ten years later work wanted —desperately … · lighting, air-conditioning and gasoline as...

3
U-M WEATHERS WESTERN THE BLITZ IS BACK! HOKE’S RAIN-SOAKED WIN AT U-M, MSU AND ALL YOUR COLLEGE FOOTBALL COVERAGE. 1D TIGERS STORM BACK! Cabrera’s walk-off HR caps 9th-inning rally SPORTS, 1C Entertainment .1F Free Press editorials ......19A Detroit News editorials ...... 23A Deaths ...13A-14A Horoscope....... 3G Life..............1G Lottery ....... 2A Metro .......... 8A Movies ........ 8F Puzzles .. 2P-3P Real Estate ..1H Travel.......... 6F Index Rats! More rain. Less steamy, but stormy. FORECAST, 2A 79 54 High Low Vol. 181, Number 123 2011 Detroit Free Press Inc., Printed in the U.S. $1.50 ($2.00 outside Wayne, Oakland & Macomb counties) Part 1 of 2 Almost 2 1 /2 years after los- ing his job as an inventory technician, all Mark Baerlin has to show for his lengthy job search are notebooks filled with information about the 343 jobs for which he applied. So far this year, the Dear- born resident has gotten five interviews. None of them panned out. In early July, Baerlin ex- hausted all 99 weeks of his un- employment benefits. He has been saving every penny he can, canceling doctor appoint- ments and using as little water, lighting, air-conditioning and gasoline as possible. If the 51- year-old doesn’t find a job soon, he could lose his house. “I’m living on my savings, and that’s not going to last very long,” he said. Welcome to the world of the long-term unemployed, who face a 20% drop in earnings ov- er the next two decades, loss of retirement savings, isolation, increased risk for depression and even reduced life expec- tancy. Today, 27 months after the official end of the recession, long-term unemployment re- mains at crisis levels, with 6 million Americans out of Long-term unemployed face spiral downward 235,000 go jobless for half year plus in Michigan By KATHERINE YUNG FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press Mark Baerlin, 51, of Dearborn has been unemployed for 2 1 /2 years and has applied for 343 jobs, but "I don’t want you to feel sorry for me.” He’s had five interviews this year, but none panned out. A Flint mother wears a ring with a gem made from the ashes of her globe-trotting son who worked in the World Trade Center. The family of a Detroit native carries on her dream of becoming a playwright. Parents in Gregory have become peace activists. The emotional reverberations of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks echo across Michigan a decade later. The 17 people with significant Michi- gan ties who were killed that day, when airliners crashed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in west- ern Pennsylvania, were Wall Street ex- ecutives, managers and consultants, alongside an Army lieutenant colonel, an office receptionist, a teacher and a flight attendant. Seven were still in their 20s. Relatives and friends will mark the 10th anniversary of the attacks quietly next Sunday, at home, or in small-town observances. Some will travel to New MANDI WRIGHT/Detroit Free Press Frances Douglas, left, Jean Neal and Vivian Mattic, with a photo of their sister Margaret Mattic, who was working on in the north tower of the World Trade Center on Sept.11, 2001, when she was killed. MICHIGAN’S OTHER 9/11 VICTIMS (FROM TOP LEFT): Terence E. Adderley Jr., Bloomfield Hills; David Alger, Grosse Pointe; Eric Bennett, Flint; Frank Doyle, Bloomfield Hills; Barbara Edwards, Wyoming, Mich.; Brad Hoorn, Richland; Suzanne Kondratenko, Romeo; Darya Lin, Ann Arbor; Robert Ploger III, Owosso; David Pruim, Muskegon; Josh Rosenthal, Livonia; Brock Safronoff, Traverse City; Kip Taylor, Marquette; Lisa Terry, Troy; Alicia Titus, Gregory, Mich.; Meredith Whalen, Canton. Mich. families keep loved ones in their hearts By MATT HELMS, ELISHA ANDERSON and ZLATI MEYER FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS See VICTIMS, PAGE 4A PUBLIC LOSSES, PRIVATE PAIN Metro ROCHELLE RILEY Mr. President: Start rebuilding the nation right here in Detroit America needs three things: jobs, change and rebuilding. What better place to start a national renaissance than here in Detroit, Rochelle Riley asks. 8A Business AUTO CONTRACT TALKS New UAW deal could be hard sell to rank and file With the UAW contract expiring Sept. 14, many workers say they’ve made a big contribution to the Detroit Three’s turn- arounds, and they’re balk- ing at giving up more. 1B Entertainment BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE Your guide to metro area’s 2011-12 theater season The blockbuster “Wicked” visits Detroit again this season, as does the bawdy Yooper comedy, “Escanaba in da Moonlight.” But there are some edgy surprises, too. 1F Metro THE PRESIDENT’S LABOR DAY VISIT Supporters hope Obama unveils bold new jobs plan President Barack Obama is slated to speak in Detroit on Monday, three days before he unveils a new jobs plan to Congress. Supporters hope for bold speeches here and in Washington on solving the nation’s jobless crisis. 8A TEN YEARS LATER PEARL HARBOR’S QUIET 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY. 12A Inside Editorial: The federal gov- ernment must get America back to work. Now. 19A At freep.com Join a Web chat at noon Tuesday with local employ- ment experts. Coming Monday Few resources to help jobless regain their footing. WORK WANTED — DESPERATELY See UNEMPLOYED, PAGE 6A O N G U A R D F O R 1 8 0 Y E A R S Sunday 9.4.2011 www.freep.com ◆◆ FREEP.COM See more photos, videos, blogs and special coverage and share your Sept. 11 memories with our readers at freep.com/911. Customer Service Center Now Open in Southfield Make a payment, discuss billing and claims, request an ID card and more. Northwestern Highway Monday – Friday : a.m. to : p.m. Toll-free: () - Improving health. Enhancing lives. hap.org 5525 pdf 5

