The Real Cost of Being Unemployed

 

If you are unemployed, it is critical for you to understand how much salary you are actually losing so you have a clear idea of the real cost of being unemployed.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics), the average time it takes to land a job is 9 weeks in normal hiring conditions!

This means if you were earning $70,000, and it took you 9 weeks (45 business days) to find a new job, you lost $12,105 by being unemployed!

If you are an executive level manager, the Bureau of Labor Statistics tells us the average search time is 13 weeks. In today’s job market, this is more like 6-8 months!

Therefore, if you earn $180,000 annually and it took you 13 weeks to find a job, then you have lost almost $45,000 in salary by being unemployed!

Please refer to the “Loss of Gross Pay Calculations” chart below to see how you may be affected:

Salary & Weekly Pay Loss

$70,000 — $1,345
$80,000 — $1,540
$90,000 — $1,730
$100,000 — $1,925
$120,000  — $2,310
$140,000 — $2,690
$160,000 — $3,075
$180,000 — $3,460
$200,000 — $3,845
$250,000 — $4,807
$300,000 — $5,796

Career-Critical Time Considerations

Trimming just a week or two off your job search can save you a significant amount of money, whether in savings or in lost income.

For those of you who are unemployed, we ask that you keep the following facts in mind:

“Time” should not be wasted. If it is, not only will you continue to lose money being unemployed, you run the risk of becoming “underemployed,” which will negatively impact your compensation track.

Yes, it is true—the longer you are unemployed, the less marketable you could become, depending on what industry you are in.

About 92% of people who have been out of work for more than 12 months have had to take a pay cut when they found a new job.

If you are considering hiring a Career Transition Coach, and you are not seeing the return in investment, ponder this:

Assuming you earn $120,000 base salary and engage 6 months of expert career coaching for $7000. If you land just 3 weeks faster you would recover your entire investment!

At HCS, we coach executives nationally and globally. We are upfront and directly communicate with our clients via phone, webcam, email and one-on-one meetings.

We’ve been in this business for a over 19 years and we will tell you how it is without sugar coating specifically based on your current job search situation and requirements.

So, the question remains—how much compensation are you foregoing each week WITHOUT a career coach?

Good Hunting!