ON A MONDAY AFTERNOON nearly 20 years ago, when I was a young political reporter, our human resources director asked me to stop by his office—and when I left five minutes later, I no longer had a job. That’s not so surprising; since 2008, U.S. newsrooms have been cut in half. But at the time, with the newspaper industry flush, I was stunned.
Within moments, I went from having a “steady day job” (albeit a poorly paid one) to nothing at all: The paper sent me on my way with four days’ severance pay. Compounding the problem, I was laid off on Monday, September 10, 2001. My job search the next day did not go as planned.
Eventually, of course, I found other work. But the stress of becoming unemployed…