Do Laid-Off, Long-Term Unemployed People Have Free Will?

I went for a job interview on Thursday. If hired (a pretty big if), it would mean an hour-long

commute by car on one of the state’s busiest roads, and one that is in a perpetual state of repair. So during rush hour, one could expect numerous lane closures and quick maneuvers to dodge traffic cones and barriers. That hour could easily turn into two.

It would further mean learning a whole new industry. That doesn’t bother me as much as the message I got from the managers who interviewed me: I would have to learn the new industry quickly—without much, if any, assistance from management. Oh, what fun! I went down that road (figuratively) at my last job. I managed to do a competent job—despite a notable lack of support—made only a few minor mistakes, and got laid off anyway.

So, you can understand why I would have some reservations about this job. Yet there is a nagging voice in my head (among many) that says, You cannot refuse any job. You are a long-term unemployed worker. You have no free will.

I’m sure you, dear reader, are thinking the same thing. How can someone who is out of work for nearly a year refuse any work?

Any time I think about this question, I can see the wagging finger of judgment pointed at me. I saw it in the stern look a friend (employed) gave me when I mentioned the long commute for this possible job. How dare she not take a job, any job? She’s unemployed! She has no right!

Let’s get something straight: First, I might not get offered the job (a distinct possibility in light of my increasingly rejection-stained job search). Second, I’m a human being and I have free will.

Yes, that’s right. I do have the right to make decisions about where I chose to work or live. It’s easy for someone on the outside to tell a job seeker that he or she must take any job offered or relocate to another area to gain employment. In essence, to insist they give up their basic human right to have a free will.

Not that I haven’t considered the possibility of relocating. I interviewed at one job 90 minutes away along the Jersey Shore. For that job, I would have moved to that area closer to the ocean. (Don’t judge the region by that TV trash fest Jersey Shore. It’s really quite lovely.) Alas, the job was not offered to me.

This most recent job is in an area of the state I have no desire to relocate to. Don’t I have the right to decide where I want to live? What if I simply like, at this point in my life, where I’m living? Just because I was laid off does not mean I have to give up my freedom to choose.

Now, when I was collecting unemployment benefits—well, that was a different story. Every week I was asked if I turned down any viable job offers. (I didn’t. I never received any.) If I had spurned a job offer, I would have lost my benefits for two weeks. So, yeah, during that particular period, I had no free will. Understandably, I have to agree. If you are getting government money while unemployed, you are pretty much obligated to take any job offer that comes your way.

Those benefits ended in August, however. Therefore, in theory, I’m free to appraise any potential job in the context of whether I would be comfortable and successful there; does it match my previous experience; how much I would be paid (I cannot take another salary cut!), and yes, even the commuting distance as well as the ease of that commute.

Or say it's obvious during the interview that my prospective boss is a raging lunatic (been there, done that). Or that the company hasn't a clue what it wants from an incoming employee. Don't I have the right to say thanks, but no thanks? At the very least don't I have the option of evaluating any possible job opportunity and simply expressing any concerns about it? Apparently not. I have no free will.

Don't I have the freedom as well of exploring other work options, such as freelancing? Though I have to say the verdict so far is not too promising. Freelance jobs are out there, but the pay is low—if paid at all! I'm still waiting to get a check from work I did during the summer.

How different my situation would be perceived if I had simply left my job—of my own free will—without another job to slide into immediately. That’s because if someone quits a job, tells the corporate grind to shove it, to find another path in life more aligned with his or her true calling (cue the Enya music), that person is perceived as a risk taker, a rebel, somebody to be celebrated. Our society commends such actions. In reality, their grand scheme may crash and burn into bitter regret or even bankruptcy, yet no one admonishes them for what may have been a poor decision.

Never would I criticize a person for exercising their free will and pursuing a better way of life. That is their right.

Laid-off, unemployed people are given no such approbation. Instead, we are treated like dopes who sacrificed ourselves to the corporate gods and got our just desserts by getting laid off. We were company drones, not risk takers. We are to be disparaged, not applauded. Many HR departments won’t even consider our resumes.

There is some truth in those views. We probably were too trusting of our bosses, and should have scurried out sooner when the signs of imminent layoffs became apparent and the workplace turned into Lord of the Flies. Yet none of us kicked-to-the-curb workers should ever feel bad about doing honest work to earn a paycheck so we could have a roof over our head and food on the table. We may have been misguided in our loyalty, but we are not bad people. We were simply unlucky.

Now, if I don’t get that job or—horrors!—decline an offer (which will probably not be made), I may regret that decision. But that’s what free will is all about: We get to make decisions about how we live our lives, treat other people, where we work or live. The rub is we must also accept the consequences of those decisions—good or bad.

I also think it’s a bit unfair—and cruel—to deny a laid-off worker’s free will. Did we have any free will when we were told our job was eliminated? Were we given any choice in that matter?

Back to my original question: Do laid-off, long-term unemployed workers have free will? My answer is no. As of now, I feel like my free will is being dictated by my savings account, which I have dipped into repeatedly to pay for necessities. Much further depletions and I could end up homeless. So if I do get that job offer, I probably will take it.

What other choice do I have?