Pam Giguere has long worked in human resources.
These days, she’s working just twenty hours a week at a staffing agency in Brunswick, OH called The Reserves Network.
It’s not an ideal situation, but her new bosses Kent McNickle and Marilyn Szendrey definitely appreciate her help.
McNICKLE: “We can take advantage of her expertise.”
SZENDREY: “She’s educated, she’s skilled.”
McNICKLE: “Quite an asset to us right now in her role.”
Giguere ended up here after she lost her job at an auto parts producer at the height of the recession.
GIGUERE: “On tax day, April 15, I was downsized…”
As an HR person, she knew what to expect.
GIGUERE: “That I’d probably be asked to leave right away, and it’s just very shocking, very very shocking.”
So she gathered her things and called her connections at The Reserves Network, which had been her client.
GIGUERE: “They knew I was looking and Marilyn said I’ll watch for any opportunity and we’ll look for any opportunity to have you work in our office. “
It took a few months, but the agency found her a part time gig. She now helps the team place temp workers. But it’s really an entry-level position. And, a huge drop in income.
GIGUERE: "Oh, it’s enormous. Not even 50%."
That puts Pam Giguere among the nearly nine million Americans who are underemployed. They’re still working, but only part time.
SUM: “Not only do they receive this large cutback in hours, but we also find these individuals also take a large cut in pay. So their hourly wage also falls.”
Andrew Sum is a labor economist at Northeastern University in Boston. He says underemployment has more than doubled in the last two years, a bigger rise than at any time since World War II.
SUM: “This is far greater than any of the previous 5 recessions in the US. So this problem has become extraordinarily intense.”
Sum says there are two kinds of underemployment. Employees still working at the same company, but with their hours drastically cut back. Or, those like Pam Giguere. They were laid off and could only get part time work.
SUM: “That group is the one that typically undergoes the large wage decline.”
It’s much harder to track other kinds of underemployment such as people working below their skill sets, or those who were laid off and then work on contract or individual projects. According to a survey by the online job board CareerBuilder last August, 64 percent of seekers applied for jobs below the level of their last employment. Many were told they’re overqualified.
But experts say finding some work, even if it’s beneath you, can help long term.
STITT: “There’s a lot of that kind of thing going on.”
Debra Stitt is a recruiter in Cleveland.
STITT: “People are really taking a step back, saying, OK, you know, ten years ago I did that. I can do that again.”
With so many people both out of work and underemployed, Stitt says companies can be harsh.
STITT: “I have employers who say ‘don’t send me anyone who’s unemployed. Don’t want to talk to them.’ Right or wrong, that’s the thinking, because they think good employees aren’t laid off.”
Pam Giguere holds out hope that continuing to work in her field, even for low pay, will help make her more attractive to potential employers.
GIGUERE: “The good thing is that I know it all takes time. I know they’re overwhelmed with resumes. And if people apply online, people without skills apply for your jobs, and it’s very overwhelming. And, it does take time. And it is disheartening.”
After all those years in HR, she knows how it works on both sides.