A brighter outlook on employment

BY REBECCA ODEGAARD

According to an Associated Press report, the number of laid-off Americans collecting unemployment jumped to 4.6 million at the end of December, and that number is expected to increase in 2009. Other nations are also affected. For example, Trading Economics reports that the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in the United Kingdom in November is "the biggest monthly increase since 1991" (December 17, 2008).

A friend of mine in the banking business told me over lunch recently that he is currently responsible for handling the firing of about 10 percent of his firm's employees, and that many financial institutions are doing the same. Sometimes, statistics like these can have a numbing effect; they can seem abstract, especially if one's own work feels fairly secure. Two recent articles made more tangible the situations so many are facing.

The New York Times published an article called, "Freshly Unemployed, They Bravely Ask, What's Next?" (December 24, 2008). It zoomed in on several individuals who had recently lost their jobs and observed how they were doing, and what they were planning to do.