The "Real Reason" for Unemployment: Laziness?

Today on CNN, Tom Delay had this to say about the "real reason" for the high unemployment rate:

“There is an argument to be made that these extensions, the unemployment benefits, keep people from going and finding jobs.

In fact there are some studies that have been done that show people stay on unemployment compensation and they don’t look for a job until two or three weeks before they know the benefits are going to run out."

Candy Crowley asked: “People are unemployed because they want to be?”

Delay responded: “Well, it is the truth. And people in the real world know it.”

Delay is trying to support his argument that unemployment benefits cause laziness or apathy. Hmmm. As one of the "people in the real world", I seriously question that assessment.

Unemployment benefits don't pay the bills Unemployment benefits rarely come close to matching one's former salary. It is extremely difficult to pay the mortgage with so little coming in, especially if you have children to feed. If you are paying COBRA to keep your family's health benefits, there's nothing left at all.

Unemployment benefits provide the means to look for work I have been on unemployment in the past. Though it couldn't replace my salary, it did allow me to hunt for a job more effectively. I was able to keep my Internet connection, print resumes, put gas in the car to go to interviews and pay for parking. Without unemployment, I wouldn't have been able to do that—I wouldn't have found a job either.

No time required to look for nonexistent jobs In the present economic climate, job seekers may be spending less time looking for work. This is true whether or not one is collecting unemployment. The fact is, there are very few jobs posted in many skill sets. There are fewer jobs to apply for, so of course, less time is needed to spend. How do I know this? I went to several mega sites, such as CareerBuilder, and did a search for my own profession. First, I looked within 50 miles of my home. There were TWO jobs posted that weren't temporary positions. I expanded my search to the entire US and didn't fare much better. Two years ago, I was spending several hours a day looking for work. There were at least 10 postings a week I could apply for.

I heard a myth the other day about the unemployed spending 20 minutes a day job hunting. This is too ridiculous a figure to believe. Even if you apply for only 1 job, the online application process in most cases requires a minimum of 30 minutes to complete.

Job hunting is a skill If it is true the many are spending so little time searching, it is most likely due to a lack of education. If you've never had to look for work in a slow economy, you may not know how to look for work, especially in the digital age. I personally know people who haven't looked for a job since the 80's. Rather than an accomplishment-based resume full of action-oriented language, their resumes contain a list of skills and job duties. At the top is their career objective. Their cover letters are even worse.

Teach them, they will learn Perhaps what is needed—along with unemployment benefits—is more funding for mandatory programs which actually teach job seekers how to look for work—and I don't mean the watered-down version you currently receive at the unemployment office. What is needed are classes on how write an effective resume, the importance of a cover letter for making a good first impression, how to follow up properly, and interviewing skills. Many job seekers may need help using a Word processing application to write their resume. Job seekers must learn how to build a resume that is electronically searchable so it will be found among the hundreds of others in the database.

Assessing one's skills It also helps to know what jobs you are qualified to do. Many jobs have skills which overlap. It may not be obvious due to the variety of job titles. Job titles, more often than not, sound more complicated than the job actually is. Job descriptions often make the job sound more highly skilled and have unrealistic requirements.

There is more to looking for a job than simply sitting down and doing it. Not doing it doesn't make one lazy any more than not pulling you own tooth. If you don't know where to start, the task seems overwhelming. The issue is not laziness—you have to know how to effectively look for work. For many, it's a difficult thing to do.