It has to be terrible to be involuntarily unemployed. The U.S. recession has put people out of work who knew nothing else but work. In other words, they had worked all their lives to make their existence a little better. I am blessed to be semi-retired; working is now a choice for me, but for many millions, it is now down to survival.I am puzzled by what I heard on the radio news the other day from a representative of the state agency that deals with unemployment. There is now a requirement for the unemployed (who want unemployment benefits) to attend one training meeting to help them with their job seeking skills. This person was announcing the schedule of meeting time
s in the area for those not working. So far, so good.
s in the area for those not working. So far, so good.Then she went on to say that "If you cannot make any of these meetings, then please call us and we will schedule a one-on-one meeting with you". Cannot attend one of these meetings? What, pray tell, would that unemployed person be doing? What unemployed person would not change his or her social calendar to make this mandatory meeting, especially given there were choices?
We (the government, I guess) must help those who are in these situations through no fault of their own, but is it too much to ask them to attend one two-hour group meeting that benefits them, without having to schedule "personal" sessions for those otherwise engaged?
2 comments:
Agreed, Jerry. Certainly honing a person's skills would be a positive thing and I don't it's unreasonable to expect someone who is being helped to be willing to help themselves.
A while back someone sent me an e-mail suggesting that people who are on "welfare" should be required to submit to, and pass, a urinalysis for illicit drug use prior to receiving benefits. The more I thought about it, the more it sounded like a valid argument. There are many people in the workforce who are required to submit to random drug testing in order to maintain their employment. These people are required to keep "clean" in order to be able to work, pay taxes and essentially support people who may or may not be employable due to substance abuse problems. Why shouldn't there be an expectation of people that they will help themselves if they expect others to help them?
Just my 2¢.
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