Thread by @PatcohenNYT

1. Wow, I am getting tons of comments from people around the country who are in the same situation -- great credentials and they still can't get a steady, decent paying job. nyti.ms/34eIcGX

For instance: "I've applied for many that would have been such good fits that the job descriptions nearly mirrored my resume. Not a nibble."....Share your story in our comments section... I will highlight some in this thread. nytimes.com/2019/10/31/bus…

"Count me among them: I have a Master's, which I obtained in my mid 50s, yet for 2 years I've struggled to find full time work, settling for part time as package handler, sorting packages and boxes going to people seemingly more prosperous than I. All for $12 an hour."

3. "I have a BA from a prestigious liberal arts college and a Masters from an Ivy League, and I can't seem to find a job in this town..It's so discouraging, especially when you come from a working-class, immigrant family, which means we don't have many of the "right" connections.

4. "I'm a millennial with a professional master's degree. I'm in my mid-30s and I just--as of 2 months ago--got the first job I've ever had that pays a living wage."

5. "I've been a recruiter for 25 years. Ive watched clients blindly pivot to younger candidate resumes for no viable reason. Its a sad and unnecessary bias."....
more on age bias in this story: nytimes.com/2019/06/07/bus…

6. "There are so many people out there who have given up looking, cobble together “gig” work, are self-employed doing whatever they can find etc."

7. "have a two master's degrees and worked as a librarian at the Ivy League university in NYC for 14 years. I was drummed out in 2009 after the subprime mortgage swindle. I had applied for over 2,000 jobs in NY..now live on disability benefits and supplement up to the legal limit

8. "Laid off at 60. Did contractor work for a time, and although the money was ok, the cost of health insurance was difficult."

9. "I was a "data processing" headhunter for 30 years in the 70's, 80's and 90's and I can let you in on a little secret, age discrimination was, and still is, the only form of discrimination still allowed in these litigious times."

10. "I have a college degree and extensive experience in marketing, advertising and writing for Fortune 500 companies. I lost my job in the 2008 recession. I sent out hundreds of resumes, networked, went to job fairs." Nothing.

11. Hey, employers out there who say they can't find workers -- maybe contact some of these people...

12."My son's experience: He has two bachelor's degrees where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in both programs which garnered him a scholarship to an Ivy League school for graduate work where he graduated with distinction. It's a been a 2 year long job search."

13. "My brother was layed off twice in two years due to downsizing in two different places. In one place he lost his job but the employer hired younger people for less salary. In the last one, the company was sold and they had to downsize. .... (continued...

14. "...He has been looking for a steady job for the last three years. He has applied for everything, literally everything. He, according to the prospect employers, is either overqualified or not skilled enough."

15. "This article clearly points out why pronouncements of economic improvement and stability should be more closely scrutinized. The unemployment rate, as presently defined, does not reflect the reality of employment in this age. It was developed for another era."

16. "I’m 62. I work in a mostly-millennial company. The ageism and marginalization and disdain I experience every day from young colleagues and a young boss has me constantly on the edge of quitting."

17. "The inability to get through these barriers to find a suitable job is very frustrating, demoralizing, and in many cases financially devastating. To add salt to the wound, our health care insurance coverage and retirement funding are tied to being employed."

18. "This idea of a tight labor market is a myth. Employer actions indicate that they can pick and choose from a substantial pool of prospective employees, and thus continue their policies of low wages, few benefits, poor working hours, and various other degradations."

19. "I got a special education teacher license in my 50s. Never got a job despite it supposedly being the teaching job most in demand."

20. "Last time I was on a job hunt I only ever heard from those who were interested in a phone or in-person interview. I must have applied for hundreds of jobs for 3 replies."

21. "I was unemployed and under-employed for 6 desperate years, and I have only compassion for the people toughing it out here. I now make $20,000/year less than my peak earning, and it continues to be a challenge."

22. "I was laid off in 2011 at age 55 and haven't found steady work since. I have been living on savings and contract work. I only hope that I can make it to 66."

23. "My story of job hunting challenges is very similar, and right in the heart of the technology world. I was laid off by a large corporation that chose to cut some costs in a new product area... Looking for a job without a job is death."

24. "I'm a millennial. I have two degrees, my BA and MA. I also have years of work experience. So many of the job postings that are for "entry level" require 3-5 years of experience, PLUS your degrees. It's a lose lose situation for everyone.

25. "I was interviewed by two people half my age. The CEO is 32. They put me though many "exercises" that had no basis in reality because they read about it in a book and saw a video on how to interview design candidates to see if they would be a good fit. It was humiliating."

26." I lost my job through reorganization, downsizing, loss of business, budget cut and the like. The longest I held a job in Public Relations and Marketing was three years. I never left a job; I was tossed aside."

27. "At least it's not only me...Further cold applying after already having done 700+ applications seems to be a lost cause, especially when I saw someone with a Stanford MBA jobless after 1000+. I myself have a masters from a top 3 school in its field."

28. "My husband has been searching in vain for an appropriate position for 1.5 years. He has two undergraduate degrees, and is an accomplished IT professional. He cannot get past the age issue (he's 40 and grey) and he knows of two positions he's lost to younger candidates."

29. "This has been my life for the last 4 years. When I was let go from a major tech firm with a decent severance package, I thought I'd be back at work by the end of the year. I was not. Since then, I've networked like a boss, answered hundreds (if not thousands) of job listings

30. "I have many skills and much experience having worked in mental health, substance abuse, graphics, date entry, printing and as a cook. My last job was in 2008. I struggled for years to find something and did some independent bar-tending and publishing along the way."

31. "Just yesterday (uncanny timing), I counted all of the automated response emails received thanking me for my job application. In 2019, I am have submitted over 150 applications, participated in 11 phone interviews with recruiters...four on-site interviews...ZERO offers."

32. "Yep! Thousand of applications. Resume writing is the definition of insanity. Luck got me a union. A collective voice, even in stark disagreements, is preferable to the alternatives."

33. Sounds like my life for the past 10 months: cobbling together freelance, part time and temporary work, worried about lack of health insurance that actually lets me see a doctor...Jobs posted at 30-40% less than what I was making."

34. "Count me in the group of those who can’t find work. I have 2 Master degrees and had a stellar career until I became disabled and then laid off. I have applied for so many jobs and have only had a handful of interviews. ..Most of the jobs are for ¼ to ½ my last salary. "

35. "I know multiple recent college grads who are struggling to find their first full-time position. Some of them have degrees that employers are touting as desirable in headlines nowadays, like a B.S. in Computer Science.
One has applied to over 600 since grad in May 2018

36. I noticed that there is a lot of misinformation about how the jobless rates are calculated. Unemployment insurance has nothing to do with it. It is based on two separate surveys -- one of employers, the other of households. This explains: nytimes.com/2019/05/03/bus…

For those too lazy to link:
Like all statistical measurements, the figures in the monthly jobs report can be both honest and imprecise — a best estimate given the available tools but nonetheless subject to ambiguity, misinterpretation, error and anomalies that need to be ignored

The monthly employment report is derived from two separate government surveys that serve different purposes. The estimates in each report are revised twice more after their initial release....

Collected by the Census Bureau since 1942, the household survey is used to estimate the number of people employed and calculate the unemployment rate. It is conducted each month among 60,000 households, or about 110,000 individuals from around the country....

The 2nd survey, the establishment survey is based on data gathered each month from 146,000 private business and government agencies covering about 623,000 work sites. It focuses solely on jobs, rather than on individuals....

... So a single person working two jobs would be counted once by the household survey (one individual is employed) and twice by the payroll survey (two jobs exist)....

...Which survey provides the better data? The employer survey is considered a more reliable measure, in part because the sample is much larger. BUT...

...the employer survey does not pick up all the types of jobs (the self-employed, unpaid family workers, domestic help and agricultural workers) or answer questions about workers’ race, ethnicity, age and educational level. The household survey helps fill in those gaps...

...That is why it's helpful to look at both. The monthly numbers are seasonally adjusted so that the effects of predictable seasonal events like weather changes, major holidays and school schedules are removed (via statistical technique) so underlying trends can be better seen..

Remember - every monthly jobs report provides only a temporary and incomplete snapshot of the economy. The trends are what matters.