The Myth Of A Robust Economy: Meet The 'Unemployables'
The Myth Of A Robust Economy: Meet The 'Unemployables'
If America had a strong economy, the 'unemployables' would not exist as a category.
How strong is America’s economy? Meet the ‘unemployables’ who struggle to find employment in a country that is supposed to have a robust economy.
Rise Of Part-Time Jobs
More people are working part-time compared to full-time for various reasons. Employers may have reduced their hours. Or they may have difficulty finding full-time work. Job-seekers then have to settle for working one or more part-time jobs.
Many people now work two or more part-time jobs to make ends meet. Part-time workers then need to find a way to balance their schedule of working two to three jobs.
One job could be in the morning or afternoon. The second job could be during the evening or the night shift. A person may work a third job on the weekends to bring in extra cash to save money.
People often work multiple part-time jobs that don't provide employees with retirement benefits, such as an employer-matching 401(k). Employers are transitioning from emphasizing traditional full-time work, where employers used to value employee loyalty, to part-time work. Employers now prefer disposing of workers or dealing with more constant employee turnover as necessary for cheaper labor.
Loyalty is dead.
Gig Economy
The gig economy consists of jobs that market themselves as offering flexible hours, the ability to create your own schedule, and to be your own boss. Depending on the job type, you may work full-time or less than part-time. Well-known gig jobs include:
Grubhub
Postmates
Uber
Lyft
Instacart
If someone cannot find a full-time or a part-time job with a company, they can usually find a gig job. Gig companies have pretty basic requirements: have a car, car insurance, a valid driver’s license, and fill out an application.
When I was finishing up my classes in graduate school and beginning to apply for cybersecurity jobs (no cybersecurity company wanted to hire me), I delivered for Grubhub. The most popular restaurant that customers seemed to order from was Taco Bell.
Remote Work
You have different choices when it comes to working remotely. You could work remotely for a company. You could be a self-employed freelancer on a site like Upwork.
Depending on your position, a traditional employer may have a hybrid or all-remote position. Freelancing jobs can vary from random one-time gigs to consistent work.
When starting as a freelancer, initially compromise on your hourly rate. A lower rate makes you more attractive to clients. You can get freelance work and build a great profile.
Clients review you on the quality of your work. If you have a low rating, you damage your potential for succeeding as a freelancer. Once you have a high-quality profile and experience freelancing in your specialty, you can raise your price.
Increasing Competition For Jobs
You are no longer competing against people who live in your city, state, or country. People can apply for jobs from another state and move.
With online jobs, you could compete against someone living in another country. With more competition, employers can hire someone willing to work for less and provide less or no employee benefits. Employers, again, gain the upper hand with remote work and freelancing.
If you are struggling to find a job between the gig economy and remote work, the process that employers use to screen out workers only makes it worse.
Related - Breaking Down America’s Misery Index In 2024
Screening Out Of Applicants
Due to many people struggling to find jobs and make ends meet, job sites such as LinkedIn now receive hundreds to thousands of applications. These are entry-level jobs, not mid-level or high-level positions. An applicant must pass several hurdles just to potentially be seen by the employer. These online job sites have a sophisticated screening process to filter out applicants.
Ghost Jobs
Ghost jobs are job posts that an employer may put up on job boards with no serious intent of hiring. A company may post a job to cover HR or hiring law requirements, then immediately take it down. An employer may list a ghost job to gather applicants’ information, such as email addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. Companies can then sell your personal data to third-party companies.
Keyword Analysis
The resume must contain relevant keywords for the job opening. If the resume is missing the correct keywords or phrases, your resume will never be seen. The employer will automatically throw your job application away into the virtual trash box.
Social Media Profiles
The company may have HR review a candidate’s social profile history. An employer may also outsource to a third-party company to review your social media history.
Employers intentionally leave this part vague. They generally say they want an applicant who aligns with the company’s values.
HR or the third-party company can find anything they don’t like. Common problems for applicants will likely be if they have anything counter to the mainstream narrative. HR may ghost the applicant, even if they have the right work experience.
Online Quizzes And Questionnaires
Employers create online quizzes and questionnaires for applicants to fill out as another way to screen out candidates who do not meet their requirements. They do this to screen out potential applicants who they view as having undesirable traits, such as autistic individuals or people who are on the spectrum.
These questions in the quizzes and questionnaires serve a specific purpose. They are intentionally broad to give employers an out. Employers can also subtly identify certain characteristics associated with common mental health diagnoses or other issues.
Age
You only have a certain period to build and start a traditional career. The older an applicant is. The more costly they generally are to an employer. The question of age is another vague area when it comes to employment.
If you cannot get established in a career, your age can play against you as you age.
You may be considered “old” by workforce standards if you are in your 40s.
What does this all lead to? A growing segment of the population is unemployed. They struggle to secure employment despite their efforts.
Meet The ‘Unemployables’
While more people are working part-time jobs, many are having difficulty joining or rejoining the workforce. They are known as the ‘unemployables’.
They could be your neighbor who holds an unacceptable view that is counter to the mainstream. They could be your old college buddy with greying hair that makes them appear older. They may be your friend who is terrible at taking quizzes. They could be an acquaintance who checks all of the wrong boxes when it comes to questionnaires. They may simply have bad luck.
For whatever reason, these people are now unemployable. Employers do not want to hire them.
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Summary
Employers now use various tools to sieve through applicants' online applications. The 'unemployables' are a consequence of all the work applicants must do to get their resume seen by a potential employer. For many, the applications they send may be in vain. Their fate is sealed as unemployable.
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