I am - massively. I prepared for 6 months, but with all the fed jobs being cut, the H1B Visas, companies being afraid to offer remote positions, and other market factors I haven't found anything in my field since I was caught up in a mass-layoff late last year. I'm trying to find something local but everything local is stuff like stocking shelves, loading trucks, or standing all day. With my back and neck issues and nerve damage I can't do that stuff. I have worked remotely for well over a decade. Now the opportunities are drying up.
If I could move to Dallas or Houston I could probably get a job, but I can't sell my house and find another with a remotely close interest rate (2.25%), and nothing is selling this time of year anyway. Driving to either place is impossible - one is ~2 hours one way and the other is ~4 hours one way.
I have partial VA disability benefits but the case is still open with a long way to go before they realize and acknowledge the damage I have. It never ceases to amaze me how they send me for x-rays when they know damn well the nerve damage and neuropathy require CT scans/MRIs/EMG tests. It's maddening - my medical records catalogue everything I submitted for and some stuff was initially denied due to "no evidence". I submitted in November 2024...
I will be taking courses through the VA to get me some needed IT certifications but orientation isn't until the 29th. Hopefully that eventually helps. Until then I'm dealing with recruiters constantly ghosting me, 5-10 Indian recruiters (usually from the same company) contacting me for jobs I'm not qualified for and even sending them to me directly on Linked-In but using someone else's first name. I've even had to blacklist a few of them when they sent me someone else's information. They are a scourge.
Oh - I'm a Gen Xer. That makes it all the more fun trying to get back into my field when nearly every interview I get is with much younger people. I've had 3 with interviewers my age, and 2 of them were ready to hire me but both companies stopped hiring when they got worried about the tariffs earlier in the year. Both were US companies (one was even local) with international offices and were worried about parts sourcing. That will lift eventually, but probably not until the end of their fiscal year.
I am - massively. I prepared for 6 months, but with all the fed jobs being cut, the H1B Visas, companies being afraid to offer remote positions, and other market factors I haven't found anything in my field since I was caught up in a mass-layoff late last year. I'm trying to find something local but everything local is stuff like stocking shelves, loading trucks, or standing all day. With my back and neck issues and nerve damage I can't do that stuff. I have worked remotely for well over a decade. Now the opportunities are drying up.
If I could move to Dallas or Houston I could probably get a job, but I can't sell my house and find another with a remotely close interest rate (2.25%), and nothing is selling this time of year anyway. Driving to either place is impossible - one is ~2 hours one way and the other is ~4 hours one way.
I have partial VA disability benefits but the case is still open with a long way to go before they realize and acknowledge the damage I have. It never ceases to amaze me how they send me for x-rays when they know damn well the nerve damage and neuropathy require CT scans/MRIs/EMG tests. It's maddening - my medical records catalogue everything I submitted for and some stuff was initially denied due to "no evidence". I submitted in November 2024...
I will be taking courses through the VA to get me some needed IT certifications but orientation isn't until the 29th. Hopefully that eventually helps. Until then I'm dealing with recruiters constantly ghosting me, 5-10 Indian recruiters (usually from the same company) contacting me for jobs I'm not qualified for and even sending them to me directly on Linked-In but using someone else's first name. I've even had to blacklist a few of them when they sent me someone else's information. They are a scourge.
Oh - I'm a Gen Xer. That makes it all the more fun trying to get back into my field when nearly every interview I get is with much younger people. I've had 3 with interviewers my age, and 2 of them were ready to hire me but both companies stopped hiring when they got worried about the tariffs earlier in the year. Both were US companies (one was even local) with international offices and were worried about parts sourcing. That will lift eventually, but probably not until the end of their fiscal year.