
NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2009
Jobless Execs Face Tough Lifestyle Changes
CBS Evening News: With 88,000 Finance And Insurance Jobs Cut Since April, It's A Buyer's Market
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Play CBS Video Video Making Do In The U.S. Unemployment in the U.S. is above seven percent and growing. It's a painful reversal of fortune for white collar workers trading in careers for dim job prospects. Seth Doane reports.
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Laid off worker Russ Long, who formerly analyzed mutli-billion dollar deals for Standard and Poor's. (CBS)
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A support and job search group for laid off whtie collar workers, run by job coach Matt Bud. (CBS)
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In-Depth Meltdown Primer Questions and answers regarding various aspects of the current economic crisis.
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Interactive On The Job Explore America's labor economy, track recent major layoffs and meet key economic players.
- Painful Lifestyle Changes
- The Restaurant That Needs A Miracle
- Learning The Value Of $1
- Life In A Tent City
- Family On The Brink
- Commuter Costs Hurt Home Health Aides
- When Basic Dental Care Isn't There
- Small Kitchen; Big Heart
- Summertime Lunches For Kids In Need
- Food Stamp Crunch Intensifies
- When Disaster Strikes - Twice
- Snapshots Of Struggle In The Food Line
- Going South Of The Border For Diesel
His work was once "Dealing with customers, clients having problem... resolving problems," Russ tells CBS News correspondent Seth Doane.
"Now I'm doing the laundry!" Russ says, sorting clothes.
Eight-eight thousand finance and insurance jobs have vanished since April - like Russ's. For 21 years, he worked at Standard & Poor's, most recently in mortgage-backed securities - at the very center of the meltdown.
"I'd like to think that there were mistakes made," says Russ, "but I don't think that I took down the economy single-handedly."
The good years were really good - a sprawling suburban New Jersey home and the chance for wife Laura to be a full-time mom. Now, there's uncertainty everywhere.
"Do I stay home with him all day with him?" Laura wonders. "Or is he going to be depressed if I don't stay home with him? Should I go do my stuff?"
"Did you worry about that - him being depressed?" Doane asks.
"I did worry about that - yeah… because I just felt like - that was his livelihood," Laura says.
Along with his livelihood, Russ' severance is almost gone too. So, Laura now trudges off to work as a surgical nurse - making a fraction of what he did.
Russ admits it's all very deflating - driving the car pool and doing the dishes. He wonders when he'll be the provider again.
He says he's sent his resume and applied to couple hundred jobs - and only had five or six interviews.
"Internet postings are almost a total waste of time," says Matt Bud, who heads a group that coaches white-collar workers just like Russ.
He says in-person networking is the key - four out of five jobs are found that way.
In meetings across the country, Bud's group teaches the fine art of the "elevator speech."
"If you think about going down an elevator - you've got about 90 seconds - where you just have a brief amount of time to tell people what it is you do - to sell yourself," Budd says.
But it's a buyer's market. At one New York job fair, 2,400 people swarmed recruiters trying to sell themselves - four times more than the year before. The average job search drags on for more than four months now.
For Russ, it's nine months and counting. Missing the camaraderie as much as the work itself, he regularly meets up with other out-of-work execs.
"Hopefully I'll look back at it with fond memories - of a time that I had to, you know, be closer to my family," he says, sorting laundry. "But, you know, right now there are economic situations that make things, you know, cause me concern."
Another American trying to sort-out the future.
© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 39 CommentsAlso Posted by smokey1weim at 10:16 AM : Jan 24, 2009
The wisdom expressed in the last sentence of your post can not be over emphasized so I am repeating it. If both "Russ" and "Laura" focus on those things that are truly important - such as family - they both will make out O.K. In fact they could easily emerge from this disaster stronger and better off where it counts than before.
However P.O''d I may be now, I hope they not only survive, but learn some important lessons and thrive again.
Posted by smokey1weim at 10:16 AM : Jan 24, 2009
That''s part of the problem and the reason for the resounding absence of sympathy. A lifestyle that is way out of bounds considering how many nationwide do not have enough to meet basic needs tho'' they work as hard as "Russ" did. And "Russ" is nowhere nearly as ostentatious or as blatant as so many are (or were), nor does he and his family live anywhere nearly as "large".
