No Job, No Marriage, No Kid: China’s Workers and the Curse of 35

THE NEW YORK TIMES: It’s widely discussed in China: Employers don’t want you after 35. Some job listings say it plainly, leaving a generation of prime-age workers feeling defeated.

When Sean Liang turned 30, he started thinking of the Curse of 35 — the widespread belief in China that white-collar workers like him confront unavoidable job insecurity after they hit that age. In the eyes of employers, the Curse goes, they’re more expensive than new graduates and not as willing to work overtime.

Mr. Liang, now 38, is a technology support professional turned personal trainer. He has been unemployed for much of the past three years, partly because of the pandemic and China’s sagging economy. But he believes the main reason is his age. He’s too old for many employers, including the Chinese government, which caps the hiring age for most civil servant positions at 35. If the Curse of 35 is a legend, it’s one supported by some facts.

“I work out, so I look pretty young for my age,” he said in an interview. “But in the eyes of society, people like me are obsolete.” » | Li Yuan | Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Tech Layoffs Crash Hard into Indian Workers I DW News

Nov 17, 2022 | Online-retailer Amazon has confirmed a coming round of mass layoffs, making it the latest tech-giant to slash jobs amid slowing global-growth. On Tuesday the company filed notice to California regulators that it would scrap jobs in that state. It is expected to shed as many as 10-thousand positions in the coming days, following similar measures by tech giants Meta and Twitter. Amazon employs 1.5 million workers around the world.

One country in which this wave of job cuts is particularly crashing into is India. Twitter cut off half its work force there, and education technology firms Byju and Unacademy laid off hundreds of workers. Workers in India are also among those affected by "Meta" cuts. Ironically, many of them are using those same platforms, including social media, to air their grievances and protests against the unceremonious firings.

Pope Attacks Global Economics for Worshipping 'God of Money'

REUTERS.COM: Pope Francis made one of his strongest attacks on the global economic system on Sunday, saying it could no longer be based on a "god called money" and urged the unemployed to fight for work.

Francis, at the start of a day-long trip to the Sardinian capital, Cagliari, put aside his prepared text at a meeting with unemployed workers, including miners in hard hats who told him of their situation, and improvised for nearly 20 minutes.

"I find suffering here ... It weakens you and robs you of hope," he said. "Excuse me if I use strong words, but where there is no work there is no dignity."

He discarded his prepared speech after listening to Francesco Mattana, a 45-year-old married father of three who lost his job with an alternative energy company four years ago.

Mattana, his voice trembling, told the pope that unemployment "oppresses you and wears you out to the depths of your soul".

The crowd of about 20,000 people in a square near the city port chanted what Francis called a prayer for "work, work, work". They cheered each time he spoke of the rights of workers and the personal devastation caused by joblessness.

The pope, who later celebrated Mass for some 300,000 people outside the city's cathedral, told them: "We don't want this globalised economic system which does us so much harm. Men and women have to be at the centre (of an economic system) as God wants, not money."

"The world has become an idolator of this god called money," he said.

Sardinia's coast is famous for its idyllic beaches, exclusive resorts and seaside palatial residences of some of the world's richest people, including former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and a host of Hollywood actors.

But much of the island, particularly its large cities and the vast agricultural and industrial interior, has been blighted by the economic crisis, with factories closed and mines operating at low capacity. » | Philip Pullella | Cagliari, Sardinia | Edited by Will Waterman | Sunday, September 22, 2013

Unemployment Soars in Paris banlieues
Immigration and the economy have become central issues in the French presidential election. For the youth in the largely immigrant poor neighbourhoods outside Paris, known as banlieues, an unemployment rate four times the national average has brought both issues to a head. Al Jazeera's Charlie Kaufman reports from Paris.

Santorum: Unemployment ‘Doesn’t Matter’

Moroccans Burn Themselves in Unemployment Protest
Five Moroccan protesters set themselves on fire on Wednesday in Rabat during a protest over the country's high unemployment rate, which has hit young people and college graduates particularly hard. Three of the protesters had to be hospitalised, two with serious burns. They had been occupying a government building. Al Jazeera's Azhar Sukri reports.

