Millions Of Americans Face Discrimination For Being Long-Term Unemployed: Here’s How To Fight Back

The United States job market is far from perfect, but fortunately it has gained back over half of the positions lost during the initial dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

There is, however, a dark side. Unfortunately, people who have been out of work for a long while are experiencing a hard time getting back to work. The number of long-term unemployed—officially designated as 27 weeks or more—increased to 3.6 million, accounting for about 32.5% of the total unemployed.

The effects on the long-term unemployed are devastating on many fronts. 

Many people run through their savings, including blowing through their emergency funds. Since most states only offer a maximum 26 weeks’ worth of unemployment funds, they have lost—or will lose—their safety net. As a result, their self-worth is destroyed. Tensions within the family over their unfortunate circumstances escalate. Then, there’s a sudden withdrawal from society.

To make matters worse, job seekers face blatant discrimination throughout the job search process. They’ll say that companies look unfavorably at applicants that have been between jobs for a long period of time. Interviewers look askance at the unemployed applicant and demand to know why they haven’t found a job after about six months or longer.

They’ll grill the candidate as to why they were picked for downsizing and not some other employee. Hiring managers will wonder aloud if the job seeker did something wrong, was a poor performer, a problematic employee or committed a heinous act that made other companies pass on hiring the person.

The companies tend to view large gaps in employment as a worrisome red flag. In today’s job market, it’s easy for corporate personnel involved with the hiring process to immediately pass on a person who gives off the slightest whiff of being a potential human resources issue.

A fast-moving, downward cycle kicks in.

The long-term unemployed person has lost their self-confidence. Tensions at home over finances have reached a fevered pitch. They’re concerned about what their friends and neighbors think. Late at night, when they can’t fall asleep, ruminating thoughts of what they did wrong, who they may have offended or whether someone is out to get them will run rampant.

When presented with the opportunity to interview, the applicant brings with them all of this excess baggage. An interviewer wants to hire someone who is positive, upbeat, enthusiastic and motivated. They want to feel that the candidate is a fast-tracker, someone who gets things done and will make their life easier. Sadly, it’s hard for an out-of-work person to summon up the real courage and confidence to win over the interviewer.

I’ve seen this story play out innumerable times. The interviewee can’t contain their resentment, bitterness and anger over having been let go and unemployed for such a long time. Invariably, they’ll say something less than complementary about their former boss and co-workers. They can’t make eye contact and fidget in their seats. The fear of blowing yet another interview is debilitating. They’re at the point where they expect to fail, since it keeps happening. At their wit’s end, nervousness makes them lose focus and botch their video interview call.

Get your head together.

The feelings attendant with a job loss are similar to losing a loved one. Although you’ve been out of work now for a while, you didn’t take time to grieve and mourn the loss of your job and come to a place of acceptance, where you can start to move forward. Process what happened to you. Think of all of the reasons that led up to the termination. Accept what occurred. Forgive everyone involved with the process. You need to start over with a clean slate. Discard the weight of guilt, shame and resentment. It’s not helping you. In fact, this is hurting your chances of finding a new job and alienating the people around you.

A fresh start.

Once you’ve come to terms with the job loss and the circumstances that led up to it, commence an attack plan. Formulate a strategy that includes tapping into your network. Politely and persistently ask for help. Sometimes, you’ll have to demand, cajole, pressure and guilt people into helping you. It sounds harsh, but you need to be tough. You can’t let yourself get kicked around. Humbly and firmly request them to give leads to companies, put in a good word for you and make introductions. At this point in time, you have nothing to lose, so pull out all of the stops.

You need to be seen and heard.

Get on LinkedIn and other social media sites to let the world know you’re out of work. This is not the time to allow your shyness or fear to take over. Push yourself to digitally connect with people at your target companies that can be of help. Once connected, comment on their postings, so you get noticed.

Reach out to recruiters that specialize in your area of expertise. Review and update your LinkedIn profile. Practice your elevator pitch and go over all of the interview questions that you may be asked. Keep doing this until it becomes innate.

You must fight back against wallowing in self-pity. 

The longer this goes on, the harder it will be to find a comparable job or one several rungs beneath where you once were. It’s time to build a mental comeback plan.

Find some hobbies to get your mind off of the search. Work out at the gym. Go for a run. Take up a sport. Join some clubs. Do something that you are good at to build up your confidence. Take care of your mental, emotional and spiritual self.

Talk yourself into success. Stop all of the negative noise in your head. It’s been hurting you. Replace it with positive mantras, in which you constantly remind yourself of all of your past glorious victories.

Consider creating a new you.

There could come a moment when you realize you’ll have to reassess your situation. You may have had 10 to 20 years of experience in a sector that was crushed by the pandemic, which won’t comb back for another year or so. Cut the cord and move onto something different. We all have transferable skills. Use these skills and talents to pivot toward another industry that’s doing well. If you must, swallow your ego and accept a lower-level job to get some much-needed money coming in. You’ll receive healthcare benefits. The new position offers something to focus on and an opportunity to create new contacts, while still looking for your perfect role.

If you keep hitting into brick walls, consider reinventing yourself. This may entail going back to school, switching careers, starting over from scratch, launching a new business or attaining accreditations and licenses.

Putting it all together.

The keys to combating long-term unemployment discrimination include accepting what has happened, forgiving yourself and the people who let you go, building a plan to jump back into the job search, keeping all of your options open and giving it everything you’ve got!