Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photo: Getty Images
The latest jobs report showed some disturbing trends. The number of people who have been out of work for more than six months (also known as the “long-term” unemployed) rose to nearly 26 percent of the jobless population, the highest rate in over three years. Also of note: This group is increasingly composed of college-educated Americans — people who got a degree so that they’d be more employable, presumably, not less. (Nothing adds insult to injury like having mounting student-loan bills and no paycheck.) Here, three people who have lost their jobs in the past two years — and are still looking for new ones — share what it’s been like.
—Andrea, 38, former senior manager at a tech company in Brooklyn
I spent the first half of my career in book publishing before I got a role at a tech company. This was in 2019, right before COVID, and the tech company was expanding quickly. The hiring manager wanted someone who could write well and communicate with engineers as well as with people outside the organization. They offered me $70,000, which was more than I’d ever made in publishing. I ended up staying for six years, and I was making about $90,000 before I got laid off at the beginning of this year.
I lost my job in a huge companywide reorg. We weren’t even allowed to go back to the office to get our stuff. I’d never been in that position before, and I was blindsided. About 500 of us lost our jobs in one day. Some of the other people started a big Slack group, and it’s been a great resource — there were channels about how to file for unemployment, advice for interviewing and networking opportunities. We’re all supporting each other to the extent that we can. There are still about 200 or 300 of us in it.
My period of unemployment has been unusual because I got a new job over the summer and then was laid off again, just seven weeks later. The job was at a nonprofit that hired me for a new initiative. They were under a lot of funding pressure, and after a couple of weeks, they were like, “This isn’t working out. We need different skills than we thought. We’re giving you six weeks of severance.” And they sent me packing. In some ways, that second layoff was more brutal than the first, even though I had been there for a much shorter period. For starters, it was in person. So I was literally shown the door, the elevators. And ever since, I’ve been in panic mode.
I worry about money constantly. I qualify for the maximum amount of unemployment, which is about $400 a week after taxes, but even though I’ve been filing, I haven’t started to receive it yet. When I do get it, it won’t even cover my rent. Getting health insurance through COBRA was $800 a month, but I found a cheaper plan through the ACA that costs $270 a month. Unfortunately, I don’t qualify for Medicaid. Also, my landlord is trying to sell our building, and if I have to move without a job, I worry I won’t qualify for a lease anywhere.
I’ve had a couple of interviews in the last few weeks. I’m waiting to hear back on a communications role. It’s a salary cut, but at this point I’m grateful for any opportunity. I’m on LinkedIn more than I ever want to be in my life. It’s this hellscape of toxic positivity and all these posts from people who’ve just been laid off and are like, “I’m so grateful for the time I got to work for this company.”
I don’t feel great mentally, but I’m still getting out of bed every morning, showering, going to the grocery store. I have a dog, and I need to walk her three times a day. Otherwise, I’m sitting on my couch, applying to jobs for hours. It’s monotonous. The days blend together. I feel guilty when I do things that help me feel normal, like going out with friends or going to a museum, even though I know I shouldn’t. It’s lonely. I miss interacting with people besides my roommate and my boyfriend.
As far as savings, I have a couple grand left. But I also have student debt and credit-card debt from a breakup a few years ago, when my ex moved out very suddenly and I had to cover all our shared expenses myself. Before that, I had a perfect credit score, but lately it’s taken a hit. I’m just paying the minimums on everything, and I know my savings aren’t going to last. It’s easy to go into a complete anxiety spiral of like, Oh my God, how am I going to do this? Where did things go so wrong? I can get through the days, but I’ve been getting nightmares — I keep waking up and thinking there’s this figure looming over me. It’s terrifying.
—Dana, 34, former product developer for a major retail chain in Virginia
My background is in product development and global sourcing. I’ve mostly worked in corporate retail, focused in the home-interiors industry. I have my master’s degree, and in my last job I was really thriving. I was doing exactly what I wanted to be doing, traveling a lot, getting cool opportunities. I worked for the same company for about seven years. Then they did some downsizing and I was laid off in November 2023.
I was completely unemployed for about six months, and I’ve been doing a mix of things since. I was working the front desk at a gym. I’ve always been good with makeup, so I joined a beauty team and started doing makeup for weddings on weekends. More recently, I got a job as an entry-level customer-service rep, answering customer calls, putting orders in, and doing data entry. I don’t love it, but I’m still grateful for it. I make half as much as I used to: about $60,000. In the meantime, I’m constantly applying for other jobs. I’ve gotten interviews for probably about 30 percent of the jobs I’ve applied for, and I’ve made it to the last round a bunch of times. Still, most of them are for jobs I’m extremely overqualified for. The salaries they’re offering aren’t livable.
It’s jarring because I have a ton of experience. I don’t know what’s missing. I’m not just submitting my résumé — I’m submitting cover letters, portfolios. I’ve done special projects for jobs to show what I can do. I’m doing so many interviews that sometimes I’m like, Wait, what job am I interviewing for again? This is my third interview with a third company this week. I get up at 5 a.m. every day, get on LinkedIn, save a bunch of jobs, and then apply for them at night after I get home from work. I’m so drained, and I have to keep going.
