So after 2.5 weeks of annoyance... I've got a job. It's nothing glamorous. I'll be a part-time portfolio analyst for Bank of America as they staff up to drop all their toxic real estate assets. I'll be paid by the hour (taking a pay cut) and the hours are shit (Mon-Sat. 4:30pm-10pm). After all taxes and social justice handouts are deducted, I'll probably make the same as a person taking unemployment insurance each week.
This really makes me wonder if the unemployment insurance is such a good idea. Why am I working when I could be collecting unemployment? Why am I contributing to the economy while somebody out there is vegging about trying to 'find him/her self'? In my job search, I've found tons of jobs out there, but I think we don't apply for a lot of the jobs due to pride. I was ready to apply for a temping position to just get a little bit of cashflow coming in, until this job application came through.
Anyway, I'm coming down my soapbox. I still don't have a start date which is annoying. My friend told me that he had to wait a month after acceptance to begin working. Until then, I'll be applying to more jobs, attending more job fairs, and improving the knowledge base of my craft.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
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5 comments:
re: "Why am I contributing to the economy while somebody out there is vegging about trying to 'find him/her self'?"
that's a bit harsh, don't you think? people who are on umemployment didn't CHOOSE to be on unemployment. they were laid off for whatever reason out of their control. and i'm pretty sure they would MUCH rather have a full time paying job that they can live with than trying to budget off a reduced amount per month.
and unemployment doesn't last forever. at some point, you are cut off and will have to take whatever job you can find. but in the mean time, those people are looking for another full time job that will be long term.
I can name 3 people off the top of my head who actually (1) quit their jobs, (2) take unemployment, and (3)aren't willing to take up an alternative position to hold them over. I'm not shunning those who lost their jobs because that's obviously not their fault. I'm just disappointed at those who quit and take off to go on trips and 'reflect upon their own well being'. I guess I need to make that more clear in the post.
Yeah, the idea behind unemployment "benefits" (that term is so diluted, and doesn't even make sense in the context. There's no benefit to losing one's job. It's a holdover) is that people were once employed, and the contribution to the company is rewarded in case of layoff. It is a shame when people abuse the system by quitting and taking time off for vacationing, as it's clearly not the intent of the program. Moreover, if you go on vacation, you're really now supposed to collect moneys, because you're supposed to be actively searching for jobs comparable to what you were doing. If that's the case, they're just plain liars, and that's no good either.
Afterall, it's an employer-contributed system, and the employer can choose to not extend unemployment payments to people (happened to someone I know).
Also, the amount paid out by unemployment is based on what you made at your job, up to a certain level, so I guess you could take solace in knowing that you're probably making more than a bagger who got laid off from HEB.
I thought unemployment benefits were only available to people who had been laid off, not those who willingly quit their jobs. Or maybe that's just severance packages...
I can sympathize with those who got laid off because the economy has gone south and employers just can't afford to keep them on staff, but those who voluntarily quit just because they don't want to work or don't like that particular job should not be eligible for any publicaly funded benefits.
While unemployment was specifically written for those who lose their job by no fault of their own, there is a large precendent of cases that show "good cause" for a person to leave work.
For instance, if you are asked to work more hours, or perform duties that are more difficult than what you were hired for, if you decide the commute is too long, or if you have to take a pay cut. (Source: www.larcc.org/pamphlets/benefits_work/rights_uc_when_quitting.htm)
There's also a whole lot of other reasons that you can use such as depression with a doctor's note or some other mental illness. In otherwords, it's not hard to quit and get unemployment.
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