Are there many Europeans on this forum ?

[The Catdancer]

Originally Posted by suzyvermoesen

Ofcourse i cannot compare the situation in the US with Europe, but appearances can deceive. If you look in the job section of our local newspapers, you will find an abundance of all sorts of jobs , but getting them is a whole other thing.We are being told by the media that the companies cannot get their vacancies filled and it's getting harder and harder to find staff. On the other hand, the year that my husband was unemployed , he firstly applied for jobs that were similar to the one he had lost (working for a shipping line agency). When that did not succeed, mainly because he was considered too old (51 at the time) , he started applying for other jobs and worked as a gardener for a few hours a week and also in a warehouse on temp basis. All because he just wanted to feel usefull again. What i'm trying to say David, is that sometimes you cannot choose the job you would like. In the end, my husband started working for a call center. It's not a bad job, he likes doing it (has been doing it for 3 years now) but it's not his preferred occupation and the pay is a lot less than what he was used to. But, it's still twice the amount of the unemployment benefit, so we count ourselves lucky.
A friend of mine who's 48 years old has lost her job 3 months ago. She was a sales person and earned a good living as we say, with the benefits of a company car, laptop and cellphone. So far she has not yet found a new job because she is holding out for a similar job with similar benefits. She could have been working again by now if she had not set her standards so high, so i hope for her sake she finds the job she wants. Otherwise she will have to make do with what she can get.
All i'm trying to say basically is : never say never

And that's what I'm trying to tell you. You might think Belgium is the pitts but you're better off there. I'm not putting the USA down, I'm merely trying to tell you what the differences are.
Your friend has been laid off, no more company car, no more cell phone, no more laptop etc. but... she gets money from the government to tie her over, right???