What is unemployment?

Unemployment occurs when a person is able and willing to work but currently is not working.

The prevalence of unemployment is usually measured using the unemployment rate, which is the percentage of people who are capable of working but are not working.

How do people become unemployed?

Rapid changes in technology
Recessions
Inflation
Disability
Changes in market preferences
Attitude towards employers
Willingness to work
Employee values
Discriminating factors in the place of work (may include discrimination on the basis of age, class, ethnicity, color and race).

What are the different ways in which unemployment can affect someone?

An unemployed person can become depressed as a result of not having a job.
Someone who is unemployed may become homeless because he/she can’t afford to pay rent or loans for a home.
Children of an unemployed person are more likely to perform poorly in school because they don’t have financial resources provided to them by their parent.
Public stigmatization for not earning an income and for receiving unemployment assistance from the state.

How to deal with unemployment

Find out if you are eligible for government unemployment benefits.
Determine how long your financial resources will last.
Determine whether you need to consider a career change. If layoffs are rampant in your field, you may want to consider making a change to a field that is growing, or at least stable.
If you would like to change careers, find out what field you want to go into. You may need to take a career assessment or evaluation with making this decision.
Write an updated resume, review your job interview skills, and send work out via network contacts about your current status in case they may know of any job opening that may suit you

Tips

Realize you are in a very stressful situation, and being upset, or even angry, is normal.
Take a little break to evaluate your situation, but try not to wallow in self-pity.
Learn from this experience.
Keep up your job search. The Ministry of Science Technology and Tertiary education has numerous programmes to help young people find employment. Visit their site http://www.stte.gov.tt/ for more info. You can also check websites such as www.caribbeanjobs.com or www.ghrs.gov.tt to search for job opportunities