Andy is a not-so-typical househusband who has spent the past fifteen years raising their boys Aidan, Caleb, and Hudson. Andy and his wife, Colleen, have agreed that the kids are old enough to take care of themselves and that Andy should start job hunting. Andy has some prior experience working as a pinball repairman.

Pieter, formerly a foreman at Mittal Steel, inc., has been out of work now for ten months. He became expendable the day MS, Inc. installed an industrial robot named Hans. Hans can do the work of twenty, needs no coffee breaks, makes no personal phone calls, seldom gets sick, and never insists on better working conditions.

Amy was formerly employed by Timkens Steel Co. in Youngstown, Ohio. That was before Timkens merged with United Steel Corp in 1989. Once the merger was complete in June 1989, United moved all operations to its headquarters in Gary, Indiana. Amy’s job was eliminated since United streamlined its operations to increase their productivity. Amy is currently attending Youngstown State, taking courses in computer science.

Jean Valjean graduated from Our Lady of the Lake College three months ago. Although he has had several on-campus interviews, no job offers have yet been extended. Jean is confident that something will turn up soon and is considering working as a temp (a temporary secretary).

Siddhartha got fed up with his job as a city bus driver and resigned two weeks ago. “Sid” feels he stands a good chance at being hired at Norodom’s Motorcoach, Inc., a private bus company that specializes in tours of the city. His best friend, Ram, is a supervisor at Norodom’s.

Maryam Rafsanjani is a carpenter who was recently laid off from her job with Desert Construction Company. Faisal, the general contractor, blames the layoffs on the sluggish economy that has hit the city in the last three months. Maryam plans to apply at a frame shop at the mall for part-time work until the economy picks up.

Tony is unemployed. He formerly worked at FMC, Fiat Motor Cars, until poor sales caused his plant to shut down. Officials at FMC blamed the poor sales on the heavy competition from the Japanese. They do not foresee the plant reopening any time in the near future.

Nedelka, an accountant for Cape Mining Co., remembers the day she started with CMC six years ago. She was one of approximately 200 accountants who recorded the production and sales of diamonds and minerals produced at CMC’s 12 mines. Even though CMC has added another 5 mines, to their business over the past six years, they have reduced the accounting staff by more than 50 people. The reason? – IBM, Compaq, and Apple personal computers.

Yevgeny Petrovich is an experienced bricklayer. He recently moved with his family to Odessa. The reason for the move? Yevgeny found steady work in his hometown of St. Petersburg from mid-April through October, but jobs became quite scarce the remaining months. He hopes the work will be more steady in Odessa.

Yevgeny Petrovich is an experienced bricklayer. He recently moved with his family to Odessa. The reason for the move? Yevgeny found steady work in his hometown of St. Petersburg from mid-April through October, but jobs became quite scarce the remaining months. He hopes the work will be more steady in Odessa.

Greg Almond is a record presser at MCA Records, a subsidiary of Sony Corp. When he first started at MCA fifteen years ago, Greg was one of over 200 record pressers. He and his co-workers often put in 50 hour work weeks just to meet the demand of the public for records. Things have certainly changed. Greg is just one of ten pressers left working for MCA. Many of his co-workers are now working in the compact disc plant which opened nearly ten years ago. Those individuals had to spend four weeks in training in order to learn the new methods necessary for the manufacturing of CDs.

Early every summer Bobi Jo's family sets up a fireworks store in the parking lot of the local Wal-Mart, which is not only close to a major highway, but also near a state border. Her state allows many types of fireworks that are illegal in neighboring states. She hopes to make enough money during the two months she works there to get her family through the other ten.