Underemployed

We not only have an unemployment problem in the United States, we have an underemployment problem. Underemployment's where people can't find work that suits their training and qualifications, or they are employed in a capacity that pays too little and has no benefits, whether working in their profession, or out of it. An example of this is the construction worker who works nights as a cashier because he or she can't find enough work to make ends meet as say a carpenter.

So what's the solution? It depends on why you're underemployed. Let me run through two examples of reasons for underemployment in this blog followed with solutions. Next week, I will do the same again. Perhaps what I write will help you with your underemployment dilemma if you're suffering from this.

First, in reality people don’t suffer from unemployment or underemployment as I wrote; a person does. It's personal. A statistic is only a statistic when it is about that poor guy’s ship that sank from under him. If it was me swimming in the cold ocean with sharks when my ship sinks, it is a totally different story. And let me add also that I have been where a lot of you have been so don’t give up hope.

At any rate, let me give examples and solutions and see if I can help sort this out.

Example one: You have kids and no babysitter when you need the sitter. You work nights because mom or a friend will babysit some, but it is not enough ( Let me add, no one owes you a living either, so be grateful for what you do have.)

Solution: There are government programs that will pay someone to babysit your kids, even a parent so you can work; the parent just has to become certified by taking classes. This, of course, may require diplomatic skills and give and take in your relationship on both sides here. That is something you will need to handle for not everything is solved with a program. But a check may help a reluctant mom or friend watch your children.

Example two: There are no jobs where you live, period, even though you have skills. You can't move for personal reasons. Personal reasons can be many things, spouses who will not move, child custody issues. you hate the place you’d have to move to or sick parents. The list is endless.

Solution: Money can't buy happiness. It also cannot buy poverty. You need money. As far as families and a move, families managed to survive together for years while husbands fought in war through the sands of Algeria to the freezing trenches of Belgium with German Tiger tanks just feet away. Often personal reasons boil down to wants and needs. Do you need a job and a want is keeping you from it. Wants are negotiable, needs are not.

There are parents who will not move for a better job because they want little Billy to grow up next to Grandma. Guess what, that’s a want. Grandma won't pay for your retirement, Billy may grow up and move to Egypt for years unseen to dig up mummies and then where will you be? A job problem may be solvable if you want it to be.

Moving to an area where there are good jobs helps you. That's a need. You're responsible for your own right now in the best way you can do it without breaking the law. My Grandpa came to American and didn't see my Grandma for two years while he prepared a place for her to call home.

Of course, no advice can be crafted for each person, and I'm not trying to be harsh. But we are in a depression and that's much harsher than I can ever be.

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By

Jeffrey Ruzicka

Jeffrey Ruzicka is a retired executive of a small company that specializes in industrial water treatment. He lives happily with his wife in Western Pennsylvania and is a contributing writer toFinancialJobBank,FinancialJobBankBlog,ConstructionJobForce, ConstructionJobForceBlog and Nexxt.