The Stigma Trap

College-Educated, Experienced, and Long-Term Unemployed

De: Ofer Sharone

Narrado por: Michael Butler Murray

After receiving a PhD in mathematics from MIT, Larry spent three decades working at prestigious companies in the tech industry. Initially he was not worried when he lost his job as part of a large layoff, but the prolonged unemployment that followed decimated his finances and nearly ended his marriage. Larry's story is not an anomaly.

In The Stigma Trap, Ofer Sharone explains how the stigma of unemployment can render past educational and professional achievements irrelevant, and how it leaves all American workers vulnerable to becoming trapped in unemployment. Drawing on interviews with unemployed workers, job recruiters, and career coaches, Sharone brings to light the subtle ways that stigmatization prevents even the most educated and experienced workers from gaining middle-class jobs. Stigma also means that an American worker risks more than financial calamity from a protracted period of unemployment. One's closest relationships and sense of self are also on the line.

Eye-opening and clearly written, The Stigma Trap is an essential listen for anyone who has experienced unemployment, has a family member or friend who is unemployed, or who wants to understand the forces that underlie the anxiety-filled lives of contemporary American workers.

©2024 Oxford University Press (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Really left wanting...

Frankly, I had so much enthusiasm when I saw Dr. Sharone preview his book on YT, but, alas I am left wanting after finishing it this morning. The tip-off to my coming disappointment should have been the HR consultant/counselor vibe of the narrator (speaking as a long-term unemployed, college-educated white-collar technical professional), which makes perfect sense now, in retrospect. The exchange here is heavily-focused on moderating the effects of the system via better policies and expanded support to help the long-term unemployed, There is a brief mention regarding the impact of the Puritans on U.S. work culture, a brief mention of the "C-word" and UBI in Ch. 7, but what I was looking for a different conversation. A deeper conversation. BTW, that dirty "C-word" that's so hard for us to talk about...the thing that actually causes all of this...the thing that folks like me were hoping to unpack in this book...yea, I guess I'll have to wait for Pt. 2.