper teens, where they were in the late 1970s and early 80s.

There are growing reports that those who crossed the border to come here in recent years for work are going back to Mexico to find jobs. More astonishingly, those in Mexico are now sending what little money they have to help out relatives in America who have fallen upon hard times.

From Mason, Ohio to Southern California to the shores of Florida, the situation is the same. And when I see stories like the one last night, I wonder what the future holds for my own daughter. She is well educated and hard working, yet I don't know if that's enough anymore.

For folks my age in similar predicaments, time is our biggest enemy. I hear the clock ticking every minute of every day.

I think the American dream is being rewritten with each story like the one in Mason, Ohio. I don't know what the final chapter will read like, but I know the cast of characters is growing more than most people realize.

This is the real unemployment number. Yep, one in six Americans are out of work or are severely underemployed. Yet, the government wants the public to focus on the misleading 10.2% number it released on Friday - not that the lesser number is anything to feel good about. Read the whole truth here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/business/economy/07econ.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1257606205-mqGmdpcBD0gTILkBBxWlIg

And just to dispel the notion that it's easy to find a job in areas like Washington, D.C., take a look at this article. Even jobs at the mall are hard to come by. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/06/AR2009110603958.html?hpid=newswell

However one wants to juggle statistics, there is no escaping the fact that most employers aren't hiring and some are getting ready for more layoffs. Those layoff victims from severely failing industries virtually have no hope of being rehired. Those wanting to transition to other careers have to get in line behind the folks who already have experience in those fields. After a certain age that just doesn't become a feasible wait.

While statistics show that those who are over 50 are less likely to lose their jobs than younger workers (probably due to the last-hired first fired protocol some businesses use), other stats indicate that if you are in the minority of older workers who get the boot, your chances of reentering the workplace are extremely poor. One article I read recently said that those who are 30something and in hiring positions don't like hiring their "parents."

In light of these facts, I can't help thinking about my layoff at USA Today last year and how it was particularly cruel. The search for viable work goes on, of course, but the odds are getting worse by the day according to the unemployment numbers, trends and the many first-hand tales being told by average Joes who have been looking for work longer than me.

Unemployment increases to 10.2%

The news today is worse than expected. Unemployment jumped the 10 percent mark. The unemployment rate only measures the number of people actively seeking work. Many have stopped looking for a job for various reasons. And many more have become underemployed and are hanging on by a thread. They are not counted in the unemployment figures. They have little hope of returning to once vibrant careers.

Meanwhile, layoffs continue. Businesses are still closing. Borders books announced this week that it will close many of its smaller stores. Storefronts remain empty. The newspaper business, the profession I worked in for 29 years, continues to get rid of journalists, ad reps, circulation managers and others.

It's hard to see anything positive happening in this so-called economic recovery.

Update: Read more about the real number of out of work or underemployed people at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/business/economy/07econ.html?_r=1&hp

Unemployment: A national emergency

I have hammered away on this blog about the seriousness of the unemployment problem and the lack of viable opportunities for the baby boomer generation. I have also told people face-to-face about how bad things are in the job market. Still, I don't get the impression most people understand what is truly happening in this country. On a more personal level, I don't think there are many people who can relate to the feelings of the unemployed or underemployed. Last night, my feelings were once again validated.

If you didn't catch PBS's Frontline show Close to Home last night, I would recommend you go to this web site and watch it: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/closetohome/. While at the site, I would also suggest reading some of the articles about how the middle class, and particularly men over 50, are being systematically eliminated from the workplace and not being permitted back in. This is no longer opinion. This is a fact. Baby boomers, for whatever reason, are being plucked out of the workplace at a time when they should be paying their children's college tuition or accelerating their retirement savings. What was once considered the prime earning years are now a financial wasteland for many families. Even folks getting by on one salary have to wonder what the future holds if the other spouse, usually the husband, can't return to work in 2010.

Maybe some employers view these older employees as too expensive to keep in bad times. But as someone pondered in Close to Home, would that commercial jet have landed safely in the Hudson River several months ago if a lesser-experienced pilot was in command?

Experience use to count. In my mind, it still makes good business sense to retain as much institutional knowledge as possible. But in the panic to throw people overboard in order to save money, companies are often cutting lose people who are least likely to find new work in a terrible recession. Perhaps some of these people have grown stale and haven't learned new skills, but most folks are more than willing to be retrained or have taken the initiative to stay current on their own. Many are even willing to take pay cuts in order to stay employed. Those options are only explored by the best of companies such as CF Martin Guitars, which I explored in an earlier post.

Why should you watch this show? Well, even if you're employed or young, you are probably going to know of someone soon who loses their job or can't get back into the workforce. Could be a spouse or a parent. Could be a good friend. If you want to remain in that person's life, you better understand what they are facing on a daily basis. It's not just being without a paycheck. It's bigger than that and it eats away at the inner fabric of what once made those folks productive members of society. Few have ever accused baby boomers of being loafers, yet many are collapsing under the hopelessness of the current job market. The unemployed are losing their identities. Empathy can help to a degree, particularly from close friends and former colleagues. Job leads can help even more, of course.