Once Prosperous New Yorkers Forced to Live under Canvas in New Jersey Woods

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The white picket fence and manicured flowerbeds outside 1 Paradise Lane are straight from a picture postcard of idyllic suburban American life in the 1950s.

But its walls are no more than canvas. Its porch overlooks smouldering bonfires and scrawny hens scratching at dirt.

Its occupant is Marilyn Berenzweig, 61, who used to make $100,000 (£63,333) a year as a designer in New York’s garment district. Now she and her husband Michael are down and out, living in Tent City, Lakeland, New Jersey. There is no electricity or running water and racoons steal their food. “It’s not an easy life,” she said.

She and Mr Berenzweig, a former radio producer, are two of the 27 million Americans out of work or under-employed as recession stalks America. » | Jon Swaine, New Jersey | Sunday, September 25, 2011

Inside Story - Spain in Pain
Street protests in Madrid over austerity measures may turn political with elections just around the corner

Italy Risks Brain Drain Amid Tough Job Market

US Economy in Deep Hole

Irish Workers Leave the Emerald Isle
The great recession has triggered yet another wave of Irish emigration. WSJ's Don Duncan reports on how that is playing out in the national election

Welfare Bill Soars as Coalition Counts Cost of Austerity Drive
THE GUARDIAN: Slowdown in economic growth makes reducing deficit harder, says Office for Budget Responsibility

Rising unemployment will cost the government £1.5bn more than expected in welfare benefits, according to official forecasts that reveal the hidden cost of the coalition's austerity drive.

As big increases in VAT are due to bite from Tuesday, analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility shows slowing economic growth will make it harder to reduce the deficit by forcing more people to seek state support.

The Treasury watchdog calculates the government will have to pay out £700m more in unemployment benefit than previously forecast. Similarly, a higher number claiming jobseeker's allowance as well as falling into lower wage brackets will see the government needing to pay out another £700m more in housing assistance over the next four years.

Though the OBR data, released last month, confirms the government is still making substantial savings from its changes to both benefits, the shadow work and pensions secretary, Douglas Alexander, said the OBR's fresh assessment suggested it was government strategy that was leaving these higher numbers exposed.

He said: "The growing cost of the risk the government is running with the economic recovery is now emerging. The result of policies which undermine growth and jobs is a longer dole queue and a higher welfare bill." >>> Allegra Stratton and Julia Kollewe | Sunday, January 02, 2011

Cutting Off Jobless Benefits for Millions
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Congressional conservatives have cut off extended jobless benefits unless Bush-era tax cuts remain in place for people earning more than $200,000 a year. Video courtesy of Fox News.

Iain Duncan Smith: It's a Sin that People Fail to Take Up Work
THE GUARDIAN: Work and pensions secretary prepares to introduce the most severe welfare sanctions ever imposed by a British government

Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary. Photograph: The Guardian
Ian Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, said today it was a "sin" that people failed to take up available jobs as he prepared to announce a tougher-than-expected squeeze on the unemployed.

This will see the jobless face the threat of losing all benefits for as long as three years if they refuse community work or the offer of a job, or fail to apply for a post if advised to do so.

In the most severe welfare sanctions ever imposed by a British government, unemployed people will lose benefits for three months if they fail to take up one of the options for the first time, six months if they refuse an offer twice, and three years if they refuse an offer three times.

Downing Street sources said the new "claimant contract" will come into force as soon as legislation is passed, and may not wait for the introduction of a streamlined universal credit system in 2013-14.

Duncan Smith will tell MPs today that he is introducing the biggest shake-up of the welfare system since the Beveridge reforms ushered in the welfare state after the second world war. He will say that a new universal credit system will make 2.5 million of the poorest people better off and reduce the number of workless households by 300,000. Read on and comment >>> Patrick Wintour, Randeep Ramesh and Hélène Mulholland | Thursday, November 11, 2010

Archbishop of Canterbury Warns of Forced Jobs 'Despair'
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Government plans to force the long-term unemployed to do unpaid manual labour could drive vulnerable people into a ''downward spiral of uncertainty, even despair'', the Archbishop of Canterbury warned.