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Page 1: TEN YEARS LATER WORK WANTED —DESPERATELY … · lighting, air-conditioning and gasoline as possible. If the 51-year-old doesn’t find a job soon, he could lose his house. “I’m

U-M WEATHERSWESTERN THE BLITZ IS BACK!

HOKE’S RAIN-SOAKED WIN AT U-M,MSU AND ALL YOUR COLLEGEFOOTBALL COVERAGE. 1D

TIGERS STORM BACK!Cabrera’s walk-off HRcaps 9th-inning rallySPORTS, 1C

Entertainment .1FFree Presseditorials ......19ADetroit Newseditorials ......23ADeaths ...13A-14AHoroscope.......3G

Life..............1GLottery .......2AMetro ..........8AMovies ........8FPuzzles ..2P-3PReal Estate ..1HTravel..........6F

Index

Rats! More rain.Less steamy, but stormy.FORECAST, 2A

79 54High Low

Vol. 181, Number 123! 2011 Detroit Free Press Inc., Printed in the U.S.

$1.50($2.00 outside Wayne, Oakland

& Macomb counties)

Part 1 of 2Almost 21⁄2 years after los-

ing his job as an inventorytechnician, all Mark Baerlinhas to show for his lengthy jobsearch are notebooks filledwith information about the 343jobs for which he applied.

So far this year, the Dear-born resident has gotten fiveinterviews. None of thempanned out.

In early July, Baerlin ex-hausted all 99 weeks of his un-employment benefits. He hasbeen saving every penny hecan, canceling doctor appoint-ments andusing as littlewater,lighting, air-conditioning andgasoline as possible. If the 51-year-old doesn’t find a jobsoon, he could lose his house.

“I’m living on my savings,and that’s not going to last very

long,” he said.Welcome to theworld of the

long-term unemployed, whoface a 20%drop in earnings ov-er the next two decades, loss ofretirement savings, isolation,increased risk for depressionand even reduced life expec-tancy.

Today, 27 months after theofficial end of the recession,long-term unemployment re-mains at crisis levels, with6 million Americans out of

Long-termunemployedface spiraldownward235,000 gojobless forhalf year plusin MichiganBy KATHERINE YUNGFREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press

Mark Baerlin, 51,of Dearborn hasbeen unemployedfor 21⁄2 years andhas applied for343 jobs, but "Idon’t want youto feel sorry forme.” He’s hadfive interviewsthis year, butnone panned out.

