1. Series: The Journey of an Unemployed Male

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Young, Educated and Jobless: Meet Mike Lover

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The LA Times is calling this the “he-cession”.

Why?

The facts show that the current credit crisis is hitting men particularly hard. The official male unemployment rate (Bureau of Labor Statistics) for August 2009 hit 10.1 percent. Here are the startling facts:

• There are now more than five unemployed workers available for every job opening.
• One third of the unemployed have been jobless for more than six months.
• Only 81 out of every 100 men (aged 25 through 34 years old) were working on any given day in the first six months of 2009.
• Nearly half of the people who lost and found jobs in the last year took a pay cut, according to a survey by Careerbuilders, an online job site.
• About 7 in 10 Americans (71%) rate the current job market in their region of the country as bad. ---The Harris Poll, 2009.
• The role of the male as a steady bread earner, in the typical American family, is rapidly being redefined.

This new reality caused us to wonder what it was like to walk in the shoes of a young, well-educated, unemployed male.

Over the course of the next several blog posts, we will examine what it is truly like to be male and unemployed in this current market downturn.

Let’s meet Mike Lover…

Mike Lover is 33 years old, well-educated and now jobless.

Mike resides in Denver, Colorado. He has a Bachelor Degree from the University of Toledo in American Studies with a concentration in pre-medical studies and a minor in Chemistry.

Mike is a certified Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma from the George Group (owned by Accenture) and is a Kaizen Facilitator certified by Promaintech Novaxa.

Until recently, Mike had worked at Intrawest for nine years, a company that he loved.

According to its website, Intrawest is a leader in the development and management of experiential destination resorts. Their resorts are found in some of the most breathtaking places in the world. Intrawest has more than 22,000 employees who constantly strive to ensure that their resorts are the most animated and exciting playgrounds in the world.

When asked about how he liked working at Intrawest, Mike said “Intrawest was an amazing place to work. It was a land of opportunity for individuals who were passionate about creating memories for guests.”  

So where does Mike go from here?

Mike is a well rounded individual who enjoys skiing, cycling, hiking and photography. He completed the Florida Ironman in November of 2008. As well, he dreams of writing a book someday and owning his own business.

Over the course of the next several posts, we will write about Mike’s unemployment journey; the lessons he has learned along the way; tips to others like him; and how he has turned his potentially gloomy outlook into an opportunity for growth and change.