6A WWW.FREEP.COM SUNDAY, SEPT. 4, 2011 ◆

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COVER STORY◆WORK WANTED – DESPERATELY

work formore than half a year,including 235,000 inMichigan.Economists worry the prob-lem could persist for years,turning into a silent tragedythat slows the economy, reduc-es tax revenues, increases dis-ability payments and causesother negative effects.

“Long-term unemploymentis the distinguishing charac-teristic of this recession,” saidGeorge Wentworth, seniorstaff attorney at the NationalEmployment Law Project, aresearch and advocacy organi-zation focused on issues affect-ing low-wage and unemployedworkers.

During the past threemonths, the Free Press inter-viewed a dozen Michiganderswhohave been looking for a jobfor more than two years. Itfound that the long-term un-employed are living on theedge, stuck in an existencefilled with fear, uncertaintyand self-doubt. Many quietlypress on. Applying for jobs has

turned into theirjob.

“I didn’t thinkthis would hap-pen,” said NicoleChampagne, a43-year-old Ypsi-lanti Townshipresident who hasdrained her sav-ings, sold manyof her posses-sions and beenborrowing carsbecause she

can’t afford to fix the transmis-sion on her SUV. “I’m hard-working. I’m highly educated.”

The former Realtor has notbeen able to find a full-time,permanent job since 2008 andwas rejected for positions at aMcDonald’s and a gas stationbecause she was overqualified.

Champagne and many oth-er long-term unemployedworkers find themselvescaught in a downward spiral,their joblessness triggeringother problems that can makefinding work even harder.They face numerous obstacles.

Chief among them:❚ Diminishing skills: It’s no se-cret that being out of the workforce for too long can erode aperson’s skills, especially with

today’s rapid changes in tech-nology.

“Companies are increasing-ly after candidates who havevery specific job-related skills,and those go out of date veryquickly,” said Peter Cappelli, amanagement professor and di-rector of theCenter forHumanResources at the University ofPennsylvania’s WhartonSchool.

Mary Colletti of Huntington

Woods fears losingher interiordesign skills after being laid offthree years ago as a designproject manager at a healthcare company.

Last December, she finallylanded a design job at a furni-ture retailer, but was let go af-ter 21 days. Colletti said thecompany told her she didn’thave the necessary skills.

The setback hasn’t stoppedColletti from looking for anoth-

er designposition, but shewor-ries about being out of the fieldfor too long. Software pro-grams that designers use getregular updates, but without a

job, “I can’t afford to keep up,”Colletti said.❚ Loss of financial security:Long-term joblessness candeeply damage a family’s fi-nances. Savings, including401(k) retirement plans, getquickly depleted, and somepeople sink deeper into debt.Homes are lost. And many ofthose who eventually do gethired end up earning a lot lessthan they used to at their for-mer jobs.

The effects can be long-last-ing. Till von Wachter, an asso-ciate economics professor atColumbia University, told acongressional committee lastyear that people who lost theirjobs during the early 1980s re-cession saw their earningsdrop by 20%, a decline thatlasted 15-20 years.

Often, long-term unem-ployed people are one stepaway from financial disaster.That’s the case for KennethPaled of Redford Township,who worries that he and his

UNEMPLOYED: Finding a job a full-time jobFROM PAGE 1A

REGINA H. BOONE/Detroit Free Press

Mark Baerlin, 51, of Dearborn does odd jobs to make ends meet. He has been without a job since April 2009. He had worked for a brake testing firm.

Detroit Free Press

0

10

20

30

40

50%

The rise in long-termunemploymentThe percentage of unemployedworkers in the U.S. who havebeen searching for a job for 27weeks or longer — the federalgovernment’s definition oflong-term unemployment — hasincreased dramatically in recentyears.

*As of the second quarter of 2011.Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

2002 2005 2008 2011*

18.3%

44.3%

NicoleChampagneof YpsilantiTownshiphas drainedher savings.

Mary Colletti ofHuntington Woodswas laid off threeyears ago and fearsshe will lose herinterior designskills.

SEE NEXT PAGE

Life doesn’t stop just be-cause you lose your job. Justask Tina Moreland.

In February 2009, CitizensBank laid off the Flint resi-dent as part of a downsizing ofits mortgage department.Fourteen months later, More-land’s pregnant, 22-year-olddaughter was killed whengunshots were fired into acrowd of people.

Moreland suddenly foundherself raising her 7-year-oldgranddaughter, AminaSmith. At 52, she is trying toswitch careers, taking medi-cal billing and coding classespart-time at Baker College ofFlint while she looks for a job.

“I was scared stiff,” More-land said of going back toschool. “It surprised me that Istill have brain cells that

work.”With housing, construc-

tion and other industries ex-pected to remain depressedfor years, many long-term un-employed workers have dis-covered that the jobs they

used to do have either disap-peared or are in short supply.Many are forced to learn newskills, but the transition is of-ten bumpy and the future un-certain.

Until 2009, Moreland had

never been unemployed, hav-ing spent 25 years working inmortgage banking. After los-ing her job, the divorcedmother of two used her 401(k)retirement savings and in-come tax refunds to pay offthe small mortgage she had.Michigan’s No Worker LeftBehind program is paying forher medical billing classes.