AFlint mother wears a ring with agem made from the ashes of herglobe-trotting sonwhoworked inthe World Trade Center.

The family of a Detroit nativecarries on her dream of becoming aplaywright.

Parents in Gregory have becomepeace activists.

The emotional reverberations of theSept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks echoacross Michigan a decade later.

The 17 people with significant Michi-

gan ties who were killed that day, whenairliners crashed into the World TradeCenter, thePentagon and a field inwest-ern Pennsylvania, were Wall Street ex-ecutives, managers and consultants,alongside an Army lieutenant colonel,an office receptionist, a teacher and aflight attendant.

Seven were still in their 20s.Relatives and friends will mark the

10th anniversary of the attacks quietlynext Sunday, at home, or in small-townobservances. Some will travel to New

MANDI WRIGHT/Detroit Free Press

Frances Douglas, left, Jean Neal and Vivian Mattic, with a photo of their sister Margaret Mattic, who was working on in the north tower ofthe World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, when she was killed. MICHIGAN’S OTHER 9/11 VICTIMS (FROM TOP LEFT): Terence E. Adderley Jr.,Bloomfield Hills; David Alger, Grosse Pointe; Eric Bennett, Flint; Frank Doyle, Bloomfield Hills; Barbara Edwards, Wyoming, Mich.; BradHoorn, Richland; Suzanne Kondratenko, Romeo; Darya Lin, Ann Arbor; Robert Ploger III, Owosso; David Pruim, Muskegon; Josh Rosenthal,Livonia; Brock Safronoff, Traverse City; Kip Taylor, Marquette; Lisa Terry, Troy; Alicia Titus, Gregory, Mich.; Meredith Whalen, Canton.

Mich. families keep loved ones in their heartsBy MATT HELMS, ELISHA ANDERSONand ZLATI MEYERFREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS

See VICTIMS, PAGE 4A

PUBLIC LOSSES, PRIVATE PAIN

MetroROCHELLE RILEYMr. President: Start rebuildingthe nation right here in Detroit

America needs threethings: jobs, change andrebuilding. What betterplace to start a nationalrenaissance than herein Detroit, RochelleRiley asks. 8A

BusinessAUTO CONTRACT TALKSNew UAW deal could behard sell to rank and file

With the UAW contractexpiring Sept. 14, manyworkers say they’ve madea big contribution to theDetroit Three’s turn-arounds, and they’re balk-ing at giving up more. 1B

EntertainmentBRINGING DOWN THE HOUSEYour guide to metro area’s2011-12 theater season

The blockbuster “Wicked”visits Detroit again thisseason, as does the bawdyYooper comedy, “Escanabain da Moonlight.” But thereare some edgy surprises,too. 1F

MetroTHE PRESIDENT’S LABOR DAY VISIT

Supporters hope Obamaunveils bold new jobs plan

President Barack Obama is slated to speak in Detroiton Monday, three days before he unveils a new jobs planto Congress. Supporters hope for bold speeches here andin Washington on solving the nation’s jobless crisis. 8A

TEN YEARS LATER

PEARL HARBOR’S QUIET 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY. 12A

InsideEditorial: The federal gov-ernment must get Americaback to work. Now. 19A

At freep.comJoin a Web chat

at noon Tuesdaywith local employ-ment experts.

Coming MondayFew resources to help

jobless regain their footing.

WORK WANTED — DESPERATELY

See UNEMPLOYED, PAGE 6A

O N G U A R D F O R 1 8 0 Y E A R S

Sunday 9.4.2011 www.freep.com !!

FREEP.COMSeemorephotos,videos, blogsand specialcoverage andshare yourSept. 11memories withour readers atfreep.com/911.

Customer Service CenterNow Open in Southfield

Make a payment, discuss billing and claims,request an ID card and more.

!"#$$ Northwestern HighwayMonday – Friday %:&$ a.m. to ':&$ p.m.

Toll-free: (%$$) '!!-'('"

Improving health. Enhancing lives.

hap.org5525 pdf5

Page 2: TEN YEARS LATER WORK WANTED —DESPERATELY … · lighting, air-conditioning and gasoline as possible. If the 51-year-old doesn’t find a job soon, he could lose his house. “I’m

6A WWW.FREEP.COM SUNDAY, SEPT. 4, 2011 !

x x

COVER STORY!WORK WANTED – DESPERATELY

work formore than half a year,including 235,000 inMichigan.Economists worry the prob-lem could persist for years,turning into a silent tragedythat slows the economy, reduc-es tax revenues, increases dis-ability payments and causesother negative effects.

“Long-term unemploymentis the distinguishing charac-teristic of this recession,” saidGeorge Wentworth, seniorstaff attorney at the NationalEmployment Law Project, aresearch and advocacy organi-zation focused on issues affect-ing low-wage and unemployedworkers.

During the past threemonths, the Free Press inter-viewed a dozen Michiganderswhohave been looking for a jobfor more than two years. Itfound that the long-term un-employed are living on theedge, stuck in an existencefilled with fear, uncertaintyand self-doubt. Many quietlypress on. Applying for jobs has

turned into theirjob.

“I didn’t thinkthis would hap-pen,” said NicoleChampagne, a43-year-old Ypsi-lanti Townshipresident who hasdrained her sav-ings, sold manyof her posses-sions and beenborrowing carsbecause she

can’t afford to fix the transmis-sion on her SUV. “I’m hard-working. I’m highly educated.”

The former Realtor has notbeen able to find a full-time,permanent job since 2008 andwas rejected for positions at aMcDonald’s and a gas stationbecause she was overqualified.

Champagne and many oth-er long-term unemployedworkers find themselvescaught in a downward spiral,their joblessness triggeringother problems that can makefinding work even harder.They face numerous obstacles.

Chief among them:" Diminishing skills: It’s no se-cret that being out of the workforce for too long can erode aperson’s skills, especially with

today’s rapid changes in tech-nology.

“Companies are increasing-ly after candidates who havevery specific job-related skills,and those go out of date veryquickly,” said Peter Cappelli, amanagement professor and di-rector of theCenter forHumanResources at the University ofPennsylvania’s WhartonSchool.

Mary Colletti of Huntington

Woods fears losingher interiordesign skills after being laid offthree years ago as a designproject manager at a healthcare company.

Last December, she finallylanded a design job at a furni-ture retailer, but was let go af-ter 21 days. Colletti said thecompany told her she didn’thave the necessary skills.

The setback hasn’t stoppedColletti from looking for anoth-

er designposition, but shewor-ries about being out of the fieldfor too long. Software pro-grams that designers use getregular updates, but without a

job, “I can’t afford to keep up,”Colletti said." Loss of financial security:Long-term joblessness candeeply damage a family’s fi-nances. Savings, including401(k) retirement plans, getquickly depleted, and somepeople sink deeper into debt.Homes are lost. And many ofthose who eventually do gethired end up earning a lot lessthan they used to at their for-mer jobs.

The effects can be long-last-ing. Till von Wachter, an asso-ciate economics professor atColumbia University, told acongressional committee lastyear that people who lost theirjobs during the early 1980s re-cession saw their earningsdrop by 20%, a decline thatlasted 15-20 years.

Often, long-term unem-ployed people are one stepaway from financial disaster.That’s the case for KennethPaled of Redford Township,who worries that he and his

UNEMPLOYED: Finding a job a full-time jobFROM PAGE 1A

REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press

Mark Baerlin, 51, of Dearborn does odd jobs to make ends meet. He has been without a job since April 2009. He had worked for a brake testing firm.

Detroit Free Press

0

10

20

30

40

50%

The rise in long-termunemploymentThe percentage of unemployedworkers in the U.S. who havebeen searching for a job for 27weeks or longer — the federalgovernment’s definition oflong-term unemployment — hasincreased dramatically in recentyears.

*As of the second quarter of 2011.Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

2002 2005 2008 2011*

18.3%

44.3%

NicoleChampagneof YpsilantiTownshiphas drainedher savings.

Mary Colletti ofHuntington Woodswas laid off threeyears ago and fearsshe will lose herinterior designskills.