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will lead the closing session at Davos. Photo: The Sunday Telegraph
Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith will this week unveil plans for four-week programmes of compulsory community work doing jobs like litter-picking or gardening for jobless people deemed to have lost the work ethic.

His Cabinet colleague Danny Alexander today said the Work Activity placements would be used as a ''sanction'' against benefit claimants who fail to take advantage of available support to find employment.

But the proposal came under fire from Labour and the unions, with the TUC warning that it would harm jobless people's prospects of finding paid work and would undercut the employment of existing manual labourers.

Asked about the proposed scheme, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, told BBC WM Radio: ''People who are struggling to find work and struggling to find a secure future are, I think, driven further into a sort of downward spiral of uncertainty, even despair, when the pressure is on in this way.''

Under Mr Duncan Smith's plans, job advisers will be able to direct jobseekers who they believe would ''benefit from experiencing the habits and routines of working life'' to undertake a 30-hour-a-week work placement.

Postings are likely to be provided by charities or councils and will be designed to offer the jobseeker the opportunity to gain work discipline and skills while benefiting their local community. They will be required to continue seeking permanent work while on a placement.

Anyone refusing to take part or failing to turn up on time could have their £65-a-week Jobseekers Allowance stopped for at least three months. >>> | Sunday, November 07, 2010

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Work-shy will be 'pushed' into working for free by welfare revolution: People who do not try hard enough to find a job will be forced to work for free or lose their benefits, the Government will announce this week. >>> Melissa Kite, Deputy Political Editor | Saturday, November 06, 2010

Midterms 2010: Democrats to Pay Heavily for Failure on Jobs
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Americans are set in Tuesday's midterm elections to make their president and Democrats pay heavily for their failure to stem unemployment amid gathering fears that the American dream has moved beyond reach for a generation.

In poll after poll in the long run-up to the midterm elections, voters have said that the economy was their main concern. Unemployment has risen by 20 per cent under Mr Obama, remaining stuck on or close to 9.6 per cent for since May 2009.

Julietta Strauss, of New York, lost her administrative job with the US census bureau in March, and has struggled to find work since.

More and more people were taking an "apocalyptic view" of America's prospects, she said. "The general word on the street seems to be that middle-class jobs are disappearing, and while there's an increasing tendency for the rich to get richer, middle-class wages are stagnant," she said.

At the Tailhook Tavern in Philadelphia, a city visited by Mr Obama in his final campaign swing, Joseph Carroll said he had not had steady work for two years. "The economy sucks. They talk about trickle down but we don't see it round here," said the 44-year-old, who specialises in fire suppressants in new constructions. "They bailed out the banks, they are making billions in profits again, they are making millions in bonuses again, but they don't want to lend to people who want to build up businesses." >>> Alex Spillius in Washington and Jon Swaine in New York | Monday, November 01, 2010

Jobless Millions Signal Death of the American Dream for Many
THE OBSERVER: Even the criminals have fallen on hard times in America's poorest city as the long-term unemployed struggle to keep a grasp on normality

Union members hold up "I want to work" placards as they join a protest of several thousand people demanding jobs outside City Hall in Los Angeles on August 13, 2010. Photograph: The Observer
Richard Gaines is one of the best-known faces on Camden's Haddon Avenue. It is a rough-and-tumble street, lined with cheap businesses and boarded-up houses, and is prey to drug gangs. Gaines, 50, runs a barbershop, a hair salon and a fitness business. He works hard and is committed to his community. But Haddon Avenue is not an easy place to make a living in the best of times. And these are far from the best of times.

Just how badly the great recession has struck this fragile New Jersey city, which is currently the poorest in America, was recently spelled out to Gaines. In happier times – whatever that might mean for a city as destitute as Camden – local businesses on Haddon Avenue could at least rely on a bit of trade from those who made their money on the street.

