How Gen-Xers became has-beens

The title of my post is the title of an Article that appeared in The Daily Telegraph (a Sydney paper) today, and online.

The article starts with: "MEET a young Gen-Xer with three university degrees who represents the new unemployed - over-qualified professionals".

The rest of the article can be read here.

There have been a lot of comments on the article, some very supportive/some very critical, and I'm sure some of what I say below will have already been said in comments.

1. The article calls this the "new unemployed". What about in the lat 80s/early 90s recession? Surely the same situation happened then. Anytime there is a recession/economic crisis, unemployment will rise, and it will include people who are well-qualified and previously had no problems getting jobs. I really don't see how this is considered "new".

2. Considering my level of debt, I shouldn't be one to comment on the fact he says he only has $3 left to the end of the week, but I would hope by the time I'm his age all my debt is gone and I have an emergency fund which would last me a year. I think we have all (well, most of us - me included!) lived beyond our means for so long - as soon as something happens like job loss, we are, to put it bluntly, screwed.

3. He states: "Along with many of my friends, I never paid much mind to the idea that one day I might be unemployed. For my generation, who are used to a permanently strong economy, it was just never going to happen. " Although his age is not specified, he is Generation X, which means he is at least older than me (Generation Y). I was quite young during the late 80s/early 90s recession, but I remember it clearly (partly because my Dad was out of work and we nearly lost our house). But I would think this would have been the time the author of the article was in high school/at university - and would have been well aware of the poor job market.

4. He talks about having to fight to use a computer at Centrelink - surely he would have a computer at home? I can't imagine anyone these days (particularly as he has, until recently, been working), not having a computer.

5. As a number of comments pointed out, he was a marketing manager. Market yourself! If he is applying for a job where he thinks he will be overqualified, leave the MBA off.

6. He says: "Don't get me wrong. Australia has a fantastic system that provides benefits and assistance to those in need. It is not, however, designed to cope with highly qualified individuals who have found themselves out of work". He doesn't explain what he means by this. How does he want the system to be designed? Centrelink's website says: "Centrelink is an Australian Government Statutory Agency, assisting people to become self-sufficient and supporting those in need". Helping the unemployed is just one part of Centrelink, and honestly, what does he expect them to do? I have only had contact with Centrelink when I was a student, but I thought in terms of unemployed, the assistance Centrelink provided (apart from monetary) was providing access to computers to look for jobs, providing some courses in terms of resume writing etc. I don't see how he thinks the system is designed to cope with "un-qualified" individuals and not "highly qualified" individuals.

7. On that note, he also says that: "Regardless of our background, how much we studied, how privileged we may have been, we are all the same at the Centrelink". Well I'm sorry - but why should you be treated differently to any other job seeker? If anything, the argument can be made that you had years of work (on probably a very good salary), you should have been able to save (once again, I realise how hypocritical that is coming from a girl in enormous debt), and shouldn't need assistance from Centrelink in terms of resume writing etc.

8. Having raised my criticisms, one comment that really made me feel sorry for him was: "For myself and the rest of the Generation Xers who grew up in a time where work was plentiful, this experience is one that crushes one's sense of self-worth and leads to an every day battle to maintain hope and keep up the momentum of searching for work". (Although I don't think it applies to only Gen X's). I think the longer you are unemployed the more depressed you will get, which in turn probably makes it harder to find a job.

(And as a final point - a lot of comments on the article said he should lower his standards and get a job at Woolies - (which is an Australian supermarket chain). Someone I can't see them employing a 35 year old with no retail experience, when they can employ a 15 year old with no retail experience for a lot less money).