Reality Check For Job Seekers

Saw this interesting yet very true articles on the Straits Times today. Experts advise lowering pay expectations as jobless rate for those in 30-39 age group goes up. Job seekers in their 30s need reality check! This picture reminds me of what I saw many years back on the freeway in the USA. Many jobless just stand along the freeway with signage hanging on their neck.

Although I agreed that we really need to do a reality check, see were we stand & make ourselves marketable to compete with the others. But, I must say that there are problems unique to this age group. Those who are within this age group are neither here nor there. Not young enough to willing take on any job with low pay & not old enough to have all the job experience required.

Most of us that's in this age group would had just started their own family & it will be really a hard time now if they were to get retrenched or taking a pay cut. Supporting a family nowadays is not as easy as it thinks especially with kids & old folks all depending on you. Without much help in place, what can they do?

The labour market report for the second quarter of this year shows that the jobless rate for the 30 to 39 age group rose to 4.7 per cent, from 2.9 per cent last year. About 24,000 people… were out of work, compared to 14,600 for the same period last year. The jobless ranks among the 30 to 39 age group were across all educational groups, in particular those with degrees, polytechnic diplomas and below secondary school education.

Mr Dhirendra Shantilal, senior vice-president (Asia-Pacific) at Kelly Services, feels that the jobless figures may be rooted in structural unemployment from the loss of jobs in certain sectors, which did not recover quickly enough and bore the brunt of the global crisis. Mr David Ang, executive director of the Singapore Human Resource Institute, said they ask for higher pay as they are at the stage of their lives when they may need to care for young children and finance a home purchase. WDA spokesman said that there are problems unique to this age group, such as childcare, which can hinder their ability to go for training, for instance.

At the end of the day, when taking pay cut is not an option, going for upgrading is not possible, switching to a totally new career is impossible, what can we do other than working on a higher paid contract or temporary basis job in hope of getting something better along the way.