Laura

After getting laid off at her job as a health care consultant five years ago, Laura, 43, is now a part-time career counselor with no benefits at a community college in Kansas City. After Sept. 11, 2001, Laura saw the jobs crisis take a big toll on Kansas City and decided to start a job club as a place for people to come together for networking and support.

My Story
Five years ago, when I was laid off from my job as a health care consultant, I was devastated. My ego was bruised, but the experience led me to a new career, one in which I can directly work with community members who need career development assistance.

After 9/11, I saw an overwhelming need to create a support system for laid off workers. So I started a job club in November 2001 to provide support and networking opportunities for laid-off workers. I assumed that I would do this for a couple of months. Three years later, we continue to meet every week for two hours, and we now have a base of about 1,000 people. Since the new year, attendance at our weekly meetings has almost doubled.

Most of these people are well-educated, middle-aged professionals who are suffering from long-term unemployment. There are just not that many professional jobs out there, and when there are openings, there are hundreds of applicants for every job.

These middle-aged workers are faced with age discrimination in the hiring process and are often overlooked because they made too much money in their previous jobs, and companies are looking for the cheapest labor possible. I continuously hear stories about people having to leave the area or having their homes foreclosed.

Kansas City has been deeply affected by the jobs crisis and the trickle down effect. For example, when Hallmark closed a lot of its stores, not only were those people out of work, but the company that made boxes for the Hallmark cards also had to close its doors.

Like the rest of the country, we’ve been hit hard by the outsourcing issue. Sprint’s headquarters in Kansas City has laid off thousands of workers and moved the jobs overseas.

I am very fearful for the future that current economic policies are eroding the middle class.