A SMALL FOLDER reminds me that I've had more than 20 job titles while in full-time employment during the past 34 years. I thought about that folder and one of the small photos (above left) inside it because I hope to resurrect photos in a "going to work" series. It's a bittersweet project because within 50 miles of my front door, more than 3000 Irish face long-term unemployment. That's because I live in an area affected by the closing of Dell's Irish factory operations. It's not difficult finding people with real issues related to their unemployment. The Irish economy hasn't actually bottomed out for many living on the lines connecting south Tipperary to east Limerick. And with no hope of using European Union money to attract factory jobs, it looks like the current recesson will marginalise more people than in the 80s because there are no bright strategies that promise to absorb the record-setting ranks of the long-term unemployed. These "new poor" are middle-class Irish who now rely on social welfare for the first time in their lives.
This is a really desperate time. With no regular income, and with both spouses out of work, some families will face losing their homes. This is starting to look like a downturn that squeezes people out of the middle class before the Irish economy recovers. I have a really uneasy feeling about the Dell Redundant cohort. I don't think there are jobs in the pipeline that can offer meaningful employment to mid-career factory workers. And without a proper job, people have to downshift. You can downshift only so far, then you start slipping out of the middle class.
Within a few weeks, the Department of the Taoiseach will announce plans for the smart economy. Saying that you're ramping up for the smart economy is a quiet admission that jobs will be scarce for those lacking a Leaving Certificate.
I sit in a place where I help develop the smart economy. I think we need to figure out ways of connecting smart training to thousands of those around me because if new employers consider opening up operations in the footprints left by Dell, they won't be setting up big factories and employing thousands.
Previously: "Dell Shuts Down Limerick" on InsideView, 8 Jan 09.
