Local Residents Still Struggling with Bad Job Market

Fran Hopkins, a Cedar Grove resident and writer who has been out of work for a year and a half, pens a regular blog on the topic of unemployment for Verona-Cedar Grove Patch. She likens the job-hunting process to a roller coaster.

“A prolonged job search is a very energy-draining process. I have had more emotional and psychological ups and downs than I want to count. Your hope soars when you snag a job interview; then it's dashed when there's no job offer. Repeat this over and over again and you start to feel like it's better not to get your hopes up too much, just to avoid that awful discouraged feeling when things don't work out,” she said in an interview Friday.

Essex County’s unemployment rate, which was reported as 11.1 percent in May, is two percent higher than the state average, which has hovered in the mid-nine percent range for more than a year, and currently stands at 9.1 percent.

The higher-than-average figure in Essex County is due in part to Newark’s unemployment rate of 15.9 percent.

The murky employment climate is forcing some to take jobs beneath their qualification levels, or take any job they can get to keep their health insurance, says Caren Ford, assistant executive director of program services with Jewish Vocational Services in Bloomfield.

"There's been a definite ebb and flow, but we've seen clients that are totally underemployed. People who have taken jobs just so they get health coverage. This is a big issue. COBRA's run out and people are taking jobs well below past salaries,” she said.

For some, protracted job hunts are taking an emotional toll.

Dr. Steve Margeotes, a licensed professional counselor and founder of Main Street Counseling in West Orange, says feelings of depression and shame are not uncommon among the unemployed, and that stress from an unsuccessful job search can have adverse health effects.

"Unemployment is a stressor that impacts people more than they think," he said. "When you're in the middle of that situation, you don't realize the physical and emotional things that it does to you."

Among those are poor behavior, depression, shame and strains in your family life, including domestic violence, Margeotes said.

Recently laid off individuals are "shocked" and "feel surreal." As the month pass by, said Margeotes, they begin to experience "shame" and the feeling that "maybe I wasn't good enough." By the six-month mark, people begin struggling to stay motivated and entangle themselves with inappropriate coping habits.

"The emotional piece of unemployment is really underestimated and it comes out in a lot of different ways," said Margeotes.

He recommends individuals talk about their problems and acknowledge their unemployment. "The first reaction is to try to fight it," said Margeotes. "If we can deal with the reality without the shame attached, that helps a little bit more."

Jill Brown, a licensed clinical social worker based in West Caldwell, says job seekers can restore a sense of purpose and belief in themselves by doing volunteer work or other similar activities.

“Those energy-giving activities balance the job search, which is often an energy-draining activity.”

Hopkins says there have been occasional glimmers of hope in her search, and that unemployed people rallying together in mutual support can make the bleakness more bearable.

“We provide each other with a lot of informal support and keep each other going. And every now and then I hear a fantastic success story and that really encourages me. For example, a relative of mine was unemployed for nearly three years and was just offered a great job. That gives me hope.”

Alexandra Birnbaum, age 29, grew up in Maplewood, NJ and now lives in Manhattan. She is seeking opportunities to work as a photographer and writer, and her dream is to be a television and film actor. She studied Theatre and Media at Hunter College (CUNY).

For the past year and a half she has been a freelance contributor and guest editor for Patch.com.

Her recent experiences with job-hunting include landing a temporary gig at HBO.

She said, "it's important to talk to everyone you meet about your ambitions. Try to make a connection wherever possible — even with a person you meet waiting at the bus stop. Be friendly and be real. It's ridiculously tough out there right now, and landing a job has a lot to do with personal relationships."

Others are turning to their local libraries for help in their quest for employment.

Jane Kennedy, director of Memorial Library in Maplewood, says that starting back in 2008, the library saw a substantial uptick in the number of residents using the branches to research jobs on the library computers, write and print resumes and cover letters, and meet others for support. Librarians and staffers have become de facto unemployment counselors.

"Our staff helps people all the time to get a job. To get a job at Home Depot, you have to download an application. People who don't have computers at home or know how to use them come to the library for that."

Kennedy also said that the NJ State Library just received a large grant to position local libraries throughout the state as workplace development institutions as well as a grant to increase broadband to support those program. Kennedy said the grants were supplied through a combination of federal stimulus funds and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"As part of that we are running some workshops here and in the lab at the Hilton Branch," said Kennedy. Those workshops include sessions on using the internet, operating computers, writing resumes and cover letters, and using programs like Microsoft and email.

A group called Professionals in Transition meets at the main branch of Maplewood Memorial Library twice a month. "They still have a lot of people showing up," said Jane Kennedy, Director of the Maplewood Memorial Library. "It's 20-25 people each meeting. It's still going strong."

Kennedy acknowledged that that's not such a good thing: "I'd be happy if nobody came, if they all had jobs."

— Mary Mann, Teresa Akersten and Karen Yi contributed to this report.