Views of an unemployed, mature worker

Dear Mr. Tan,
I want to thank you for speaking out for the unemployed people, especially those who are in their middle aged and are unfortunate to be retrenched. I am one of these people. I worked for more than 10 years in a foreign company who decided two years ago, to relocate to China.

It was a big shock to me. I had all along thought that I had a steady job with a large company. But, life is so unpredictable now.

At first, I thought that it would be not difficult for me to find a similar job. After all, I worked hard and had kept up to date with technology. I also had accumulated a wealth of experience that could be applied to other manufacturing companies.

This was not the case. I had difficulty in finding another job, even though I was prepared to take a 50% reduction in salary. Somehow, things do not work out. The human resource managers probably felt that I would not stay long with a big reduction in salary. I never got the chance.

Fortunately, I had some savings, so I am not in debt. But I had to cut down on my expenses drastically, including giving up my car. But, the rejection of my countless applications for a job was difficult to take at first. By now, I got used to being rejected and declined.

It is quite unkind of people to pass remarks that the unemployed are unskilled and not hardworking. This may be true for some people, but it is not true for many others, such as me. When I was younger and during good times, I always had the confidence that I could always have a job, with my skill and education. But not any more.

For people posting unkind remarks, I can only say, "your time will come". Only then will you realise why people like Mr. Tan is asking for employment practices to be changed and for the available work to be shared fairly among the willing workers. There is no point in having people with jobs working long hours, neglecting their families, while other people are unemployed.

Mr. Tan, thank you for suggesting this idea of sharing job opportunities. I hope that the leaders will pay attention to it. It is a good idea.