Laid-Off White Collar Worker Says The Job Market Is 'Dehumanizing'
She pointed out that other laid-off workers are struggling to make ends meet because they're not having any luck in the job market.
bbernard | Shutterstock While the job market is considered relatively strong for job seekers, it doesn't seem to be translating in real life. LinkedIn is filled with highly qualified candidates who have been on the hunt for quite some time.
A white-collar worker named Chelsea pointed out how unfair the job market can be for some people. She admitted that while she was laid off over a year ago and found a new job within a couple of months, not everyone was quite so lucky.
A laid-off worker said trying to find a job in the current market was incredibly 'dehumanizing.'
"At this point, finding a job is dehumanizing. I was laid off in November 2023, and I was lucky enough to find a new job four months later. I got my job through a referral, I had a friend that worked at the company that I work at and saw the position and sent it to me immediately," Chelsea recalled in her TikTok video.
However, the friend who referred her to the company ended up getting laid off. She explained that by supporting her in her endeavors to find another job and having other friends who have been laid off as well, Chelsea noticed that finding a new job for some people is becoming a rather grueling task.
Many highly qualified candidates have been struggling to find employment despite the many postings on job boards.
She pointed out that there are people on job boards like LinkedIn begging for any open position at any company and have been unemployed for six months to a year.
"People are struggling to pay their bills. People are struggling to provide for their families," Chelsea continued.
"These are people who have college degrees, who have master's degrees. It's those of us who were told if we went to college and got our degrees, we would be fine, and we would be financially successful."
It's disheartening to realize that the job market has changed substantially compared to past generations, and attending college is no longer the security blanket that we all heard it was growing up.
Chelsea empathized with anyone who is having zero luck finding a job right now despite all their qualifications and certificates.
The laid-off worker pointed out that it simply feels 'inhumane' to be looking for a job right now.
"This post-covid, during-covid, job market is literally treating people as if they're machines. It's also not lost on me that I could be laid off again. Unfortunately, I have friends who've been laid off multiple times," Chelsea said.
"It just feels inhumane, at this point, to be looking for a job."
kate_sept2004 | Canva Pro
Chelsea offered some advice to anyone looking for a job right now, saying that she knows exactly what that feeling of despair is from going to interview after interview, only to be rejected time and time again. While Chelsea was incredibly lucky in being able to use her connection and networking to land a job four months after she was laid off, she acknowledged that other people aren't able to have the same success.
"I hear you, I see you, I value you. Stay in the fight because it's really ridiculous out here," she encouraged.
A large number of laid-off workers are having trouble finding employment elsewhere.
The Labor Department shared its latest data on jobless claims, and while there was a drop in the number of new claims, recurring applications for unemployment benefits have continued to rise.
There have been reports from workers who say they’re receiving fewer job offers and struggling to navigate lengthy hiring timelines. Recent data from ZipRecruiter and Indeed also supports those claims, finding that it took longer for workers to get hired in early 2024 than in late 2023 or during the Great Resignation.
It's not just recently laid-off workers that are struggling, but also recent college graduates as well, which speaks to Chelsea's point and the frustrating reality that college degrees really aren't a guaranteed ticket to financial stability.
In a report from the Strada Institute for the Future of Work and the Burning Glass Institute, 52% of graduates with only a bachelor’s degree end up underemployed a year after getting their diploma.
The reality is sobering for many people, especially those who are laid off and desperately searching for another job because they can't afford to be out of work.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.