Book Review of "Bait and Switch" by Barbara Ehrenreich

Bait and Switch by Barbara Ehrenreich takes a comical look at the troubles that plague "white collar" unemployed. This book offers an in-depth view of the Barbara Ehrenreich's struggle to get a "good job," which she defined as a job that would provide health care and an income of $50,000 a year.(6) This book was written in 2005 and is still up to date with the current unemployment problems. She uses her own experiences and observations for the reader to get an accurate picture of how hard it is for people who "did the right things" like going to college and are still unemployed for various reasons. The specific topic of Ehrenreich's book is upper class unemployment and the various desperate measures they take to gain employment. Many of these people spend more money on job searching, career coaches, personality tests, job fairs, and are rejected over and over again.
The overall purpose of the book is to show people that if they are one of these unemployed it is not their fault. For one reason or another they became "surplus" employees and although they have everything someone should supposedly have for a good job, they remain jobless. The purpose is to expose what the life of an unemployed person is really like and how hard it can actually be. The audience it is written for is anyone tired of the endless dead ends when it comes to finding a decent job. Sure, there are plenty of minimum wage, no benefit, horrible hours and horrible bosses. But when you have a college degree, good job skills, and an impressive resume you should expect a better job. Today that just isn't the case. Ehrenreich failed at gaining a "good job" and spent over $6,000 dollars and ten months intensively searching for a job and only received two mediocre job offers that did not meet her basic requirements of salary and benefits. Anyone can read this book and understand the frustration and helplessness, especially if they have experienced times of unemployment or low salary.
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