- The INOU welcomes articles from individual members and affiliated organisations for our e-bulletin. In this article an individual member shares their experience of being unemployed.
The combined effective nature that surrounds the zones of unemployment reaches out and impacts on all aspects of societal development, economic expansion, personal development and a stagnation of all round creativity giving rise to overflowing levels of social stigma.
Maybe the deep rooted and solidly embedded linear thinking being generated and installed over these past number of years are too simplistic in approach, reaching and executing borderline dogmatic attitudes within service support infrastructure, deliberate or otherwise. And not encompassing and focusing enough on individual episodes of and basis behind personal historical levels of unemployment, within both community environments and the possible long term scarring on personal well being and a retargeting with a stronger progressive installation of constructive positive building blocks supporting at-risk family dynamics.
A subjective stronger emphasis with regards to addressing and developing a belief in creating a pathway towards a more beneficial future for isolated members of our communities is vital; for all round aspects in supporting mental health perspectives and positive outcome platforms; in the rebuilding of individual and community levels of low self-esteem; and addressing a lack of strong support and advocacy towards the internal and external psychological impact that overall long term unemployment constructs.
Subjective aspects of unemployment encircles the destructive additional erosion of one's own inner self-identity which can be at times subjectively unrecognizable and under-acknowledged internally and on an individual personal basis measurement. This can impact and suffocate personal developmental approaches with an underscoring of one's own present and future potential being subjectively under achieved and under supported.
With possible reduction towards limited access to avenues of social interaction, reduction of social skills presenting and manifesting into multitudes of reflective cracked mirrors effecting and driving the avoidance of self improvement for fear of failing. Bridging all concerns around subjective cause and effect linked in with long term unemployment can impact on an ability towards long term labor market attachment.
On a personal level I have experienced both elements around the inter joining highways associated with and considered solid term employment and the disadvantages of long term unemployment. Having experienced past positions within the sphere of the electronics manufacturing sector, advertising and marketing agency, the logistics and distribution service industry, and other aspects of employment positions, and also a period of palliative care within my family environment have all outlined and highlighted to myself the frailties attached to the general meaning of subjective quality of life outcomes to which we are all entitled to achieve.
You don’t cope with long term unemployment, You adapt, You don’t live on been unemployed, You survive, You re-frame, You re-budget on a weekly and monthly basis, and You try to redesign and reshape your potential in the face of ageism which is alive and kicking and implemented within the arms of the employment market.
Over these last number of years I have been fortunate enough to have returned to education as a mature student and have met some very interesting and learned people on my journey who have experienced the many negative elements of life that some of us for whatever reason have been lucky not to have experienced. The strength of character that people at times can draw upon can be remarkable; it's about how to reform the present support service structure in addressing and capitalizing and building upon those untapped subjective strengths that the long term unemployed possess and to work with in an integrated holistic support fashion with independent wraparound support community hubs.
Social degradation, community disharmony, mental health bombardment, tones of isolation, terms of stigma, labels of secondhand citizenship awarded by inner circles of senior civil service strategies supported and implemented over these past number of years through the Department of Social Protection, have now been stamped upon unemployment classification with stronger segregation style policies. The current support mechanism operated under the DSP and Intreo, Turas Nua and the like does not instill confidence with my experience of services; it reduces confidence, self worth, borderline harassment under the threat of reduction or loss of payment.
We now have what were once community Public Employment Services acting as a policing force for the Department of Social Protection, when a government department or division of the civil service approaches under the banner “we are here to help” become alert and become very, very wary. On a positive note I am very appreciative and acknowledge the support which currently allows myself to survive to which we all contribute too through the many varying forms of how revenue is generated and collected within the state.
“ Its Impossible for anyone to learn,
What he thinks he already knows,”
Epictetus