SEE NEXT PAGE

Life doesn’t stop just be-cause you lose your job. Justask Tina Moreland.

In February 2009, CitizensBank laid off the Flint resi-dent as part of a downsizing ofits mortgage department.Fourteen months later, More-land’s pregnant, 22-year-olddaughter was killed whengunshots were fired into acrowd of people.

Moreland suddenly foundherself raising her 7-year-oldgranddaughter, AminaSmith. At 52, she is trying toswitch careers, taking medi-cal billing and coding classespart-time at Baker College ofFlint while she looks for a job.

“I was scared stiff,” More-land said of going back toschool. “It surprised me that Istill have brain cells that

work.”With housing, construc-

tion and other industries ex-pected to remain depressedfor years, many long-term un-employed workers have dis-covered that the jobs they

used to do have either disap-peared or are in short supply.Many are forced to learn newskills, but the transition is of-ten bumpy and the future un-certain.

Until 2009, Moreland had

never been unemployed, hav-ing spent 25 years working inmortgage banking. After los-ing her job, the divorcedmother of two used her 401(k)retirement savings and in-come tax refunds to pay offthe small mortgage she had.Michigan’s No Worker LeftBehind program is paying forher medical billing classes.

In late July,Moreland’s un-employment benefits ran out.She has a Bridge Card to helppay for food, but making hercar payments is a struggle.She is hoping to get a part-time job doing laundry at anursing home.

“Something’s going tocome. It’s got to,” she said.“And being a Christian, youalways know the Lord has thefinal say. I hold onto that.”

Like other long-term un-employed workers, Morelandno longer sees retirement inher future. “It’s scary livingoff so little,” she said. “I haveto show my granddaughterthat working for yourself isthe only way.”

A grandma raising her granddaughter

Her job wasn’t the only thing she lost

SUSAN TUSA/Detroit Free Press

Tina Moreland, 52, and her granddaughter, Amina Smith, 7, at their Flinthome. Moreland is raising her after Amina’s mom was killed last year.

Hail of bullets leavesunemployed womanrearing a little girlBy KATHERINE YUNGFREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

After interviewing for asales position at a tool compa-ny shortly before MemorialDay, David Kmiotek receiveda phone call offering him thejob.

The St. Clair Shores resi-dent started shaking. “Itfloored me. I hadn’t heardthose words in nearly threeyears,” he said.

Unemployed since July2008, the 38-year-old sales-man had run out of unemploy-ment benefits in March andwas living at his parents’house. “When you are work-ing, everybody wants you,” hesaid. “When you are not work-ing, nobody wants you.”

But just two months later,Kmiotekwas let go. Thoughhehad signedup several newcus-tomers, “no matter what I didthere, it wasn’t the right way. Icouldn’t win,” he said.

For many long-term unem-ployed workers, their travailsin the job market often don’tend even when they finally doget hired. In some cases, theirnew jobs don’t work out, put-ting them right back wherethey started.

After his recent layoff,Kmiotek didn’t qualify for un-

employment benefits becausehe had not earned enoughmoney. He’s living off thesmall amount he hadmade butwill have to start drawingdown his savings if he doesn’tfind work soon.

Though selling is what heknows how to do, Kmiotektried to switch careers, enroll-ing at the New Horizons Com-puter Learning Center in Troyto get into the informationtechnology field. But hecouldn’t pass the second partof a certification exam.

“I really enjoy computers,but this wasmuch harder thanI anticipated,” he said.

Early this year, Kmiotekcompleted a basic, three-month class at Macomb Com-munity College to be a com-puter-controlled machine tooloperator. He liked the courseand applied for a few entry-level operator positions. Butwithout any on-the-job experi-ence, his chances of gettinghired are slim.

Despite these hurdles,Kmiotek is not giving up. As asalesman, he’s used to con-stant rejection. But after sub-mitting his résumé for hun-dreds of jobs over the lastthree years, hewonders, “Howlong is this going to last?”

When luck runs outSome find a job only tosoon be jobless again

August photo by WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press

David Kmiotek, 38, of St. Clair Shores plays basketball. Kmiotek lost ajob in 2008. He finally got a job earlier this year but was recently let go.

