The 26 Unemployment Week Limit!

Perusing the daily news this morning I saw the headline "40 percent of unemployed have quit looking for jobs". Reminding myself of my own employment roller coaster over the past few years, this naturally resonated with me....but not in the way you might expect. I am asking myself how can so many people be out of work? There are plenty of jobs out there. In fact, my current job was birthed out of time spent on Craigslist, of all places. Note: There are many online "job shoppers" out there and I'm sure some are good, but many send you a slew of useless junk email, each and every hour. For me Craigslist connected me with people who were actually desperate for...employees. Sure, you have to weed through 90% spam and other worthlessness, but every once in a while you can really strike employment gold.

So here's the rub as I see it. Many people today are not so much unemployed as they are under-employed. Many folks simply do not want to "condescend" to take a job which is beneath their dignity or whatever the excuse. Eventually you have to do what you have to do for your family. There should be little excuse to reach the 26 week limit of unemployment compensation without finding something, unless you are sick or injured. Would you believe that some folks with chronic illnesses actually continue to work because they have to? Then there are others who stay on the unemployment doll waiting for a job to become available in the field they have been trained in only to be met with disappointment 26 weeks later. I cannot comprehend how people can do this, not with all the local and nationwide jobs I see on Craigslist.

If the three of you who read this happen to be looking for work, don't give up. Consider any job that will help pay the bills and get you through this temporary season. Things will eventually turn around. They always do.