Delicious-Doubt-5758's journey

I recently experienced a layoff from my IT position where I was earning $150,000. After months of searching for a new role that matched my skills and salary, I had to accept a full-time job at Target making just $17/hour. While I am technically employed now, the reality is that my financial situation has drastically changed. I see many others in similar situations—highly qualified professionals who have lost their jobs and are now working in retail, warehouses, or gig jobs just to make ends meet. It's frustrating because the labor statistics don't reflect the true impact of these layoffs. They only measure whether someone is employed, not whether that job can sustain a decent standard of living. I’ve exhausted my savings, drained my retirement accounts, and have had to rely on credit cards to cover basic necessities. It feels like I’m one missed paycheck or unexpected medical bill away from financial disaster. The narrative around unemployment doesn’t capture the downward mobility many of us are experiencing. We may still be classified as employed, but the middle class is quietly collapsing, and I fear this will be remembered as a crisis of economic security rather than just unemployment.