How Many People Are Not Even Looking For Work

everyone, including you, pays taxes that go into the unemployment compensation fund. essentially, you are collecting money that you have deposited. while i agree with you about sitting on your ass, when is the last time you looked at the want ads? or applied for a job? the market is rail-thin. our want ads used to be between 10- 15 pages of jobs, from all venues. now its roughly 2 and a half pages. dominated by the medical field. times are tough. my best friend is going on 5 months without work. he looks every day. there is just not that much available
I fully understand the situation and the lack of jobs its the fact these people said they are not even looking for a job. If I'm correct only the employer pays the unemployment tax so your not collecting funds you deposited.

I get what you're saying. I guess my stance falls somewhere in between your opinion and the article.

These people didn't ask to get laid off. Our unemployment system was obviously put in place to help those who get laid off, but I don't think it should be abused. It's not like you can just keep collecting checks indefinitely. I have no issue with these people using a government program for it's intended purpose, but if they are intentionally putting off looking for work solely becuase they can ride the taxpayers' gravy train... well I have an issue with that.

Like we both said, they'd rather be working. But if they got laid off from a career they've had for years, and want to use a few weeks to take a deep breath and reset before diving back into a shitty job market... well, I can't say I wouldn't do the same thing.

I think you probably misread me. My opinion is an exact match to yours.

everyone, including you, pays taxes that go into the unemployment compensation fund. essentially, you are collecting money that you have deposited. while i agree with you about sitting on your ass, when is the last time you looked at the want ads? or applied for a job? the market is rail-thin. our want ads used to be between 10- 15 pages of jobs, from all venues. now its roughly 2 and a half pages. dominated by the medical field. times are tough. my best friend is going on 5 months without work. he looks every day. there is just not that much available

I don't think anybody is arguing against the unemployment program, I think people are just saying it sucks an awful lot to come out and say "hey I'm having a fun time" while collecting unemployment dollars.

We don't want to hear about people looking at the bright side and enjoying things. We want to hear how they're working their ass off to find a job.

They may be working their ass off, and most probably are. But don't tell me you're "reconnecting with your hobbies" while you're home. I don't want to hear that because it just pisses me off.

everyone, including you, pays taxes that go into the unemployment compensation fund. essentially, you are collecting money that you have deposited. while i agree with you about sitting on your ass, when is the last time you looked at the want ads? or applied for a job? the market is rail-thin. our want ads used to be between 10- 15 pages of jobs, from all venues. now its roughly 2 and a half pages. dominated by the medical field. times are tough. my best friend is going on 5 months without work. he looks every day. there is just not that much available

I hear you dmek..............my job sucks and I've been looking for a new job for about three months now. I haven't been able to find anything either! It makes me feel sorry for those that ARE unemployed. Poor darn bastards! At least they have their unemployment checks and some money to get by until companies start hiring again.

So let me get this straight. The issue is that these people aren't moping enough?

I did a survey kind of back in the mid. 80's about people looking for work and the numbers said they don't want to work. I worked for my father for 5 years prior to opening up my business and it seemed that about once a month some girl would call out of the blue looking for a job. After I said we where not hiring they would then ask if they could use my name and business for their unemployment requirments which I'd said no. Then came my idea. When the next person called and asked about using us as a referal for unemployment I'd say no but I had good friend just down the street that was looking for a full time employee with good benifits and pay. I would then give them my back line to see how many would call about this job. Well out of about 35 to 40 only one person ever called to see about the job. I know thats not real snap shot of whats going on now but I was really surprised at the results. I did know that most of these people did not want to work I just wanted them to confirm my belief that many take advantage of the system.

I did a survey kind of back in the mid. 80's about people looking for work and the numbers said they don't want to work. I worked for my father for 5 years prior to opening up my business and it seemed that about once a month some girl would call out of the blue looking for a job. After I said we where not hiring they would then ask if they could use my name and business for their unemployment requirments which I'd said no. Then came my idea. When the next person called and asked about using us as a referal for unemployment I'd say no but I had good friend just down the street that was looking for a full time employee with good benifits and pay. I would then give them my back line to see how many would call about this job. Well out of about 35 to 40 only one person ever called to see about the job. I know thats not real snap shot of whats going on now but I was really surprised at the results. I did know that most of these people did not want to work I just wanted them to confirm my belief that many take advantage of the system.

That happens a lot of times to my dad. He would even hire some people and they'd turnaround and quit the next day. There a bunch of weasels out there who only care about getting paid without doing any work.

As far as taking sometime off after getting laid-off I don't have a problem with that. It's kinda dumb to kill your savings though. I can understand taking advantage of your severance package...I know I would take 2 months off out of 4 month severance pay that I would receive if got the pink slip.

That happens a lot of times to my dad. He would even hire some people and they'd turnaround and quit the next day. There a bunch of weasels out there who only care about getting paid without doing any work.

As far as taking sometime off after getting laid-off I don't have a problem with that. It's kinda dumb to kill your savings though. I can understand taking advantage of your severance package...I know I would take 2 months off out of 4 month severance pay that I would receive if got the pink slip.

Our area did a good job with getting people back working when Clinton and Congress passed the Welfair reform bill but that was all just blowing out of the water with the stimulas package. So now welfare requirments are pretty much back to what they were before they passed the reform. I agree I'd take a week or so off but I'd want to find a job and save that severence money away for retirement.

Our area did a good job with getting people back working when Clinton and Congress passed the Welfair reform bill but that was all just blowing out of the water with the stimulas package. So now welfare requirments are pretty much back to what they were before they passed the reform. I agree I'd take a week or so off but I'd want to find a job and save that severence money away for retirement.

Huh? I didn't know unemployment and welfare were interchangeable. Did I miss something with the stimulus? Or are you just being a stimulus hater who think the stimulus is another form of welfare?

If they were just living off savings alone, that would be one thing. But they're collecting unemployment checks while they "reconnect with their hobbies." Get a fuggin job! If you want to stay home because you enjoy it, fine, but don't make me pay for it through my taxes. That's the kneejerk argument.

Now, the reality of this article is life sucks for these people who are laid off. They may smile, put on a happy face, and look on the bright side by telling you "hey, this is great, I get to stay home with my kids!" But even if they have plenty of savings, truth be told, they'd rather be working. And that's why they're looking for employment. This article paints an artificially sunny view of their situations.

It's just rather uncool to come out in an article and say "look at me, I'm having fun while I collect your tax dollars through the unemployment program!"


You know, unemployment is based on what you put into it, and in VA the maximum is 379/week. Not like anyone's getting rich, and the check that i get every week is based on MY ****ing taxes. I'm actively searching for work and working for myself even though every week I work i lose the money in unemployment benefits, so I've worked for free for 2 weeks, basically.

But I'll be the absolute first to admit I go to the gym longer than I ever have, I take my daughter to school every day, and I dont spend 40 hours a week looking for a job. I do put in about 10 resume's a week (8 more than the required 2, which i think is a joke) but there's really not a whole lot out there and the competition is stiff.