Rejected by a grocery store deli at 48 with 10 weeks of benefits left; Job seeker’s post captures the toll of the current market
A post on Reddit’s r/recruitinghell talked about a 48-year-old looking for a job, with most of their experience in leadership, management and office administration. They have been unemployed since April, have applied to around 100 jobs and have landed three interviews. All three passed on them.
The most recent was an entry-level position at a grocery store deli.
“I am willing to take basically anything I can do at this point,” they wrote. “Getting turned down by a grocery store has not been good [for] my mental health.”
Their unemployment benefits end in 10 weeks, after which they say their household will face housing insecurity. They have already cut their budget as far as it will go, and receive only US$24 a month in food stamps.
“Seriously, how is anyone supposed to survive this?” they wrote, adding that their support system is “pretty much nonexistent” and inviting others in the same position to message them.
What Reddit said
The first response addressed the rejection that stung most. “The deli rejection probably says more about how weird hiring is right now than your ability to do the job,” one commenter wrote. “I wouldn’t let that one convince you you’re unemployable.”
Others shared how close they had come to the same situation. One said that without family support, they would likely have ended up homeless. Another, laid off from a director’s role, said nothing they had tried in the market was working.
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One offered a practical lead: check warehouses in the area, particularly those handling Amazon or DHL shipments, which often hire in larger numbers than retail.
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