Why pursuit of the American dream is futile

American Dream Futile

Bait and Switch: Barbara Ehrenreich's examination the futility of the 'American Dream'

The white-collar workers, featured in Barbara Ehrenreich's book Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream, have done everything 'right.' They have gotten a good education at the best schools, and tried to work their way up the corporate career ladder. So why, after being laid off, do they have such trouble finding work at another company that is commensurate with their education and efforts? Once derailed from a particular career track or thrown off a corporate ladder, no one wants a slightly older worker, when a younger, cheaper, albeit less experienced worker might suffice in the same occupation. And soon afterwards, that now slightly older worker can be let go, and replaced by an entry-level employee.

Originally, the muckraking undercover journalist Barbara Ehrenreich intended to get a job at a corporation and conduct her expose of middle management from that vantage point. However, finding a job proved so elusive that eventually Ehrenreich decided use her experiences undercover as a middle-aged worker seeking employment as a paradigm of the futility of the 'American Dream.' Even Ehrenreich, who began her task with a very skeptical view of the compassion of corporate America, was shocked at the difficulty she faced simply securing a job, and the stories she heard of the financial difficulties of people who had been 'let go' (i.e. fired) from their positions.

Ehrenreich learned that to lose a job on the middle managerial level of corporate America often means that an employee loses everything, not just a job. This is an all-too common prospect where mergers and downsizing is seen as a boon -- for shareholders, but not for employees. An employee in America loses health insurance, a salary after six months of unemployment compensation, and also loses vital connections and marketability as an employee. An employee who does a good job and has gotten promotions as a result may be more, rather than less of a target for eager cost-cutters, given that financially the employee is viewed as a monetary drain upon the company's bottom line, even though the individual may be a high-quality, loyal worker who has advanced the company's status and reputation in the industry. The relationship between company and worker, where the company makes an investment in the employee through training, stock options, a structured retirement and benefits plan, etcetera, is no longer the norm today. Furthermore, although in other countries, health insurance, a livable pension plan, and other benefits like daycare for children, are not necessarily tied to private employment, these necessities for survival are in America. To be unemployed or underemployed means living in a state of continual anxiety about caring for one's self and for one's dependants. This drives many workers to look for unhelpful assistance from paid personal consultants and headhunters, who administer unhelpful personality tests rather than make a real effort to seek employment for their clients.