Young men bought flashy clothes and got sharp haircuts and always paid in cash. But no longer. The economy is now so bad in Camden that even the criminals are struggling and going short. "Even the guys who got money from illegal means really don't want to spend it," Gaines said.

Such a development, though, is just a snapshot of the deep problems still hitting the wider American economy. Growth rates are stuttering and a recovery is struggling to take hold. It may even now be showing signs of going backwards again, as countries such as Germany start to power forward. Joblessness has taken hold in America, with the numbers of long-term unemployed reaching levels not seen since the Depression of the 1930s. The figures are frightening and illustrate a society that remains in deep trouble.

The headline jobless figure of 9.5% is bad enough but does not begin to convey the problem as it fails to measure those who have stopped looking for work. Over the past three months alone more than a million Americans have fallen into that category: effectively giving up hope of finding a job and dropping out of the official statistics. Such cases now number some 5.9 million and their ranks are likely to grow as millions more find their jobless status becoming a permanent state of hopelessness. Surveys show that with each passing week on the dole their chances of finding a job get slimmer.

Though corporations, especially in the banking sector, are posting healthy profits, they are not hiring new workers. At the same time, government cuts are sweeping through city and state governments alike, threatening tens of thousands of jobs and slicing away at services once thought vital. Schools, street lighting, libraries, refuse collection, the police, fire services and public transport networks are all being scaled back. >>> Paul Harris | Sunday, August 15, 2010

Coalition to Tell Unemployed to 'Get on Your Bike*'
THE TELEGRAPH: Radical plans to relocate the long term unemployed to areas where there are jobs are being drawn up by the Coalition.

Iain Duncan Smith has revealed radical plans to relocate the long term unemployed to areas where there are jobs. Photo: The Telegraph
Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, discloses the move in an interview with The Sunday Telegraph today in which he outlines proposals to make the workforce “more mobile”.

The controversial plan echoes the words of Norman Tebbit in 1981 when he told the unemployed to “get on your bike” and look for work.

It is part of tough action to cut spiralling welfare bills and tackle Britain’s record deficit.

Last week a major shake-up of housing benefit and increased health checks for disability claimants were announced as part of the biggest cuts in public spending for almost a century. >>> Melissa Kite, Deputy Political Editor | Saturday, June 26, 2010

*Bald-headed, too-comfortable politicians, whose livelihoods are paid for by the taxpayer, should also be careful that they are not told BY THE TAXPAYERS to get off their fat arses and do a proper job of work. – © Mark

Tensions Rise as Jobless Migrants Are Blamed for the Pain in Spain
TIMES ONLINE: The food bank in Vic, 40 miles north of Barcelona, occupies an old bakery in a side street. Each day hundreds of unemployed stream in to collect handouts of bread, milk, pasta and other necessities. The overwhelming majority are immigrants, predominantly Moroccans and sub-Saharan Africans who flocked to Vic in the past few years to work on building sites or in the huge pig farms and meat factories that surround the town and give it its distinctive smell.

At least 10,000 came, swelling Vic’s population by a quarter. They did the hard, dirty work and were welcomed. Not any more. Half lost their jobs when Spain’s construction bubble burst in 2008 and brought the good times to an abrupt end.

A deeply unpopular €15 billion (£12.7 billion) austerity package rushed through parliament yesterday will make life even harder. On top of that, the immigrants are now the target of Platform for Catalonia, Spain’s equivalent of the BNP, which is based in Vic. “Control immigration — stop the crisis,” its leaflets proclaim.

“They insult us. They say maybe we’re the cause of the crisis, that we take their jobs. It’s not fair and it’s not nice,” said Mercy Omoroagbon, 30, as she collected her handout. She arrived from Nigeria in 2002, lost both her cleaning jobs last year and now lives off the charity of friends.

“They say the Spanish can’t work because of the immigrants. It’s not true. We did the work the Spanish didn’t want or wouldn’t do,” said Joy Ekechukwu, 33, another Nigerian who came to Spain 11 years ago, lost her factory job and now struggles to support her two young children. Read on and comment >>> Martin Fletcher | Friday, May 28, 2010

Glum Outlook For British Employment