By KATHERINE YUNGFREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

In late July, Mark Baerlinsat in ameeting room in Plym-outh with 24 other people, alleager to land a warehouse jobat Comcast. They were thelucky ones. The telecom gianthad received hundreds of ap-plications for the position,narrowing it down to these 25candidates.

That number was quicklyreduced to 13 after the compa-ny weeded out people withoutstanding tickets or otherlegal issues. For nearly twohours, Comcast human re-sources employees wentaround the room, interview-

ing everyone. But the processwasn’t over. That evening,Baerlin logged onto his com-puter and took a basic skillstest provided by the compa-ny.

With a 13-to-1 chance of get-ting hired, Baerlin didn’t beatthe odds. The Dearborn resi-dent has been looking forwork since April 2009.

On the front lines of themost brutal job market in de-cades, long-term unemployedworkers such as Baerlin arewaging an uphill battle withdwindling resources.

The former inventorytechnician for a brake-testingcompany has applied for

more than 343 jobs, includingpositions at Home Depot,Lowe’s and Target.

“I don’t know if I’m over-qualified or if they are justlooking for young people,”said the 51-year-old, who hasearned a little cash by doingsmall jobs, such as mowinglawns and taking a womanwho can’t drive to her doctorappointments.

Earlier this year, Baerlinlanded an interview at an autoparts retailer in southwestDetroit. When he arrived, thecompany told him they want-ed to talk to him about a man-ager’s position, not the salesjob that he had come for.

However, the person Baerlinneeded to see was on vaca-tion, so the store planned tocall him the following week.He is still trying to get the in-terview.

If Baerlin doesn’t get a jobsoon, he could lose his house.The Ferris State Universitygraduate would like to marryhis girlfriend but refuses to doso until he has a steady pay-check.

Not everything has beennegative. One evening, Baer-lin arrived home and discov-ered that someone had lefthim an envelope stuffed withcash. He still doesn’t knowwho helped him.

Employers can be pickyCompetition for few jobs out there is fierceBy KATHERINE YUNGFREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

Page 3: TEN YEARS LATER WORK WANTED —DESPERATELY … · lighting, air-conditioning and gasoline as possible. If the 51-year-old doesn’t find a job soon, he could lose his house. “I’m

! SUNDAY, SEPT. 4, 2011 WWW.FREEP.COM 7A

x x

WORK WANTED – DESPERATELY"COVER STORY

Who are the long-term unemployed?Long-term joblessness affects all kinds of people in the U.S. Here’s alook at who has been searching for a job for a year or longer:

Long-term unemployment in MichiganLast year, 36% of Michigan’s 589,000 unemployed workers were joblessfor 52 weeks or more, the third-highest rate in the country. Here’s abreakdown of how long Michiganders were unemployed, using the mostrecent data from 2010:

Michigan’s unemployment rateThe jobless rate in Michigan remains in the double digits more thantwo years after the recession officially ended. It has been going upsince May.

65 and65 andolderolder

11.6%11.6%20-2420-24

16-1916-194.8%4.8% 4.1%4.1%

Less thanLess thanhigh schoolhigh schooldiplomadiploma CollegeCollege

graduategraduate

4.4%4.4%AsianAsian

55-6455-64

65 andolder

GENDER

EDUCATION

AGE (in years)

RACE

WEEKS UNEMPLOYED

11.6%

70.3%

20-2416-194.8% 4.1%

White

Less thanhigh schooldiploma College

graduate

Note: 2010 annual averages are based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Some totals may notadd up to 100% because of rounding or because respondents identified with more than one ethnicity or racialbackground.

Detroit Free PressSource: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

212,000 120,000 92,000 84,000 81,000Numberunemployed

22.4% 17.3%

4.4%Black Hispanic

Asian

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16%

60.1% 39.9%Male Female

23.2% 22% 19.7% 14.7%45-54 25-34 35-44

55-64

37.7% 27.5% 18.1% 16.7%High school diploma Some college

36% 20%52 and more 5 to 14

16%

LessLessthan 5than 5Lessthan 5

14% 14%

15-2615-26 27-5127-5115-26 27-51

July A AS O N D J A S O N DJ JF M M AJ J JF2009 2010 2011

M M

July 2011: 10.9%

July 2009: 14%

wife could lose their house.The 58-year-old, who hasworked in grounds mainte-nance, partsdeliveryandotherjobs, has been looking for em-ployment for seven years.

