Letting go might be the answer

"We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us."
 --E. M. Forster


In the last three years alone, I can point to numerous examples of people arriving at places in their lives that were totally unexpected. The recession drove people like me -- former newspaper journalists -- out of a dying occupation. Some got out while the getting was good, taking buyouts and other incentive packages from large media companies like Gannett Inc. Thousands of others became layoff victims through no fault of their own. Very few of us had any plans related to what we would do next. As the recession dragged on, the anxiety increased.


Some of us are getting by, and some aren't. A rare few are doing better than ever. Many are in limbo, piecing together some sort of existence through odd jobs, freelance work or contract positions. I know of people who are glad to be out of the newspaper business, which was always a hard life with late hours and other tough demands. However, no matter how bad those hours were, and no matter how much we knew the constant pressure from deadlines and dysfunctional newsrooms were horrible for our health, there are probably very few of us who would have left that world on our own. A paycheck and familiar skill set that provide some sort of comfort aren't easy to walk away from, especially with double-digit unemployment and age discrimination running rampant throughout our society.


The paths in and out of our careers take a significant toll on our mindsets as well as our bank accounts. Yet, there are worse things than losing jobs or starting over in new fields at half the pay. I believe our lives are altered in ways that we can't even imagine, influenced by big and small events. There is almost always something new to contend with or celebrate.


Some events are tragic. Suddenly we're alone in the world because of the loss of parents or a sibling or a spouse. Or perhaps we lose our ability to walk because of disease. Or our faith is shattered by one too many personal setbacks. Where those losses take us seems somewhat dependent on our resiliency, but there is also a randomness to it that has nothing to do with our character or ability to get back on that proverbial horse.


There is also a vague feeling that there are clues all around us as to what we should do, where to go next, how to survive and maybe eventually thrive. Why some people find those clues while others resign themselves to living out their lives in a dark corner is a mystery. It's not simply a matter of tough-mindedness that determines who rebounds and who doesn't. Life isn't a basketball game. You can't always will yourself to victory or happiness, regardless of what some successful people claim. I certainly don't feel particularly tough, yet I've come back from a number of personal setbacks -- setbacks so severe that it felt a lot easier to give up than to get up. I suppose most people have been at the crossroads at some point in their lives.


Where you land, how you cope with your new realities appears to be predetermined to some degree. You can potentially pave the way to that new place by getting an education or knowing the right people or seeking counseling or spiritual guidance, but that doesn't mean you will get to where you are meant to be. Something else is often at work. Something outside of ourselves. The fortunate ones do seem to get to that place,  but I believe most of us fall a bit short, which is why we probably need more than one lifetime to complete our journeys. Of all the people I know, there is only one or two, who if pressed, could say they are truly at peace and in a place where they belong. Loving your career or your family doesn't necessarily mean you're in balance. Acceptance of the other stuff -- the not-so-obvious things that challenge us all -- is what completes the circle. To get to that place, it seems voluntary or involuntary sacrifice is often required.


Even when we're not willing to let go, it seems that something comes along to force us to abandon our plans in order for us to move closer to our true destinations. The cosmic script must be followed or we begin to feel disorientated or frustrated. But how do we find that script? Is the final chapter always a happy one? How do we know when a wrong choice or bad luck is nothing more than that? How do we know if that choice was truly ours?


I guess if we knew that our lives were predetermined we could all relax a bit. Whether you get cancer or not may be somewhat influenced by lifestyle, but perhaps not as much as we think. What state we live in or profession we pursue isn't so much a choice as it is a process of following the clues that either are forced upon us or that gently sweep into our lives in a way that often seem like pure luck or bad misfortune, but are neither.


In hard times, we tend to look for answers to profound questions. We want to escape the pain. We want things (the economy, job market, our standard of living) to return to pre-2008 levels, even though most economists are now saying things will never be the same. We want one more conversation with a brother, sister or friend suddenly lost in an accident, even though we know that's not possible. We need to let go so that we can continue our journeys, yet is there anything more difficult than true acceptance or bold change?


The last three years have been harder than the previous three decades for many Americans. Some experts in the mental health or social services fields say that our collective spirit has been broken by job losses, wars and an inability to pull together even on issues we should all be in agreement on. Perhaps the harder we try to extricate ourselves from the traps we've gotten entangled in, the more the traps tighten. Maybe the way out of this mess is to let go, to put aside our preconceived notions and to allow things to flow or play out in a more natural way.

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.

Former colleagues facing possible layoffs, other changes

There is news brewing at my old stomping grounds. It isn't encouraging.

Changes are coming to USA Today. With those content and/or operational changes will be probable layoffs, perhaps as early as this summer. This would be the third round of involuntarily layoffs. The national newspaper also had a round of "voluntary" buyouts. The newsroom has been hit particularly hard, with a lot of the people who built the newspaper now long gone.

John K. Hartman, a professor of journalism at Central Michigan University and author of two books about USA Today believes he has some ideas (not ones I necessarily agree with) to help fix USA Today. In an opinion piece in a journalism publication, Hartman also brings up the possibility of the flagship paper offering transfers of laid off employees to other newspapers within the Gannett chain. This would surprise me. Not because it isn't a logical idea, but because transfers weren't an option in any of the previous rounds of buyouts and layoffs. If they were, a lot of highly qualified ex-USAT'ers might be working in Melbourne, Fla., Westchester, N.Y. or Phoenix, Ariz., right now.

I feel for my former colleagues who are under another potential threat, particularly the seasoned journalists who might have an especially hard time finding work if they are let go. While many newspapers are beginning to slowly rebound, others are still struggling.

Read the Hartman article.

Taxing pensions blatantly immoral

Here's something the Obama administration can do to help those who are laid off in this horrible recession. Stop making folks pay outrageous taxes and hefty penalties for cashing out pension plans prior to retirement age. This is money layoff victims could use to live on. Forty percent of it shouldn't go to Uncle Sam just because workers got severed from their jobs through no fault of their own in the worst economic times since the Great Depression.

Savings and unemployment checks alone don't always cover the bills after an unexpected (and often undeserved) layoff. And by the way, those checks are also taxed. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound. Anyone who thinks people who receive unemployment benefits aren't paying into the system, think again. I will pay far more in taxes in this year of unemployment than I ever did when I was working. Something is just not right about that.

Washington could save a lot of money spent on extending unemployment benefits if it would let people in dire predicaments keep the bulk of their pensions funds. It's bad enough that working-class folks won't have that money for their retirement years because of having to withdraw it now to weather this economic storm. But the fact that it's going to the IRS is downright immoral.

More layoffs at the nation's newspaper

USA Today, my former employer, laid off about 25 newsroom employees today. In the last two years, the newsroom has lost about 100 jobs, including mine, as the newspaper industry continues to struggle through the bad economy and massive debt acquired by some of the larger media companies. Apparently, however, this round of cuts caught many by surprise at the McLean, Va., newspaper. I certainly feel their pain on this, the one-year anniversary of my layoff. It won't be easy to find comparable work. Click here to read more about the difficulties laid-off journalists are facing in this article about former Los Angeles Times employees

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.