Poll For The Unemployed

There is legislation that would make it illegal to hold a job applicant's unemployed status against them when applying for work. There's a prevailing theory that once a person is out of work for a few months, they are considered damaged goods. If they can't find a job within 6 months, something must simply be wrong with them. Companies have even ran ads specifying currently unemployed people 'need not apply'.

We talked about this legislation and 'unemployed discrimination' this week, and I received an email from a woman from Budd Lake who told me her story and then brought up an interesting question. Her story was that after working for a company for 24 years she was downsized out of a job and now, if she can even get an occasional interview, is asked "What happened?" as the very first question. Like I said, as if she's damaged goods. The question she brought up is...does this happen to older people more than younger people? She suspects discrimination against the unemployed happens far more often to those in their 40s and 50s rather than younger. I told her we'd try to find out.