His wife’s income has keptthe couple afloat. But she maylose her job at a food servicecompany at the end of thismonth. “I don’t know what weare going to do,” Paled said.

# Health andemotional prob-lems: In someways, long-termunemployment isakin to having aserious disease.In 2006, econo-mists at the Fed-eral ReserveBank of Chicagodiscovered thatlosing work can

increase death rates by 15%-20% and reduce life expectan-cy by 18 months.

Emotional problems also in-crease dramatically, accord-ing to a July 2010 Pew Re-search Center report based ona survey of almost 3,000adults. It found that people un-employed for six months orlonger are twice as likely asthose jobless for less than sixmonths to have sought profes-sional help for depression andother emotional issues.

“It’s very hard to keep goingafter you have been rejected somany times,” said Ofer Shar-one, an assistant professor ofwork and employment re-search at the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology’sSloan School of Management.“It’s devastating.”

Like other long-term unem-

ployed workers, Janet O’Brienof Ferndale has stopped think-ing about the future. “You justfocus on the day,” said the 32-year-old, who has been search-ing for work for more thanthree years. “It is just gettingthrough one day after anoth-er.”

Throughout its history, theU.S. has always had someworkers who have been unem-ployed for long periods of time.But for decades, the Americaneconomy has been such a dy-namic job-creation machinethat this problem affected arelatively small number ofworkers.

Not anymore.In August, 4% of the labor

force had been hunting for ajob for 27 weeks or longer, thegovernment’s definition oflong-term unemployment.That’s up significantly from2.1% at the end of the early1980s recession and 0.8% afterthe 1973-75 downturn, accord-ing to a Congressional Re-search Service report.

The problem has become sosevere that last year, the Na-tional Employment Law Pro-ject estimated that nearly 4million people nationwide hadexhausted their unemploy-ment benefits, a number that islikely to rise significantlywhennew estimates come out laterthis year.

In Michigan, where unem-ployment benefits currently

last an unprecedented 99weeks, half a million residentsare expected to exhaust thesebenefits between June 2011 andJune 2012, according to thestate’s Unemployment Insur-ance Agency. That’s on top ofthe nearly 174,000 who ran outof these benefits from 2008through the end of May.

“This is like nothing we’veseen since the Great Depres-sion — by far,” said HeidiShierholz, a labor economist atthe Economic Policy Institute,aWashington, D.C., think tankfocused on issues important tolow- and middle-income work-ers.

She noted that in the early’80s, the long-term joblessmadeup26%of all unemployedworkers. Today, they accountfor more than 40%.

Not surprisingly, the prob-lem affects older workers —those age 50 and up — morethan others. But the Congres-sional Research Service foundthat very long-term unemploy-ment, which is defined assearching for a job for morethan99weeks, afflictsmenandwomen equally. And having acollege degree does not meanyou are less likely to experi-ence this predicament.

“The demographic profileof the long-term unemployedlooks like the shorter-term un-employed with one exception—they tend tobeolder,”Shier-holz said. “It’s not like they are

a different group.”Shierholz and many other

economists blame the long anddeep recession for the rise inlong-term unemployment.They say the economy is suf-fering from a shortfall of jobs,with 11.2 million new positionsneeded in order for the unem-ployment rate to return to itsnormal level of 5%. In August,the U.S. jobless rate stood at9.1%.

Since February, job open-ings have stayed relatively flat,at 3.1 million new positionseach month, below the 4.4 mil-lion seen at the start of the re-cession in December 2007, ac-cording to the U.S. Bureau ofLabor Statistics.

“This is not a problem ofskills,” said the WhartonSchool’s Cappelli. “It’s not likeif everyone had a PhD, every-one would hire them.”

