More efficient, but without the jobs

Joe Heller. Green Bay Press-Gazette.

A lot of people who haven't looked for work in this economy while unemployed don't really understand what it's like for the rest of us. In one of my temping gigs, I worked with a woman in a corporation's Human Resources department. She told me about the 'good-ole'-days when there were signing bonuses; a job search would only last for a couple weeks. That seems like a fairy tale now. I know of multiple people, especially those who are overqualified with Masters degrees, who have spent years looking for stable work. Talking with this woman was comforting because we had the same experiences. She spent a while looking for work before getting hired and had multiple conversations with people who simply didn't understand what unemployment means now. I've had the same conversations over and over. People tell us, "Well, you need to do ________ or apply at ________ or talk to ________ or whatever. Then you'll get a job." Since I've applied to 500 jobs and have tried to network for a while, I can usually say, "I've already done that." Sometimes I can even say, "I've done that multiple times." The HR lady had the same conversations. These people are trying to encourage us, and they usually become frustrated with us. They tell us, "Well, you should have a job then." We say, "Nope." This experience reminds me of Job and his three friends, the 'miserable comforters.' They tell him to humble himself before God, admit his sins, and then God would restore him. He tells them that he is blameless before God, but the 'comforters' say he can't be blameless because he is suffering. In the same way, I sometimes feel as though others may think that I'm not trying to find a job hard enough because I haven't found a stable job yet. I felt great comfort that the HR lady had been through the same problems.

There are some suggestions I haven't tried, and soon I will try most of those new things in addition to what I've been doing. I pray something works out.

I recently found an article in Time about the current state of the economy. The United States is now producing the same amount of goods and services that we were making before the Great Recession began in 2007 (GDP is around $13.5 trillion). However, we are producing this amount of goods and services with 7 million fewer employers. The number of unemployed workers has doubled. This official number of unemployed doesn't include the millions who have become so discouraged that they stopped looking for work or those who (including yours truly) technically have part-time jobs but still can't support themselves. Most of the new jobs in this economy are part-time jobs that pay less than $19,000 annually. If we included the number of unemployed and under-employed and discouraged, there are around 24 million people who want a full-time job but can't find one.

Still, when I turn on the news I hear more about Donald Trump and American Idol than I do about the job market or why the government has failed so miserably to do anything about creating sustainable job growth.

When I think about the line "thy kingdom come" in the Lord's prayer, I've been thinking more and more about what employment and job hunts would look like if God's Kingdom was fully here. Praying for His Kingdom to come has a different meaning for me now.