The malefeasance of so many who practise his profession is a primary driver of our collapsing economy. "Russ" and people who do what he does for a living own a disproportionate onus of liability for that collapse.
I am fully aware he, himself, might be completely innocent and as such, I don''t want this man to go to jail or stand naked in the town square begging forgiveness. But he IS going to have to continue feeling some pain. He IS going to have to undergo massive material downsizing. He IS going to have to understand that he will almost certainly not live long enough to see our economy bounce back to the point that he can enjoy the prosperity his family once had. And he WILL need to learn to live at a standard that is much more austere than what he is accustomed to now.
So will I for that matter. (continued)
...I''m squinting a tear here...Oh yeah, and please don''t ''Cut In'' in the soup line...you''ll get your sorry a$$ kicked!
Posted by rachelmad23 at 07:32 AM : Jan 24, 2009
Probably not....And that''s unfortunate. Puts a lot of unneccessary stress on us men; particularly some who, like me, were born in the 40''s or earlier. I have had the paradigm of "man the provider" so thoroughly drilled into my skull throughout my childhood and adolescence that even today I am nervous about the strong likelihood I won''t be able to continue to do my share. It''s a cultural thing and breaking that culture continues to be a work in progress.
Still and all, I am dam'' grateful that I have a spouse who earns an income because I, too, will lose my job. I intend to find another because, old fossil that I may be; I am still too young for Social Security and her income will not be quite enough. The job search will also likely take a great deal longer than the 9 months "Russ" was yipping about and I''m not going to be anywhere nearly as choosy about what I''ll take as he appears to be.
I truly appreciate the contribution to our future (diminished) cash flow my wife will provide - and I make sure she knows it.
The insinuation was that the only way he can feel good about himself again is to become the ''provide that he once was.'' This completely devalues the work that women are simply expected to do. Are we EVER going to get away from the expectation that men should provide while women take care of the house??
I also refuse to feel bad about their financial situation when there are so many people who truly live in poverty. Perhaps ''The Other America'' refers to the fact that Russ might now have to learn how the ''Other America'' really lives.
The insinuation was that the only way he can feel good about himself again is to become the ''provide that he once was.'' This completely devalues the work that women are simply expected to do. Are we EVER going to get away from the expectation that men should provide while women take care of the house??
I also refuse to feel bad about their financial situation when there are so many people who truly live in poverty. Perhaps ''The Other America'' refers to the fact that Russ might now have to learn how the ''Other America'' really lives.
The insinuation was that the only way he can feel good about himself again is to become the ''provide that he once was.'' This completely devalues the work that his wife was doing. Are we EVER going to get away from the expectation that men should provide while women take care of the house??
I also refuse to feel bad about their financial situation when there are so many people who truly live in poverty. Perhaps ''The Other America'' refers to the fact that these financial guys who have lost their jobs will now have to learn how the ''Other America'' actually lives.
The insinuation was that the only way he can feel good about himself again is to become the ''provide that he once was.'' This completely devalues the work that his wife was doing. Are we EVER going to get away from the expectation that men should provide while women take care of the house??
I also refuse to feel bad about their financial situation when there are so many people who truly live in poverty. Perhaps ''The Other America'' refers to the fact that these financial guys who have lost their jobs will now have to learn how the ''Other America'' actually lives.
We are going after more work and when we do get it, we do our best to hire new workers from pools of people like Russ.
What grabs me is that the ones that are participating in the stimulus package are using these funds to buy other banks and give perks to their executives. Obama and Congress must do something about that.
I also firmly believe that we have to look towards non cash options. These would be drastic but necessary: (1) get out of Iraq asap, (2) finish our mission in Afrans and get out ASAP. No national building, we are lousy at that. (3) close all unnecessary government/millitary installations overseas, (4) NASA should sell/lease all of its assets to space private companies, (5) we should sublease all excess office space in our embassies/consulates. The new gigantic embassy in Iraq is excess to our needs. Let''s rent what we do not need.
Others suggestions would be welcome.
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