As many of you know, my temporary job ended a few weeks back, and because of the lack of routine, I feel my sanity slipping away from the shear lack of opportunities here on what is now the Ghost Coast (Florida, that is.).
I've tried to explain this to people since this whole thing began: There. Are. No. Jobs. Here. Oh sure, there might be a posting or two on an internet job board, but every one of them requires a good deal of experience, or a master's degree. Loyalty, dedication and the uncanny ability to learn new skills on the job mean absolutely nothing.
I've been at this rat race for well over a decade. It doesn't seem to matter that I've become more 'marketable'. Employers aren't interested. Hell, the fact that I had to get a low-wage internship for folks with disabilities ought to tell people something.
With all that out of the way, I have a question for employers: How do you expect us entry level folk to get any experience if experienced people are all you're looking for?
Is it really too much to ask that I be given a fair shot for a job I've trained for years to attain? From what most employers are saying, we might as well just sit down, shut up and race to the bottom. That goes double for disabled people and minorities. Apparently, all we seem to know how to do is make hiring managers run for the hills, resumes and references be damned.
That's why my outlook is so bleak. People who tell me to look on the bright side don't get it. I have tried that again and again. Let's be real here: Employers, along with their bought elected officials have turned the economic clock back to the 1920s, and they want it to get worse.
As for me, hell, I have no fight left when it comes to looking for employment. I live in a county that, as a whole may as well be considered one huge retirement community. Thanks to the loss of the shuttle program, we've lost just about any real industry we ever had.
So at this point, I'm all out of ideas on what to do. I know I'm going to get a few folks here telling me not to quit, but what's left?
See you around,
Homer