Unemployment and those seeking work; the plan by a Florida church to burn Korans; a new L.A. Unified school built on a contaminated site

It takes a toll

Re “Ugly reality looms for job seekers,” Sept. 5, and “The unemployed,” Editorial, Sept. 6

I am irritated by the self-righteous who complain about extended unemployment insurance, grouching that it causes people not to seek jobs aggressively or to avoid taking low-paying jobs.

My wife was laid off two years ago. She has done everything she could to find another job, has taken technical courses to supplement her university degrees and has done unpaid volunteer work to diversify her job experience. Currently she is doing routine freelance work in another county, below her qualifications and at one-third her former salary.

So, dare to tell us that she is taking life easy on the dole.

David Eggenschwiler

Los Angeles

This job-seekers article is informative, insightful and a slap in the face by reality.

After being unemployed for more than a year myself and having to move back in with family for support, I know what it’s like to be the one struggling.

The ex-associate at an investment bank certainly knows how to hold a positive outlook in such a depressing and undermining situation. Best of luck to all the others; I know how your self-esteem and worth get taken away when you keep fighting this long, hard battle.

Theresa Farber

Moorpark

Frustrated and discouraged job seekers need to understand that the traditional system of finding employment — i.e. standing in line for hours at job fairs, mass distribution of resumes, responding to every posted job and waiting for the phone to ring —no longer works.

Whenever possible, job seekers need to avoid HR (what I call “Hiring Resistance”) and start targeting companies, not jobs.

As a career management professional, my advice to those willing to change their mindset: Contact hiring managers (potential bosses) in companies of interest where you know your skills, experience and expertise would be of value at some point in the future. Broadcast your value, not your resume. That way, you’ll be on the short list when a position does become available and needs to be filled.

Greg Wood

Aliso Viejo

Thank you for all that in-depth information behind the new unemployment figures. This is why traditional journalism must never die.

However, there’s another reason the unemployment rate will remain high even after the economy seriously begins to recover. Businesses have learned not only how to replace workers with technology but how to squeeze every last bit of work out of as few employees as possible.

The economists call this “productivity.” I call it making those who remain on the job do the work of laid-off or never-hired employees.

As the recession finally wanes and hiring picks up, businesses will hire back fewer than they originally laid off.

Enter the world of the “new normal.” Productivity will zoom, businesses will be profitable, the stock market will surge, but many will remain jobless.

Carl Martz

Redlands

Management is always looking to lower labor costs. That can mean restricting pay and benefits, moving jobs out of the country or automating work.

Likewise, the housing bubble of the last few years pumped so much money into the system that the transfer of millions of jobs overseas and the loss of millions more to technology was noted only by a few. Consumers liked the low prices. Corporate profits surged.

Well, the bubble has burst. While the business sector is strong, few jobs are being created, and those are generally low paying. That may be good for corporate profits, but it isn’t good for the larger society.

It’s election season; politicians of both major parties claim they can best create jobs. But they can’t. Despite campaign rhetoric, the drive to eliminate jobs is inexorable. Every ATM transaction, online purchase, e-mail and self-serve eliminates a job. And because we are not going to give up those efficiencies, we have to deal with the consequences.

Stefen Malone

West Hollywood

Your editorial regarding unemployment is helpful in understanding who has been most affected by the recession. As a healthcare worker of over 25 years’ duration, I’ve noticed something interesting about this recession: how many people have undergone retraining in another industry to escape unemployment in their previous industry.

The unfortunate effect, however, has been to prolong their own unemployment because of inexperience. Every time our office has advertised for an experienced healthcare worker, we’ve been besieged by resumes from people with little or no experience. The skilled workers submit few if any resumes; they seem to have job prospects or are opting to stay where they are.

Carolyn Cook

Huntington Beach

According to your article, one office manager who lost her $44,000 job last year cannot find work. Having mailed out hundreds of resumes and scoured employment websites, she found little besides domestic work.

The implication is that of course she would not take such a demeaning job.

Well, she might want to know that my “maid” — or rather, my housekeeper, for I wouldn’t call this highly capable manager of my home a maid any more than the office manager wants to be called a clerk — earns more than she did for taking care of my household and one other one. I also pay her Social Security and a paid vacation.

When is this absurd snobbery about white-collar jobs going to end?

Marjorie Perloff

Pacific Palisades

Focusing on a fringe group

Re “Pastor takes defiant stance,” Sept. 8

What if they gave a Koran burning and nobody came?

I think the image of the United States, and the spirit of religious tolerance, would be far better served if the media dramatically reduced the coverage of a fringe church with 50 members.

Joe Hilberman

Los Angeles

The planned building of an Islamic community center near ground zero and the planned burning of the Koran in Florida are two examples of the same adage: Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

Beverly Adler

Newbury Park

Why is an ignorant bigot given publicity on every TV and radio station and newspaper in the country? It seems to me that he is planning this vile act for publicity and not principle.

This farce in Florida would be a nonissue if it were ignored.

Arthur Friedman

Newport Beach

Not so sure about this school

Re “L.A. school named for Gore,” Sept 6

When a school official assures the public that “everything’s under control” after a $4-million cleanup of the contaminated site of a new L.A. Unified School, you have to wonder.

First, why did they choose this site in the first place? Wouldn’t there have been better uses for

$4 million?

Second, how can toxic contamination be under control when “groundwater about 45 feet below the surface remains contaminated,””additional contamination may have come from the underground tanks of an adjacent gas station,” and an oil well sits across the street?

Children are particularly vulnerable to toxins. Naming this school “Carson-Gore” after two environmental heroes is ironic indeed.

Charles Bosson

Ojai