u/Big-One5074

Honestly, I don't know what else to do. I've applied to about 140 jobs in the last six weeks. I have a Bachelor's in Nursing and a Bachelor's in Political Science. I'm a veteran who was honorably discharged. I can't work 10-hour shifts because there is literally no childcare around me that covers that whole period (I have two children, ages 2 and 4), and if I paid for a sitter, it would cost me more than I'd earn per hour.

I don't have family to rely on. My credit cards are maxed out, and I'm behind on my mortgage payments. The state won't approve me for assistance because they keep telling me I should be able to find work easily, but I can't even get a response for basic jobs like front desk or customer support.

How is this even possible? I have degrees, work history, military service, and I'm applying to anything I can find. Idk what I'm supposed to do if no one will even call me back.

I've seen a lot of people complaining that they hate office work and wish they were doing something more "real." A lot of the replies in those threads are basically some version of: learn a trade. I grew up with a blue-collar father, and he used to take me with him on HVAC jobs during the brutal Arizona summers. Yes, he made good money. But if you have the opportunity for a decent office job inside an air-conditioned place and you throw it away because it seems boring to you, then I think you need to be honest with yourself about what you're getting into. Those hot summers were basically the main motivation for me to stay in school and eventually end up in corporate America.

When people talk about how much tradespeople make, they're often pointing to a small part of the field, or to people grinding 55-75 hours a week. You really, really need to think about whether the trades are right for you.

This is mainly for people who are trying to choose between an office job and a trade and want to hear more than one point of view. Both deserve respect, the other side isn't always better, and not everything is black and white. I'll admit that this wasn't worded in the best way the first time, and that's my fault. My main point is about the advice young people get when they say they're unhappy in a desk job. People will tell them to quit and go into the trades, but they're usually only talking about the upsides, especially the money.

Making a major career change, putting an entire skill set on the shelf, and starting over in a field where your experience may not transfer much can set you back more than people admit. For a lot of people who are still new, the trades mean long days of physical work, week after week. Yes, eventually you might reach a point where you're supervising more and doing less backbreaking work. But there are always more sheep than shepherds.

Not everyone is going to own a company. And not everyone is going to live in Washington and make high five figures as a union electrician. Go on Indeed and see how much a brand-new tech makes in a lot of industries. In many places, the number is very close to entry-level office job salaries. So I'll say it again: think really, really hard before you take that leap.

Really, I don't want to live. I still have to pay for my existence, though. Really awesome. Is it possible to earn a steady, modest salary that won't make me yearn for death?

I'm not skilled. I suppose I'm okay with computers, but I've only ever used them for casual civilian purposes throughout my life—nothing professional. Even though I don't need much money, it depresses me to look at entry-level jobs. A bachelor's degree is currently considered entry-level. How can people continue to trust this scam?

I want to get the opinion of people who have gone through a similar situation, because I'm trying to understand the strange "re-org" happening at our work. The logic behind what's happening doesn't make sense to me or anyone else here.: My company laid off about 50 people from a team they always described as essential for our most important projects. At the exact same time, they posted about 48 new jobs with higher salaries, making everyone - the people who were laid off, "safe" employees like me, and thousands of external applicants - fight over them as if it were the Hunger Games. This whole thing seems completely inefficient and morale-destroying. What could the company possibly gain from this strategy?

Here's a quick overview of what happened. About two years ago, a new exec joined to lead our department. Last quarter, this exec announced a major "restructuring" that would involve "contraction and growth" simultaneously, which was a polite way of saying there would be layoffs. Then about a month ago, it happened. Dozens of people were laid off with notice, and almost at the same moment, a flood of new job advertisements appeared, most with completely different titles. Many people on my team and other teams we work with were let go. We're talking about experienced and smart employees who always performed their jobs flawlessly. My job description has been altered into a role I have no passion for, but my experience perfectly matches two of the new positions.

So now we are all "strongly encouraged" to apply for these new positions. But the crazy part is: they opened applications to current employees and external candidates at the same time. They even held a town hall where they showed us the applicant numbers - many jobs have over 500 applicants, and some have exceeded 1200. The atmosphere in the office has become very gloomy. And this is the part I simply cannot understand:
Why discard proven talent? Management always praised this group and their work. What makes you deliberately dismantle such a well-functioning team?

How is this considered a good use of money? When you factor in the 60-day notice period, severance packages, the exorbitant cost of sifting through thousands of applications, and the hit to productivity because everyone is stressed and distracted... This surely costs them a fortune. Especially since the new jobs have higher salaries!
Why not just transfer people? If you have good people and new job requirements, wouldn't it be easier to create these new roles and have your current employees fill them? Why make your best people compete with a sea of strangers?

And what's the point of these psychological games? Showing everyone the huge numbers of external applicants seems like a deliberate move to make us anxious and stressed. This is disrespectful, and several of my friends who were laid off are so fed up that they're just taking the severance and not bothering to apply at all.