In late July,Moreland’s un-employment benefits ran out.She has a Bridge Card to helppay for food, but making hercar payments is a struggle.She is hoping to get a part-time job doing laundry at anursing home.

“Something’s going tocome. It’s got to,” she said.“And being a Christian, youalways know the Lord has thefinal say. I hold onto that.”

Like other long-term un-employed workers, Morelandno longer sees retirement inher future. “It’s scary livingoff so little,” she said. “I haveto show my granddaughterthat working for yourself isthe only way.”

A grandma raising her granddaughter

Her job wasn’t the only thing she lost

SUSAN TUSA/Detroit Free Press

Tina Moreland, 52, and her granddaughter, Amina Smith, 7, at their Flinthome. Moreland is raising her after Amina’s mom was killed last year.

Hail of bullets leavesunemployed womanrearing a little girlBy KATHERINE YUNGFREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

After interviewing for asales position at a tool compa-ny shortly before MemorialDay, David Kmiotek receiveda phone call offering him thejob.

The St. Clair Shores resi-dent started shaking. “Itfloored me. I hadn’t heardthose words in nearly threeyears,” he said.

Unemployed since July2008, the 38-year-old sales-man had run out of unemploy-ment benefits in March andwas living at his parents’house. “When you are work-ing, everybody wants you,” hesaid. “When you are not work-ing, nobody wants you.”

But just two months later,Kmiotekwas let go. Thoughhehad signedup several newcus-tomers, “no matter what I didthere, it wasn’t the right way. Icouldn’t win,” he said.

For many long-term unem-ployed workers, their travailsin the job market often don’tend even when they finally doget hired. In some cases, theirnew jobs don’t work out, put-ting them right back wherethey started.

After his recent layoff,Kmiotek didn’t qualify for un-

employment benefits becausehe had not earned enoughmoney. He’s living off thesmall amount he hadmade butwill have to start drawingdown his savings if he doesn’tfind work soon.

Though selling is what heknows how to do, Kmiotektried to switch careers, enroll-ing at the New Horizons Com-puter Learning Center in Troyto get into the informationtechnology field. But hecouldn’t pass the second partof a certification exam.

“I really enjoy computers,but this wasmuch harder thanI anticipated,” he said.

Early this year, Kmiotekcompleted a basic, three-month class at Macomb Com-munity College to be a com-puter-controlled machine tooloperator. He liked the courseand applied for a few entry-level operator positions. Butwithout any on-the-job experi-ence, his chances of gettinghired are slim.

Despite these hurdles,Kmiotek is not giving up. As asalesman, he’s used to con-stant rejection. But after sub-mitting his résumé for hun-dreds of jobs over the lastthree years, hewonders, “Howlong is this going to last?”

When luck runs out

Some find a job only tosoon be jobless again

August photo by WILLIAM ARCHIE/Detroit Free Press

David Kmiotek, 38, of St. Clair Shores plays basketball. Kmiotek lost ajob in 2008. He finally got a job earlier this year but was recently let go.

By KATHERINE YUNGFREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER

In late July, Mark Baerlinsat in ameeting room in Plym-outh with 24 other people, alleager to land a warehouse jobat Comcast. They were thelucky ones. The telecom gianthad received hundreds of ap-plications for the position,narrowing it down to these 25candidates.

That number was quicklyreduced to 13 after the compa-ny weeded out people withoutstanding tickets or otherlegal issues. For nearly twohours, Comcast human re-sources employees wentaround the room, interview-

ing everyone. But the processwasn’t over. That evening,Baerlin logged onto his com-puter and took a basic skillstest provided by the compa-ny.

With a 13-to-1 chance of get-ting hired, Baerlin didn’t beatthe odds. The Dearborn resi-dent has been looking forwork since April 2009.

On the front lines of themost brutal job market in de-cades, long-term unemployedworkers such as Baerlin arewaging an uphill battle withdwindling resources.

The former inventorytechnician for a brake-testingcompany has applied for

more than 343 jobs, includingpositions at Home Depot,Lowe’s and Target.

“I don’t know if I’m over-qualified or if they are justlooking for young people,”said the 51-year-old, who hasearned a little cash by doingsmall jobs, such as mowinglawns and taking a womanwho can’t drive to her doctorappointments.

Earlier this year, Baerlinlanded an interview at an autoparts retailer in southwestDetroit. When he arrived, thecompany told him they want-ed to talk to him about a man-ager’s position, not the salesjob that he had come for.

However, the person Baerlinneeded to see was on vaca-tion, so the store planned tocall him the following week.He is still trying to get the in-terview.

If Baerlin doesn’t get a jobsoon, he could lose his house.The Ferris State Universitygraduate would like to marryhis girlfriend but refuses to doso until he has a steady pay-check.

Not everything has beennegative. One evening, Baer-lin arrived home and discov-ered that someone had lefthim an envelope stuffed withcash. He still doesn’t knowwho helped him.

Employers can be picky

Competition for few jobs out there is fierceBy KATHERINE YUNGFREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER