Wednesday, September 2, 2009

So this is what it's like to be unemployed

There are probably tons of "unemployment" blogs out there. I don't really care. I'm pretty much just writing this as an outlet for myself. I don't care if no one reads it. Who reads other people's blogs, anyway? I know I don't.

So UI expects you to be at their beck & call at all times. I was selected for a mandatory program called PROS that the state thinks will help you get a job. Which we were all informed means going back there Tuesday & Wednesday of next week. People were getting mad. "What about my kids?" Well, unemployment expects you have child care arrangements since "available to work" means you can start immediately. Who is going to pay for day care while they are out of work?? Seriously, what employer expects you to start today? They would at least let you have till Monday to prepare. "But I'm going away next week?" Too bad. The only way you can reschedule is if you have an interview. This is all just a ploy to keep you away from the money you paid into and are entiled to.

At the end of the meeting today we all got a list of the new "job" listings. Most of them are for a whopping $7.25/hour. Some are up to $15/hour. At $7.25 hour, if you worked 40 hours a week for 52 weeks (this would mean NEVER taking a day off) you would earn$15,080 in one year. Even at the $15/hour you would only net $31,200. Even teaching I was making $35++/hour.

I just wish I could go back to April 30th. Yeah, I hated the people I worked for/with and wished I could find something better, but it was a job and a paycheck. I had the routine down and was finally "prepared" for another year. It just sucks that this totally blindsided me and I have had so much trouble picking myself up. The whole situation just makes you feel like you're worthless and expendable. I haven't even had an interview since the first week in June.

2 comments:

  1. How come Museums think it's okay to pay people 14.40 an hour? I'm talking people with Master's Degree's that cost them 200K ++++????????? The emphatic use of question marks means that this question is rhetorical in nature. But seriously - wtf?

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  2. It's pretty sad that teacher's make twice as much as people in museums with Master's Degrees. Another sad commentary on what's important in this country.

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