The unemployed are being silently cast out at an alarming rate. If you can't find a job, even though you've led a responsible life and are doing all the "right things" to seek work, something is wrong. The deck being stacked against the over-50 crowd creates individual and societal hardships. When their diploma and 30 years of experience are deemed as negatives by employers because they're too old or too overqualified, and when they get tired of trying to swim upstream or reinvent themselves, bad things can happen. There is a domino effect. Nothing as bad as this crisis happens without spilling over into almost every segment of culture and economy. Even businesses that are somewhat immune to the recession will face problems.

If my neighbor's house is foreclosed on, the value of my home goes down. We all have a stake in this.

When a 60-year-old man hasn't been employed in years, do you think he's going to be able to afford a proper funeral for his parents? Not even the classic, so-called recession-proof funeral home business is going to go unscathed if people don't get back to work soon, rebuild savings and pay taxes. As it is, teachers, once thought to be in short supply, are losing their jobs in cities such as Detroit and Washington.

The PBS documentary, filmed mostly in New York, is very well done. It tells the stories of the unemployed through the words of the victims and the hairstylists who come into contact with these middle class folks on a daily basis. People who cut hair tend to be like bartenders -- they hear it all in a very up close and personal way. They don't need unemployment statistics to understand how widespread this problem is becoming and what the ramifications are if things don't improve. In some ways, hairstylists have more empathy for the unemployed than the friends and former colleagues of layoff victims do. I don't think that is because friends and former colleagues are bad people. I just think the problem isn't on their radar screens every day.

At one point in the show, the film-maker follows a former human resources manager in his mid 50s to a support group for jobless people. She is struck by the overwhelming number of men in their 50s attending the event. These are mostly people who held white-collar jobs, which dispels the myth that this recession is mainly hitting the manufacturing sector in the heartland.

The film also makes the point that people who are being laid off today are well-respected, talented folks who did nothing to deserve being let go from their jobs. Still, it is hard to break the stereotype that anyone who has been laid off is somehow damaged goods or of lesser ability.

We're entering a critical time with this unemployment situation. Things are not getting better despite what you might hear on the network news, which itself has been hit hard by the recession and is of lesser journalistic quality these days. State benefits and personal savings are running out. Folks in their 50s are beginning to give up, or worse, get sick from the stress of looking for work. They spend hundreds of hours applying for jobs that they have no chance of landing because of age discrimination or application saturation.

Why are political leaders allowing this to continue? It seems we need a summit of sorts to attack this problem on multiple levels. Businesses need to be more fair in hiring and firing practices. That's not going to happen unless there is a mandate to clean up practices that have led us to this mess.

Where is the mainstream news media in all of this? The best reporting on the unemployment crisis seems to be on PBS and HBO, as well as some fringe publications and blogs. Everyone else seems to be trailing behind, like they did going into the Iraq war.

The documentary points out that the wealthy, in this case in ritzy Manhattan, don't really notice what's happening to the middle class yet. No surprise there. I would add that those who are currently employed, even at lower incomes, also don't have a full understanding of the situation. But with each passing day, more people are getting first-hand knowledge of the tragedy of prolonged unemployment. Even the rich will eventually feel the pain if no one is patronizing their businesses.

If those who are in their 50s don't get a fair chance to become reemployed soon, the next 15-20 years will transform this country into a sea of elderly welfare cases. Not a pretty picture. Those who are working will have to support the millions who haven't worked in years. The strain on social services and the deficit will spin out of control. There will be streets lined with senior citizens begging and living in tent cities - folks who once were tops in their fields. Close to Home profiles several people who are candidates for this sort of fall from grace.

President Obama likes to use the phrase "now is the time" when giving speeches. But it seems those were just campaign words. I don't see a sense of urgency in him when it comes to job creation or in enforcing age discrimination laws. Just enforcing labor laws alone would create a more level playing field for 50somethings. Instead, Obama seems to distance himself from the problems that are truly becoming a national disaster, maybe because he honestly has no viable solution. Or, like with other people of considerable privilege, any president would be too far from the problem to see what a hairstylist sees every day. If he really wants to give people hope, he must find a way to get people of all ages back to work.

The unemployment problem is moving closer to home each day. Companies need to do more to jump start business. They need to hire people and to give everyone a fair chance regardless of age. Government needs to play a role in the recovery, too, but not just by throwing around stimulus money. Small businesses need a break. This is a national emergency and needs to be treated as such. I don't have the answers. I just having a growing sense that more attention needs to be given to this problem so that millions of unemployed people aren't forgotten.

Like during the Great Depression, there are too many once-proud workers who aren't being given a chance. Companies are failing, stores are closing and tax rolls are declining. The American dream is turning into a nightmare for millions. The unemployed don't have ribbons or marches in Washington. But in terms of numbers and ramifications, I can't think of too many causes more in need of a cure.

