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CNN Live At Daybreak
Growing Segment of Labor Force Considered Underemployed
Aired May 06, 2003 - 05:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The unemployment rate went from bad to worse last month, with the jobless rate rising to six percent. Even so, some people are finding jobs. But they're often lower paying or part-time jobs.
As CNN's Chris Huntington reports, that's creating a growing segment of the labor force considered the underemployed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fore!
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a Friday afternoon and a group of executives have knocked off early to get in a quick round of golf. One of these men has 25 years experience in accounting and investor relations. But he's not an executive anymore, he's the caddy.
RICH HANTKE, GOLF CADDY: Don't cut it too much left, all right?
HUNTINGTON: Rich Hantke used to earn a six figure income running investor relations at a high tech telecommunications firm but he was laid off last October and has not been able to find work in that field since. So he's working the links to fill a gap.
HANTKE: Less than firm, you're going to probably be just a tad outside.
You know, the caddying is beautiful because of the flex, you know, the time flexibility involved. You know, I can still do my search for my, continue my career, if you will, but it also, it definitely helps in terms of helping make ends meet.
HUNTINGTON (on camera): It's a long way from the executive suite to the caddy shack. But Rich Hantke's solution for helping to make ends meet after he's been laid off is hardly unique. Millions of Americans in the last couple of years have been forced to take jobs and paychecks that they haven't seen since high school.
(voice-over): Economist Jared Bernstein keeps track of these downwardly mobile workers and he says they have a lot of company.
JARED BERNSTEIN, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: I noted that there's a couple million more people working involuntarily part-time. They prefer to work full-time, but they can't find it. They found a job, but it's not the job they want. HUNTINGTON: Bernstein points out that the percentage of so- called underemployed American workers is the highest in more than seven years, above 10 percent. But Bernstein says the bigger threat to the economy is falling pay. BERNSTEIN: Actually, we are now beginning to see fairly widespread real wage losses throughout the economy.
HANTKE: I left your note over there. What?
HUNTINGTON: Rich Hantke knows all about earning less. Out of work for seven months with his oldest son now looking at colleges, he's been forced to face the facts.
HANTKE: The reality is, you know, we're a two income family. The house and everything where we live is geared around, you know, two incomes. So you can't go indefinitely on one income.
HUNTINGTON (on camera): For now, that second income won't come from climbing the corporate ladder, but from walking the fairways.
Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 6, 2003 - 05:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The unemployment rate went from bad to worse last month, with the jobless rate rising to six percent. Even so, some people are finding jobs. But they're often lower paying or part-time jobs.
As CNN's Chris Huntington reports, that's creating a growing segment of the labor force considered the underemployed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fore!
CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a Friday afternoon and a group of executives have knocked off early to get in a quick round of golf. One of these men has 25 years experience in accounting and investor relations. But he's not an executive anymore, he's the caddy.
RICH HANTKE, GOLF CADDY: Don't cut it too much left, all right?
HUNTINGTON: Rich Hantke used to earn a six figure income running investor relations at a high tech telecommunications firm but he was laid off last October and has not been able to find work in that field since. So he's working the links to fill a gap.
HANTKE: Less than firm, you're going to probably be just a tad outside.
You know, the caddying is beautiful because of the flex, you know, the time flexibility involved. You know, I can still do my search for my, continue my career, if you will, but it also, it definitely helps in terms of helping make ends meet.
HUNTINGTON (on camera): It's a long way from the executive suite to the caddy shack. But Rich Hantke's solution for helping to make ends meet after he's been laid off is hardly unique. Millions of Americans in the last couple of years have been forced to take jobs and paychecks that they haven't seen since high school.
(voice-over): Economist Jared Bernstein keeps track of these downwardly mobile workers and he says they have a lot of company.
JARED BERNSTEIN, ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE: I noted that there's a couple million more people working involuntarily part-time. They prefer to work full-time, but they can't find it. They found a job, but it's not the job they want. HUNTINGTON: Bernstein points out that the percentage of so- called underemployed American workers is the highest in more than seven years, above 10 percent. But Bernstein says the bigger threat to the economy is falling pay. BERNSTEIN: Actually, we are now beginning to see fairly widespread real wage losses throughout the economy.
HANTKE: I left your note over there. What?
HUNTINGTON: Rich Hantke knows all about earning less. Out of work for seven months with his oldest son now looking at colleges, he's been forced to face the facts.
HANTKE: The reality is, you know, we're a two income family. The house and everything where we live is geared around, you know, two incomes. So you can't go indefinitely on one income.
HUNTINGTON (on camera): For now, that second income won't come from climbing the corporate ladder, but from walking the fairways.
Chris Huntington, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
