Getting by, barely, on too little work

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff) Hoping to get back into financial services, Jason Truong sells real estate.

Having a job during a recession is a coveted position to be in. Having too little work, though, is a frustration a growing number of Americans face.

Alongside the expanding ranks of the jobless are the underemployed - part-timers who need more hours, people working below their skill level, or those juggling multiple jobs to get by.

Too often, they are burdened by twin fears: of being laid off and of not being able to find better work.

Their overall numbers are hard to track, but one key indicator of underemployment is up sharply. The number of US workers stuck in part-time positions for economic reasons rose to 6.1 million in September, up more than 30 percent from the same month last year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Such data are not tracked in Massachusetts, yet officials and career counselors are seeing a corresponding, worrisome swelling in underemployment.

"Underemployment preceded the recession, and it will intensify as a result of the downturn," said the state's secretary for labor and workforce development, Suzanne M. Bump. It's a "symptom of untapped capacity in the workforce."

A decade ago, Jason Truong was profiled in the Globe because he was lucky enough to land a job months before graduating from college. Now, he's a freshly minted MBA and father of three in Medford, selling real estate but hoping to get back into financial services. He quit his job at a bank in the spring to finish his degree and help out at home as his wife returned to full-time work.

"This is such a unique environment right now that I'm actually very scared," said Truong, who's been actively looking for a full-time job since September. "At the moment, I'm so scared that I might consider flipping burgers."

This struggle to find "good" work - matching or improving upon experience or salary - is one that career counselors are seeing more often. Workers without a college degree are being bumped down the jobs ladder by new grads. Former midlevel managers can't find similarly challenging or rewarding positions. Many take part-time jobs to get by.

"These are people who need to pay their bills, so at least for the time being are willing to take a job with fewer hours that gives them less responsibility than their previous job," said George Moriarty, executive director of Career Place in Woburn, one of 37 state-administered "one-stop" career placement centers in Massachusetts.

Maggie Jackson is the author of "Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age". She can be reached at www.maggie-jackson.com.