But other labor market ex-perts say structural changes inthe economy — such as shiftstoward new kinds of work —are also contributing to theproblem.

A recent report from theMcKinsey Global Institute, thebusiness and economics re-search arm for the McKinseyconsulting firm, warned thatfierce global competition isforcingmany companies to op-erate with fewer employees.

Susan Lund, the institute’sresearch director, points outthat the U.S. economy hasbeen experiencing increasing-ly lengthy jobless recoveries.“Something is different aboutthe way in which we createnew jobs coming out of a reces-sion,” she said.# CONTACT KATHERINE YUNG: 313-222-8763OR [email protected]

REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press

Janet O’Brien, 32, of Ferndale, seen her with her dog Ashling, has been unemployed since March 2008. She had a contract job with an auto supplierearlier in the year but was let go in late June. “You just focus on the day,” she said. “It is just getting through one day after another.”

FROM PREVIOUS PAGE THE LONGER PEOPLE STAY UNEMPLOYED,THE MORE THEIR SKILLS ERODE AND THEIRFINANCIAL SECURITY WORSENS.

KennethPaled ofRedfordTownship

As if searching for a jobwasn’t hard enough, long-termunemployed people are run-ning into another obstacle:Some employers don’t want tohire them.

The National EmploymentLaw Project and other groupshave raised concerns aboutcompanies that are posting on-line job ads that require appli-cants to be currently em-ployed.

Though these kinds of adsdo not appear frequently, thesituation has caught the atten-tion of the Equal EmploymentOpportunity Commission.New Jersey has alreadybanned the practice, and law-

makers in Washington andLansing have introduced billsthat would do the same.

“The EEOC is concernedthat excluding unemployedpersons may exclude qualifiedjob seekers and someminoritygroups, and therefore may bediscriminatory under civilrights law,” Justine Lisser, anEEOC senior attorney, said ina statement.

During a four-week periodthis spring, NELP, a researchand advocacy organization forunemployed workers, foundmore than 150 online job adsnationwide that required ap-plicants to be currently em-ployed. Half of these job post-ings came from staffing firms.

However, the U.S. Cham-

ber of Commerce, which rep-resents more than 3 millionbusinesses, said there is no evi-dence that any significantnumber of employers are re-fusing to consider unemployedpeople for jobs.

Michael Eastman, thegroup’s executive director oflabor policy, said that “any em-ployer having a policy of nothiring long-term unemployedpeople would have a very hardtime meeting” the require-ments of the 1964 Civil RightsAct.

In late August, the FreePress scoured 550 job ads forthe Detroit area on Career-Builder.com but could not findany postings that excluded un-employed workers.

Of the 150 ads that NELPfound, threewere for positionsin Michigan — two for restau-rant managers and one for amedical sales representative.Eric Egeland, owner of Snell-ing Search in Grand Rapids,would not reveal the name ofthe regional restaurant chainthatwas hiring for one of thesepositions. The two other re-cruiting firms did not returntelephone calls seeking com-ment.

Troy-based Kelly Services,one of the largest temporaryagencies, said the companywill not post any job ads stat-ing that candidates must becurrently employed. JimGuerrera, president of SC No-vi, a Novi-based recruitingfirm focused on the automo-tive and industrial sectors,said his company has not en-countered employers whowant to exclude unemployedpeople. “A lot of good people

are out of work,” he noted.The Mackinac Center for

Public Policy, a free-marketthink tank inMidland, doesnotbelieve any new laws are need-ed. Michael LaFaive, the cen-ter’s fiscal policy expert, saidemployers are overburdenedwith regulations. “What’snext?Should the state prohibitemployers from using bache-lor’s degrees as a job-candi-date sifting mechanism?” heasked.

But LaFaive said that ex-cluding unemployed peoplefrom hiring decisions is not asmart business decision be-cause of “the premium em-ployers will need to pay to luretalent away from an existingjob.”

Tough job market made tougher

What to do when no one wants you?By KATHERINE YUNGFREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER ONE ORGANIZATION FOUND ONLINE JOB

ADS FROM STAFFING FIRMS REQUIREDAPPLICANTS TO ALREADY HAVE A JOB.