Blog #4

Last April, after working for 20 years for the same company, my dad was laid off. I had not really begun to understand what the economic down turn would mean for Americans, let alone myself, until my dad was laid off. What hit my family the hardest I think was the fact that it was so unexpected. Even though my dad had heard rumors at his company, Wagner Spraytech, that there would be lay offs, we never imagined that he would be one of them, especially since he had been with the company for so long, and had always been well liked. Part of the reason why his company had to lay off some of their employees was because they have strong ties to the housing industry. Wagner builds spray guns and some other household stuff for painting, so as not as many houses were selling or being built, Wagner had to down size. It took my dad about 7 months to get back to work, after submitting applications to probably 75 different companies, almost all replying that they just weren't hiring. I think one of the major things we had to deal with, besides financial stresses, was just being discouraged. After applying to so many places, and being "overqualified" for the jobs that were open, my dad was considering switching careers. My dad now is in a job that is extremely different than the one he left. For one, the work he is doing is not as difficult as the work he was doing at Wagner. He has 30 years of experience and is working in a job that only requires about 5. He has taken a huge cut in pay, and for a while my family was thinking about selling our house. I can definitely identify with those who struggle financially, and especially with those who have lost their jobs and simply can't find one. I just hope that we will pull out of this recession soon, before too many more people become "overqualified" for their jobs.