40Plus of Southeastern Wisconsin supports the Dr. William C. Needler Job Forum, a Wednesday night program through which employment experts offer tips for the unemployed. Except for the day before Thanksgiving and the Wednesday between Christmas and New Year’s, the Needler Forum has met every week for more than 36 years. [11] [12]
The duration of 40Plus of Southeastern Wisconsin and the Needler Forum, founded in 1976 is a testament to the fragile nature of employment – even among workers who went to college, played by the rules and worked their way up through organizations. In fact, for each of the last three years, there were more unemployed workers from professional and related occupations than from production occupations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2004, 801,000 professionals were jobless on average each month, compared with 714,000 production workers.
Also, research from a number of labor economists suggests that statistically, older workers face longer periods without work after a job loss and suffer greater declines in wages when they work again – about twice the average wage loss of younger workers.
“Folks, this is a sales job,” the past executive director of 40 Plus of Southeastern Wisconsin Ron Mulvaney has said. “You only have to make one sale. You are the product.”