Commuting to Nowhere

NY Times Magazine -- From computer-industry wiz to Gap salesman, Jeff Einstein is caught in the new economy's downward spiral.

While the recession of the early 90’s took a heavy toll on white-collar workers, this one seems to have institutionalized the phenomenon. Advanced degrees, no matter how prestigious, offer little protection. The economy is grim nationwide, but the picture in New York City is especially bleak. Since the end of 2000, the media-and-communications sector has cut 15 percent of its jobs, telecommunications 27 percent, advertising 25 percent. Eighteen percent of jobs on Wall Street have been slashed, and firms continue to lay people off.

Now, working at the Gap at $10 an hour, it takes Jeff two and a half weeks to earn what he used to make in a day at Rapp Digital, where his annual salary was $300,000 (including bonuses but excluding stock options). But he and Mara are still together, and after ‘‘the year-and-a-half-long process of dehumanization,’’ as Jeff calls it, he’s happy to have any job. ‘‘It keeps me out of my head,’’ he says, ‘‘which is a bad neighborhood to be in right now.’’

Nationwide, more jobs were lost last February than in any single month since November 2001. We are in the worst hiring slump in 20 years.

James Parrott, the chief economist for the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonprofit economic-policy group, says, ‘‘There’s no rebound in sight, and there aren’t even the glimmers of developments that would lead you to predict a rebound.’’

Tom is tired of the job search — tired of going to one networking meeting after another, of seeing the same faces, of hearing the same speeches. ‘‘I’m looking for a conclusion here,’’ he says. ‘‘I would like to get this thing resolved so I can rebuild my identity and get on with my life.’’