Unemployment Woes
After waiting tables at the same restaurant for five years, I never thought I would be unemployed. The only problem was the restaurant became so popular that the owner decided to expand his restaurant to satisfy the demand. The renovations were projected to keep the restaurant closed for 11 days. I was more than prepared financially for the closing of the restaurant.
Until 11 days became 20 days.
My lack of funds left me with no other choice but to file for unemployment. I was intimidated by how the system worked.  I was on the phone for 45 minutes, and I felt like I was being interrogated throughout the conversation. Not to mention, I was receiving a letter from the unemployment office every day. Each letter kept talking about the “next step.” I started to feel as if it were a never ending road to receive some compensation for being out of work by no fault of my own.
I had a job waiting for me and I was baffled by confusion that filing unemployment caused. I wondered how the people who were unsure of their next job coped with being out of work.
When I arrived at the unemployment office, the room was adorned with colorful “how to” posters for people seeking work. The faces of the unemployed looked somber. This was their job…to find a job.
Ms. J’s was one of the somber faces.
Ms. J had been without a job since Oct. 2. She radiated confidence as a single mother with a master’s degree in software engineering and bachelor’s degree in computer science. She was 51 years old, and this was the first time she has been unemployed since she was 16.
“You can’t make people give you a job,” Ms. J bluntly said. Her face was earnest as she made her statement. The first question she asked herself after she was laid off was “why me?” Once she accepted the circumstances, she believed it was important to make the best out of a bad situation. Her philosophy was “Maybe God wants me to rest.”
The lifestyle change can also be a shock but she felt that there is “no shame because it’s temporary.” She rarely went out to dinner with her two sons. Her children were unable to understand why certain things had changed. Shopping for her children was no longer effortless; bills needed to be prioritized. Being unemployed “doesn’t affect just you, it affects the whole barnyard,” Ms. J sighed.
Ms. J discovered she had more success on her own looking for a job. The unemployment system kept sending her to different places when she wanted questions answered. “Clueless” was the best way to describe the entire process. Most of the information she gained was through other people going through a similar occurrence.  “All of this was a learning experience,” she said.
As a result, Ms. J found the Frederick County Workforce Services more helpful than the unemployment office itself. The FCWS assists and prepares the unemployed for their future jobs.
Laurie Holden, director of FCWS, believes the unemployment system does a good job of providing a “safety net” for people who are unemployed by no fault of their own until they are back in the working world again. Holden said all claimants are required to stop at the Workforce Center until they find a job.
On the other hand, there are a couple of ways the unemployment system could be refined. “I think more should be required than two contacts a week,” Holden remarked. She feels productive job seekers should be making at least two contacts a day with potential employers.
Another important improvement Holden considers would be getting job seekers to the FCWS sooner. Getting people to work faster will help reduce employers’ unemployment costs. Once people get back to work, “the quicker they are saving again, spending again, and paying taxes again,” she said.
The unemployment rate in Maryland as of December, 2012 was 6.6 percent. The media sometimes paints a picture of a group of people who utilize unemployment benefits. These Americans have been considered “takers” or are “milking the system.” However, that is not always the scene. “Ninety-five percent of people want to get back to work as quickly as they can,” Holden said.
Holden stated there are people who are under the false impression that their money is paying for unemployment insurance when really their employers are the ones paying for the benefits. “A few people can give a whole group of people a bad name,” Holden concluded.
All unemployed people are given information on how they are supposed to apply for benefits. The only way to apply for compensation is by phone or Internet. The limited options can make it difficult for older people to seek the assistance of unemployment. Holden has had to sit down personally with an older man who did not have a computer and was hard of hearing, which made filing a claim by phone difficult. The FCWS caters to personalized situations.
The organization offers free classes to the public to familiarize job seekers with the businesses that are hiring. FCWS provides experts who assist people in their particular area of interest. The FCWS is able to clue its clients in as to what skills and aptitude are in demand. “We are preparing the unemployed,” Holden said.
Some job seekers have been out of school for a substantial amount of time. Therefore, they are not as equipped as their competition for the changing workplace.  The FCWS wants to help these people as well. “We have federal and local grants to provide skills training for people whose skills are obsolete and we provide the re-skilling,” she explained.
The idea of filing for unemployment can be intimidating. Not only are individuals left with the stress of a bureaucratic unemployment system, but they are also left with the psychological strain of how to manage a different lifestyle. I am still perplexed how the unemployment office makes its decisions, but I am comforted to know the system will provide a resource such as the FCWS to assist Americans who have had their jobs taken away from them.
I was lucky to be without work for a measly three weeks compared to those Americans who do not know where their next job will come from. After the experience, I will certainly think twice before I say, “I don’t feel like going into work today.”
There are plenty of people who would love to take my spot.
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