These days, there are a lot of headlines, including here at Dogwood, about unemployment numbers and economic expectations.
As I’ve mentioned in this space before: unemployment is on the rise in Virginia, as thousands of government workers are cut by the chainsaw the Trump administration is using to slash federal spending.
But my goal here is to get beyond the numbers to share the stories of how public policy is impacting real people. (That’s why I’m always asking to hear from readers. Drop me a line anytime at michaeloconnor@couriernewsroom.com!)
So when I heard that US Rep. Suhas Subramanyam (D—Ashburn) had organized a job fair with George Mason University in Manassas, my editor and I agreed it would be a good opportunity to hear from job hunters directly about their experiences with the weakening labor market.
It’s always a fishing expedition as a reporter when you’re covering an event and trying to talk to people. Many people, understandably, don’t want to be bothered or would prefer not to talk to you. But if you ask enough people, you eventually find some who are willing to share their thoughts.
I’m grateful to have met with two recent college graduates, Natnael Workneh and Alex Karapetkov, both of whom have sent out hundreds of applications to no avail. Workneh specializes in website design, and Karapetkov has a background in computer science.
I was surprised to hear their struggles given the tech field has long been seen as a safe haven for young people to enter the job market. But as the news site GeekWire recently put it: mass layoffs have taken the shine off careers in the tech sector.
And I’m grateful to Emily Yates, a federal contractor who in April lost her job helping the US Food and Drug Administration streamline part of its hiring process.
What a sad irony that Yates lost her job making the government more efficient in the name of so-called efficiency.
