Recession Crushes White-Collar Michigan

Layoffs, property price plunge leaves middle-aged workers in limbo

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 17, 2009 1:26 AM CDT

(Newser) – Tens of thousands of middle-aged white-collar workers have been left jobless and stranded in Michigan by the recession, the Wall Street Journal reports. Auto industry veterans laid off by the Big Three are finding themselves competing against against younger people for a smattering of job openings. With property prices down 45% from their 2006 peak, people are unable or unwilling to sell their homes and seek work elsewhere.

The state's unemployment rate—the highest in the country for 26 of the last 28 months— hit 15.2% last month as efforts to attract other industries to the state have mostly foundered. "They kept coming back and coming back and coming back, and working on their résumés," said one former auto industry engineer who now works for a state agency and deals with up to 100 displaced white-collar workers a day. "I didn't see anyone get anything."

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (2)]

Job seekers attend a Michigan Works job fair at a community center in Wayne, Mich., earlier this year. Michigan's unemployment rate is the highest in the country, at 15.2%. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

People fill out forms as they attend a job fair at the community center in Wayne, Mich., earlier this year. (Getty Images)

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We haven't seen the huge out-migration, not yet. It's not looking rosy anywhere else.
- Economic analyst Jim Rhein

How would like to be the guy who runs into his old co-workers and says, 'Hey, I clean toilets?' - Dave Duncanson, a former Chrysler product-development manager who now works as a high-school custodian

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 11 comments

Guest

Sep 22, 2009 12:18 AM CDT

There is a mostly painless solution. Just a hint: It's not the workers who are running off with all the money and if they pay more than 20% of their income in income taxes, they themselves would be surprised. They'd be surprised too if they find their overseas bank accounts public knowledge. I'm always surprised how much workers want to give all their money to such people, but that's just me.

Serenity

Sep 17, 2009 7:44 AM CDT

Michigan started recession over a year ago, lay-offs, furlow days and cutbacks, way before Obama came into office. We lost alot of jobs to overseas markets then because our economy wasnt very diversified, all our eggs in the proverbial automotive basket, so when they started to fail here because of rising cost they outsourced to Mexico and China for cheap. Now everyone who was trained to do an assembly line job straight from high school is out of work and out of options. Thank the UAW, not Obama.

SilenceDogood

Sep 17, 2009 5:55 AM CDT

You asked for it, you got it, Obama. what has he done for you Michigan.

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Chrysler • General Motors • Detroit • Michigan • recession • Ford • unemployment • auto industry • Big Three • white collar

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Recession Crushes White-Collar Michigan