7/9: 77% of NYS Voters Know Someone Who’s Lost Job

In a poll that suggests the vast repercussions of the economic crisis, 77% of New York State registered voters say they personally know someone who has lost their job in the last 6 months.

©istockphoto.com/NoahGolan

©istockphoto.com/NoahGolan

More voters in New York City and in the suburbs say they know someone who has lost his/her job during that timeframe.  82% of city voters and 79% of those in the suburbs report this to be the case.  This compares with 74% Upstate.

Slight differences are also apparent among income groups.  82% of people with an income of $100,000 or more say they know someone who’s joined the ranks of the unemployed in the last half-year, while 77% of those making between $50,000 and $99,999 and 74% of those making less than $50,000 say the same.

Table: Personally Know Someone Who Lost a Job

Social Networking and Job Loss…Potential Pitfall?

Social networking may be getting a lot of hype, but it hasn’t yet seduced a majority of New York voters.  Only 31% say they personally have a profile on a social networking website such as MySpace or Facebook.

Those who do have a profile divide over whether it’s wise for someone to use a social networking site to tell everyone they have lost their job.  49% say they’re more likely to describe someone who does so as “smart,” but 41% say they’re more likely to call that person, “desperate.”  10% are unsure.

Educational background affects one’s stance on this issue.  55% of college graduates say “smart” compared with 41% of those who aren’t college graduates.

Overall, who is more likely to utilize social networking sites?  Voters with higher incomes are more likely to join these online networks.  42% of those making $100,000 or more have a profile, compared with 32% of those with incomes between $50,000 and $99,999 and only 27% of those making less than $50,000.

Not surprisingly, younger voters are more likely to jump on the social networking bandwagon.  54% of those under 45 have a profile, while only 19% of those over 45 have one.  On the question of whether they’d call a person who announces their unemployment as “smart” or “desperate,” those under 45 divide while a majority of those 45 and older consider it to be a smart move.

And, social networking has taken the 18-to-29 age group by storm: a whopping 74% of those Web users have a profile on MySpace, Facebook and their ilk.

Table: Do You, Personally, Have a Social Networking Profile?
Table: Announcing Unemployment Online

Marist Poll Methodology

Related Stories:

7/9: Most NYS Voters Expect Economic Recovery to Take Time

4/22: Nearly 1 in 4 Anticipate Job Loss

Nearly 1 in 4 employed Americans — 22% — believe it’s likely they will join the ranks of the unemployed or have their hours cut this year.  Among those who are most fearful are women.  26% of women in the workforce believe there is a good chance they will be laid off while 19% of men think it’s likely they will get a pink slip this year.

©istockphoto.com/RBFried

©istockphoto.com/RBFried

Where Americans work makes a difference. Employees in the Northeast are least concerned about their future employment status.  Just 10% of those residents think it’s either very likely or likely that they will lose their job this year while 27% of those in the Midwest, 25% in the West, and 24% in the South share this concern.

Table: Are you likely to lose your job?

How Long Will It Take to Find a New Job?

Should they lose their job this year, many employed Americans think it will take some time before they will be back to work.  Only 38% of workers think they would be able to find a comparable job with similar pay within three months of losing their current job.

Not surprisingly, older co-workers nationwide are less optimistic about their job prospects than are their younger colleagues.  Only, three in ten workers 45 and older believe they would find a new position within three months compared with 45% of those younger than 45.  One-third of workers 45 and older believe it would take at least a year to find a comparable position should they lose their current job.

Table: How long will it take to find a new job?

Marist Poll Methodology

Related Links:

Unemployment Insurance

Finding a Job

Career One Stop


Monster

Indeed

Yahoo! Hot Jobs

Career Builder

Linked in

How To Find a Job During a Recession

Teaching No ‘Fallback’ Career

New York Labor Market