Overview

After receiving a PhD in mathematics from MIT, Larry spent three decades working at prestigious companies in the tech industry. Initially he was not worried when he lost his job as part of a large layoff, but the prolonged unemployment that followed decimated his finances and nearly ended his marriage. Larry's story is not an anomaly. In The Stigma Trap, Ofer Sharone explains how the stigma of unemployment can render past educational and professional achievements irrelevant, and how it leaves all American workers vulnerable to becoming trapped in unemployment. Drawing on interviews with unemployed workers, job recruiters, and career coaches, Sharone brings to light the subtle ways that stigmatization prevents even the most educated and experienced workers from gaining middle-class jobs. Stigma also means that an American worker risks more than financial calamity from a protracted period of unemployment. One's closest relationships and sense of self are also on the line. Eye-opening and clearly written, The Stigma Trap is an essential listen for anyone who has experienced unemployment, has a family member or friend who is unemployed, or who wants to understand the forces that underlie the anxiety-filled lives of contemporary American workers.

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Ofer Sharone is an associate professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is a nationally recognized expert on unemployment and the author of the award-winning book Flawed System/Flawed Self: Job Searching and Unemployment Experiences. His work has received wide attention from national media outlets, including the New York Times and PBS NewsHour, and he has been invited to participate in policy discussions at the White House and the US Department of Labor. Sharone is also the founder of the Institute for Career Transitions, a nonprofit organization focused on supporting long-term unemployed workers. Michael Butler Murray is an audiobook narrator as well as an actor and producer known for Jersey Boys, Frontera, The Day of the Grackle, and iCarly: iGo to Japan.

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