Abstract
Unemployment affects everyone.
This is not a statement that could have been made without fallibility during the recession of the 1980s and 90s. Although today‟s unemployment figures mirror those from the peak of the last jobs crisis, this time the collapse is less discriminating.
Unemployment has widened its net to capture doctors and bankers, teachers and cleaners; from the lowest paid to the highest earners, there is not one person who has been left untouched by its effects. No longer can „the unemployed‟ be held at arm‟s length as „those people, over there‟.
In this series, we look at the wide-reaching effects of the recession on the Irish employment landscape. From the erosion of the foundations that once supported Ireland‟s school-leavers to the country‟s attitudes towards those worst-hit; from the trend towards lengthy unpaid work placements and what they mean for jobseekers to the growing competition amongst graduates, the features that follow provide an in-depth look into the metamorphosing effects that unemployment has had in Ireland. We also look at the positive effects that unemployment can bring as Ireland‟s new breed of entrepreneurs fight against the tide. Author keywords: unemployment, recession, jobs crisis, jobs, work, celtic tiger, employment, journalism