I was raised to believe that if I checked all the right boxes — take the AP courses, go to college, get my master’s degree, take the job at the big corporate office — then I was going to be fine. And that’s just not the reality. The biggest struggle for me personally has been that my sense of self-worth was tied to a job that I’m passionate about and that looks good on paper and aligns with my degree. And instead, right now, I have to take whatever I can get. It’s not even about settling — it’s about surviving at this point.
I don’t have a family to support, which I have mixed feelings about. As a 34-year-old single woman, I’m already dealing with so many emotions of feeling behind. I was sold this dream of having a great career, being the rich auntie, but now I don’t even have that going for me anymore. So what do I have to offer?
My friends have been very, very supportive — they’ve proofread my emails and résumés, and they’ll take me out to dinner and not let me pay. I’m very thankful. I know there are people out there who have it so much worse than I do and I should be happy with what I have.
One thing that’s helped my mental health is going back to church. I grapple with that as my coping mechanism, because of religion as an institution, but it is comforting to remember that this isn’t in my hands at the end of the day. It reminds me to have faith that everything I’m doing is going to get me to where I’m supposed to be. I still have moments of anxiety and depression, but going to church has made it less overwhelming. It’s also given me opportunities to volunteer and give back. When I’m struggling, I’ve found it helps to help other people.
—Sam, 46, former head of video at a tech company in Los Angeles
I’ve worked for a number of different tech companies around the country, usually in the realm of branding, marketing, and video production. I got hired at my last job in 2023, but then the company went through a restructuring and laid off 30 percent of their workforce, including me, at the beginning of 2024. Since then, for 604 days now, I’ve been looking for a new full-time job. It’s just been gut punch after gut punch.
I’ve worked with three different recruiters and career coaches. The last one specializes in tech, and we talked for weeks. Eventually, he said, “I don’t know what else to say to you. I have no idea why you’re still on the market.” It’s been tough. I think sometimes people write me off because I’ve been in this industry for a while, so I’m not as cheap as somebody younger who could maybe do 60 or 80 percent of what I can do for $50,000 less. I’ve also had some really close calls where they ended up hiring a creative agency rather than making a full-time hire. There’s so much that’s out of my control. I just have to hold out hope that I’m the needle in the haystack that someone happens to be looking for.
I’ve kept myself afloat by doing some one-off freelance production projects. I have gone on and off the EBT program. If the state wants to help me with my groceries every month, fine. I’ve also borrowed some money from my family. My parents are retired and not in a great position to help me out, but they’re doing it anyway. I’ve borrowed probably about $30,000 from them at this point. As soon as I land back on my feet, I plan to pay them back as fast as possible. I’ve had three interviews in the last week and a half. I potentially have one more next week. But I’m so used to getting an email that says, “Sorry, we had to go with another candidate. Please keep in touch.”
I do my best to create structure for myself. I try to start my day off with something productive that I can check off — responding to emails about a project, or whatever needs the most creative energy. In the afternoons, I get back on LinkedIn, look at the job boards, send messages about any potential job leads or projects, or check back in with somebody I’ve worked with in the past. And then in the evenings, I work on personal projects, like a documentary about a friend that I’m filming. I also play tennis. There’s tons of free courts in L.A., and once you have the gear, it’s a very inexpensive sport. So that’s been a big source of community for me.
I’m single. I don’t have kids. Being unemployed has definitely affected my dating life. So I have put that on the back burner, which is a stressor. I would still like a partner and a family at some point, but the realities are I’m 46. So there’s that. Obviously, I don’t travel or really do other fun stuff. It’s just the basics right now — keeping the car running, keeping the rent paid, getting groceries. Everything else is on hold.
Every day I hear that one of my friends just lost their job. I know my situation is not unique, and the stories are heartbreaking. I look on LinkedIn and somebody’s writing a monologue about how the system is broken and they’re not being treated as a human being. And that’s hard. I feel the same way, and there’s nothing I can do about it. The thing I hate hearing the most is “Hang in there. Your opportunity is just around the corner.” Or “Focus on the things in your life that you can control.” I know it’s well intended. But it’s brutal after a while. My mental health is not good. I’m trying to be the optimistic, positive person I think I am, but it sucks and it’s hard. I don’t have a therapist because I just can’t afford one. I have Medi-Cal, but when I try to look up therapists, there’s a monthslong wait list. So I try to do smaller things. I meditate even though I’m not good at it. I play tennis. I’m about to go to my friend’s birthday party.
I keep up with the news, and whenever I hear about the jobs report and how unemployment is low, I just want to throw the phone through the window because those statistics are not an accurate reflection of how it feels to navigate the world right now. Some days, I have to scream into a pillow or in my car or whatever.
If an opportunity came up and they told me I had to relocate for a job, I would do it. I just want to be where I’m valued and paid for that value. I want to feel like I’m contributing every day. And it’s crazy how hard that is to find. If somebody hired me right now, I would crush it. I don’t take any work for granted at this point. I just want to be given the chance.
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