Good news, bad news on home front

The good news is that existing home sales are up 9.2 percent from last September. The bad news is that average sale prices are down 8.5 percent. So it seems that if you're looking to sell your house you might have a better luck now in finding a buyer. But don't expect to get top dollar.

I think many potential sellers in an area like Northern Virginia are feeling some relief knowing they can unload their homes if they have to in this still-struggling economy. Home ownership has many benefits, but mobility isn't always one of them. If you lose your job or have to move out of state for personal or professional reasons, a mortgage can be like a ball and chain.

Homes don't always appreciate in value, regardless of the economy, and aren't always easy to sell. Mortgages can potentially create a nasty trap. I owned a modest townhouse in Florida for five years in the 1980s and didn't make a dime on the sale of it. Yet, I had to move before it was even sold. Talk about pressure.

We owned a condo in Manassas, Va., in the 1990s that took nearly seven years before it modestly increased in value. The second it went up, we sold for fear of never being able to get out of the tiny, apartment-like dwelling if we didn't strike while the market was hot.

Today's news of existing homes selling faster is good to hear. As the future appears more cloudy by the day, one needs options in order to simply survive. Being able to sell our house gives us an out, allowing us to move to cheaper digs if the job market continues to worsen. Perhaps it's not an ideal option, but at least it's not another impassable obstacle. Of course, if prices continue to fall, there will come a time when selling is no longer financially feasible. So as I mentioned in an earlier post, the pressure is on to figure out whether to stay or go.

It appears that this recession is creating a vicious vortex in many ways. Once you get caught in it - through job loss, real estate issues or other hardships - it's difficult to find your way back to a relatively sane existence. For the first time in my life, traditional methods of getting back on my feet aren't working. I find myself clinging to every piece of good news that I can find, including today's real estate report. Unfortunately, each tidbit of positive news seems to be followed by a wave of new disappointments. It gets tiring to say the least.

Is your boss worth 500 times more than you?

Source: United for a Fair Economy, Executive Excess 2005, based on annual CEO pay studies conducted by Business Week (1990-2004) and the Wall Street Journal (2005).

This chart shows how many times more CEOs at large companies earn than their employees. Some fairly bright folks believe that this out-of-balance pay scale is yet another reason for the current economic collapse. It is also believed that the lack of jobs and layoffs are somewhat due to greed at the top of these companies.

When you consider the numbers in the chart above, it's easy to see why we are potentially heading for class warfare. There have always been rich and poor people. But the middle class has almost always been dominant in numbers and gotten its fair slice of the pie. Now, however, the middle class is being shut out with greater frequency by modern-day corporate kings. Jobs that could be generated simply by the elite being a little less greedy are nowhere to be found.

Capitalism works best when everyone shares in the riches. Everyone does not need to be paid the same amount of money. I am not a proponent of socialism. Those who work the hardest and are the smartest should have salaries that reflect their worth to a company. But at the same time, does anyone believe a typical CEO, regardless of his or her competency level, is worth 500 times more than your average middle manager or hourly worker? Does anyone with any sense of fairness support a company laying off 100 viable employees while dishing out million-dollar bonuses to top managers who drive their businesses into the ground? Why do certain board of directors keep rewarding failure?

I am certain there are very smart people in this world who can manage companies far better and for far less than some current business leaders. One of the keys to solving the unemployment problem is in getting these intelligent, fair-minded visionaries into leaderships positions. They will create efficiencies and level the playing field so that businesses operate in a more productive and honorable manner. They will help generate new products and new jobs. Simply sticking with the greed-laden, "business as usual" model, where failure and mediocrity are rewarded, will not get us out of this economic mess. We need innovation from our CEOs, not more vacations homes in Palm Springs. Throwing endless streams of money at these guys will not make them better managers or elevate them as human beings.

The big question being debated is whether government should have any oversight of CEO pay. It appears in cases where taxpayer money was used for large corporate bailouts, the Obama administration is going to try to limit the greed at the top. Good luck with that. The worst corporate offenders are experts at finding loopholes in everything from tax laws to zoning regulations. Until they start going to jail, nothing is likely to change.

Twenty years ago I would have been against any sort of government meddling in the salaries of any business. Of course, 20 years ago, CEOs were only making 100 times more than the average worker. Prior to that, the gap was even more narrow. Maybe if CEOs and board of directors can't restrain themselves, some government regulation is necessary. It's either that or watch millions of more Americans lose their jobs, homes and dignity.

NYT article shows job openings are still rare

For anyone who thinks the job market is getting better, or that employers are becoming more willing to hire people who want to make a transition from one field to another, read this New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/22/us/22hire.html

Unemployment statistics for the D.C. metro region were released this week. The numbers showed another slight increase in joblessness. Even in Northern Virginia, which remains relatively healthy compared with the rest of the country, unemployment was up. One has to wonder how long this will gone on before our entire society is transformed into something unrecognizable.