Reply #4: The only jobs in my area are in retail. New stores popping up [View All]

[LibDemAlways]

here and there as others close. The question of who is supposed to buy the stuff those stores are selling remains a mystery.

Husband lost his software engineering job in January due to the closure of an entire division of his company. He's a first rate systems/software architect. Any organization would be lucky to have him. He's also pushing 60, and finding a job at his age is made doubly hard by the gray hair. The blatant age discrimination is sickening. One major company seeking to hire people with his qualifications and experience held a job fair recently. He first spoke with a recruiter over the phone who told him "You seem to be just the person we are looking for. Come see me at the fair so we can discuss where you might best fit." At the job fair the same recruiter wouldn't even look him in the eye. Took his resume and mumbled "We'll review this and call you if we're interested." Translation: We don't care about your experience or your expertise. We'll take our chances with someone younger and cheaper and hope they don't screw up too bad.

My daughter is in high school and is under tremendous pressure (school-imposed) to take the most challenging courses and get into the best college so that she can get the best possible job. And then she comes home and sees her hard-working dad out of work and disspirited. Talk about mixed messages.

You're right. This is, indeed, the dark ages.