Down, Not Out: Surreal Unemployment At 55

For Steve Dittmann, 55, unemployment has been surreal:

"It's like there's two worlds out there: People who are still working, who are still living the same lives they always had, and I feel like I'm on the other side of a Plexiglass wall looking in," said Dittmann, who lives in Kansas. "I know I'm not unique. It's like you can't get back into that world. It's very strange."

Dittmann wrote the Huffington Post to say he'd lost his job when the business he and his wife owned, which sold "high-end plantation shutters," shut down last fall. For 30 years, Dittmann said, he'd lived an upper middle class lifestyle. He worked in advertising before buying the business in 2007, right before "the economy went to Hell" and the business "dropped off the face of the earth."

Now, Dittmann said, he and his wife, Stephanie, are coasting on dwindling savings and Stephanie's earnings from a part-time accounting job. They said they hadn't made a mortgage payment since February. If they lose the house to foreclosure, they might move in with Stephanie's parents, who they said have offered to take them in.

It's been impossible to land a job. "I probably responded to 200 or 300 ads and I've had one call back."

Then Dittmann said something that the HuffPost has heard from a lot of people:

"I think part of it is my age," he said. "I can't prove that but I think that's probably true. I was a business owner before. If you can hire someone in their 40s versus someone in their 50s, the person in their 40s is going to stay with you longer, and the person in their 50s is going to be more expensive because of health insurance. Everybody I've talked to that's in their 50s, looking for a job, they're getting nowhere."

It's true: Workers 45 and older comprise a disproportionate share of the long-term unemployed. But Dittmann is not feeling sorry for himself.

"In the past few months I've learned to appreciate how lucky I've been up to this point in my life, having lived an upper middle class professional lifestyle for the past 30 years," he wrote in an email. "I'm sorry to say I took it all for granted. I didn't over-extend myself, no mini-mansions, no expensive vacations, none of that... but we've always lived comfortably, without financial concerns. And even today, I'm still better off than probably 85 percent of the people on this planet, so everything is truly relative.

"Still, I can't believe I'm where I'm at today... I'm truly numb. I'm not even mad about my situation, because I'm not sure who or what to be mad at. Keeping my sanity is a priority, and I'm just thankful that we have no children to worry about."

HuffPost readers: Are you doubling up with friends or family to save money? Tell us about it -- email [e-mail].

Comments

[MichelleKinPA]

I have been out of a job since August, 2008. I've put in applications for positions I'm completely suited for, and have been interviewed a few times, but not hired. I have put in more application the last month than I have been able to in the last 9, so there's a little light at the end of the tunnel. Still, the calls are far & few between.

This recession is going to set back this country years as far as wages goes. Businesses have found out where they can cut back, and will not expand or hire, instead preferring to keep the money in their wallet. I think this is what upsets me the most - there are businesses out there who could hire, but wont' because their bottom line is all they think about. However, if each business that could hire someone, does hire, then this recession would be over a lot quicker.

Also, businesses aren't likely to invest in hiring a person unless they can expect that person to not bolt when a better job comes along. Right now, employers can set very low wages. I'd say that the wages I am seeing now the wages from 10 years past. Really.

[teddyr]

As an owner of a very small business, my husband and myself, I say it is impossible to keep emplyees when the business profits shrink. If you want to survive, you have to cut. Not just employees, but other expenses, ie car, rent, etc. And, believe me, we have been on the end, looking for employment also. As a matter of fact, I have been looking for a part-time job and there is very little out there.

It is true that that the word "over-qualified" is used as some kind of stupid excuse. My husband used to hear it all the time when he looked for a book-keeper job and was an ex-CFO. It basically means you are too old, too smart (they feel intimidated), and unmanageable. All incorrect. If we were to hire someone, and we did at one point, age and ability would be a positive, not a negative. And if they leave, so what. You've had a few months or a year of someone experienced.

Oh, and by the way, Obama cannot correct this. He has no control over who people hire. Nor should he. We live in a Democracy

[HerCabinBoy]

It's a scary thought if we're going to be set back with regard to wages, since we haven't progressed since 1975!

[GoodNews]

I hate to say this Steve but we live in an image and youth obsessed culture. Try losing the gray facial hair...it will take several years off you.

[apduncan1]

Amen ... and prepare the 1 minute commercial.

[Artemis34]

There's a job for Steve!

He was in advertising.

He could start doing 1 minute commercials for everyone who is looking!

And Stephanie could do the books!

[jamie461]

I have someone close to me who is going through this same thing. He was a very successful sales executive, and cannot even get interviews now. He will be 50 in August. It's incredibly unfair to do this to people. Older workers have a great deal of knowledge and experience that is valuable. There is a reason why there are no 30 year old generals.

[Artemis34]

And there is a reason why pilots' experience is counted in hours.

Experience matters!

That is also the conclusion of Malcolm Gladwell in his book "Outliers: The Story of Success."

http://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-AUDIOBOOK-UNABRIDGED/dp/B001LR46HE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245974100&sr=8-2

You don't even start to get good at your craft until you have 10,000 hours under your belt in that discipline. Which for most of us would take at least 10 years.

Yes, there IS a reason why there are no 30 year old generals!

[Babs07]

Finally...someone is sitting up and taking notice of what is really going on in the job market. Like Steve, I am in my 50's and unemployed. I have had no callbacks for face to face interviews, only telephone interviews and few at that. I attend job networking groups and I don't think I have seen anyone there under the age of 45. It's like there is this whole unemployed-underemployed class of people out there that no one is even paying attention to. Tent city may only a year away for me if I can't find a job.

[Adagio]

I love the metaphor Steve uses "on the other side of a Plexiglass wall looking in."

It's not even a clean shiny glass wall that may be broken with a good sharp tap. It's cheap, scratched up Plexiglas, and it's not going anywhere. I share your pain, Steve.