'I need a job to save my life': Inside the desperate hunt for work in America
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/10/25/the-heartbreaking-search-for-work-in-brutal-job-market/91814434007/Open linkView original on lemmy.worldSyndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on lemmy.worldhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/10/25/the-heartbreaking-search-for-work-in-brutal-job-market/91814434007/Open linkView original on lemmy.world
9 replies
Even with a working spouse, one income isn't enough anymore. I really don't know what people are supposed to do. Every industry except healthcare has been bleeding for months
Healthcare has also been bleeding. My local news has run multiple stories over the past few months of massive hospital layoffs. No more Medicaid revenue means no ability to pay staff that provide those services.
Adding to this, rural hospitals are closing. Healthcare is hemorrhaging too.
Can't find jobs to get paid and afford/qualify for healthcare which pays for health providers and medical practitioners.
Truly the Upside-Down States of Amerikkka.
This feels like corporate propaganda meant to discourage job seekers and make people willing to take worse jobs at worse pay. It's full of anecdotes and emotion, and the few hard numbers are without historical context.
Labor force participation among 25-54 year olds is at all-time high. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300060 It's lower in all workers https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART but that seems likely to be influenced by early retirements and more people 18-24 staying in school longer. My favorite graph - unemployed people and unfilled jobs - https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1CJfC is swinging back to more job openings than people searching.
This is not to diminish the struggle of people looking for work, or the struggle of people just to afford basic necessities. I am just suspicious of the steady drum beat of 'times are harder now than ever before' from corporate media, because I have heard that story constantly for years.
Perhaps the difference in anecdotal reports lies in the widespread corporate tendencies to post hollow job listings. Positions they are not really hiring for, just "keep a pulse on the market", or trending data, or perhaps contact info of potential hires when they actually will hire...
The company I worked for during the pandemic is still hiring for every single position in the company. All of these positions are filled, they just keep the postings up to say they're hiring and occasionally find someone willing to do the job cheaper(what happened to me).
Ghost jobs should be illegal. Any org found posting a ghost job should be required to pay a year's salary to every applicant, and everyone involved in authorizing the post should be barred from working in HR for life.
YES! It would make things so much better