General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Unemployable At 50 Fate Of Present And Future Workers [View all]love_katz
(2,579 posts)or whatever passes for that page now.
I am 58. I have been (under)employed in the same basic service industry for over 17 years (not all with the same employer).
Due to budget cuts over the years, my income, which was never much above mere existence level, has dropped to half of what it was as little as four years ago.
Last year, I tried to move to a different employer in a very similar industry. It did not work out, but it seemed like right from the beginning like they wanted to drum me out. I felt this was due to age and appearance issues, not due to performance. Anyway, I had to go back to my former job, having lost all of my seniority and taking a huge drop in pay and opportunities.
I then tried to take on a second job...which ended disastrously, and will probably prevent me from finding a second job in my profession. This leaves only minimum wage and part time jobs as a possibility, and that is if I can even find one.
I can really relate when people are saying that suicide seems like all that there is left.
The only thing that helps is to remember that change is the one thing we can count on. No matter how things look right now...eventually change will happen.
And, I am not trying to be Pollyanna, nor denying the despair many of us are feeling. I am right there with you. I am my sole support, and I know all too well your pain. I have had over 17 years of poverty and worry about my future to try to live through. What saved me from offing myself after the debacle with the second job is my cat! She is too scared of strangers to be successfully adopted by anyone else, so I know I have to hang in there.
I literally do love my cat...she has kept me here and alive.