I created Unemploymentville after I was out of work in late 2013 and early 2014. That time included me receiving 2 job offers that were later cancelled after I accepted them. I found being out of work was pretty crushing emotionally. I wanted people to have a place to both commiserate and share ideas for how to navigate through Unemployment. I didn’t want to offer career advice because there were already plenty of books on how to job hunt, including What Color is Your Parachute? But I wanted to bridge the isolation that being out of work brings, and end the shame of it also. No longer seeing your friends/co-workers, no longer seeing that deposit in the bank. There was less written about those feelings and how to handle them without losing your mind.

Somehow Unemployment felt like a place to me.

A place that we passed through. A place most of us wanted to get the hell out of, like the dark forest.

After I returned to a full-time job in 2014 I continued with Unemploymentville and had a number of guest writers, but I struggled to find time to lead the discussion and more than that my own time being out of work was starting to feel more like a distant memory. Another factor during this time was that in 2015 – 2020, unemployment dropped to record lows. I felt like I was peddling a solution when the problem had evaporated. I was happy that unemployment wasn’t a widespread problem.

Things changed when Covid came along. Suddenly LOTS of people were out of work and frightened. At the same time the stigma of being out of work had changed a bit. Everyone was ‘at home’. No longer did the employed people go off to their jobs and left anyone unemployed at home. But being without income or a sense of accomplishment still sucks. There is absolutely a blow to one’s ego.

Today 12 years after I originally launched Unemploymentville, I’m relaunching it. There are many options for earning income today that didn’t exist ten years ago and I want people to consider those options. The smartest thing I did when I was out of work was to start my own website design business. It was a horrible flop in terms of $ I earned BUT it was fantastic in terms of the perspective and skills I learned. I want people to know that they don’t need to just sit and wait for a job.

Trying to build a business or doing small side jobs can make you a stronger job candidate than just applying for jobs.

Another motivation for me in relaunching is job insecurity is rising. AI replacing workers is here today. I’m hearing particularly that the 50+ crowd is struggling to find a new job if they are laid off. Since my initial launch of Unemploymentville brought record-low unemployment rates, you never know, maybe I’ll have that same ‘bad timing’ again. That would be okay with me. I just don’t want people to suffer.