As Donald Trump is set to take office in only ten days it seems soon to be out of work Obama staffers are having a difficult time coping with the reality of having to find a new job.
Over 4,000 White House staffers and Democrat party operatives are going to be out of a job in less than two weeks and it appears the job market isn’t quite as healthy as Obama has made it out to be. According to Politco, there has “rarely been less” demand for the services offered by these staffers, and finding work is adding to the already painful losses their party has incurred during the election.
It’s insult to injury for a generation of young operatives who are still managing their shock and grief from Hillary Clinton’s loss. And for those who want to fight to keep President Barack Obama’s legacy from being erased, there aren’t a lot of places ready to pay them to do it.
“It feels like there are just thousands of us trying to find a job, and there are no jobs,” said Mira Patel, a longtime Clinton aide who went from her Senate office to the State Department and, starting last summer, her presidential campaign.
Wave elections that wipe out job prospects for one party’s loyalists are an occupational hazard in Washington – it happened to Republicans just eight years ago. But the shock of Trump’s win is what’s making it harder on everyone – both those currently (or about to be) unemployed, and potential employers.
Wait a minute, Obama and Clinton staffers claiming there are no jobs when President Obama himself has been taking credit for a “robust” economy and jobs market. In fact, Obama claimed responsibility for “60 straight months of private-sector job growth with over 12 million jobs created.” Unfortunately, most of these jobs created under the Obama administration have been part-time or temporary positions, as a study showed just last month.
Staffers say they still want to fight for Obama’s legacy, yet no one will pay them to do that as a career. In other words, social justice warriors want to be paid for aggravating the rest of America, and trying to subvert a new president while he tries to repair the damage the Democrats have done to the nation.
One of the issues that out of work Clinton and Obama staffers are facing in the job market is a decrease in demand for Democrats by lobbying firms, as they are now seeking those with connections to the Republican party and Trump’s administration.
Left leaning career organizations are reporting that there’s “anger, frustration and burnout” on the part the Clinton staffers who now realize that their experience is no longer in demand since Donald Trump’s victory.
“There’s anger, there’s frustration, there’s anxiety, there’s burnout,” said Russ Finkelstein, a managing director at Clearly Next and longtime progressive career guru (including as a founding team member at the lefty jobs board Idealist.org) who has been counseling Clinton alumni.
“People are in shock,” said Anastasia Kessler-Dellaccio, 35, who quit her job at Sister Cities International to run Foreign Policy Professionals for Hillary. Some Clinton campaign workers say they’ve lost their bearings, so rattled they are by the differences in Trump’s values from those represented by Obama and Clinton.
Kessler-Dellaccio added, “I think people, myself included, are trying to figure out, ‘How do I recalibrate my dreams?’”
Not everyone has the financial flexibility to take time to figure that out, forcing some to contemplate leaving Washington and politics behind right as they feel a renewed sense of urgency.
It’s no longer about finding the “perfect fit,” said Patel. “A lot of us are looking for any fit.”
Clinton campaign alumni are still struggling with how to talk about their work.
“Some of them are thinking, ‘Oh, am I going to be judged for having lost?” said Finkelstein. Others worry about sounding tone deaf when they try to highlight their individual accomplishments within the broader operation – though career advisers say that’s exactly what they should do.
“I have two sets of resumes,” said Kessler-Dellaccio. One highlights all her work fundraising and recruiting volunteers for Clinton. But after repeatedly seeing job postings looking for Republican connections, Kessler-Dellaccio says she “quite literally stripped out all of the Hillary stuff” out of her alternate C.V.
She added, “I have friends who even on LinkedIn have removed any Democratic Party alignment because they’re afraid if employers see too much Hillary stuff they’re not going to get a job.”
Thankfully there is a silver lining to the grim jobs market these Clinton staffers are facing, and as much as they bemoan Trump’s “values”, he has dedicated himself to creating high paying working class jobs for the entire nation.
However, these former Democrat operatives may want to consider learning some real world job skills, since having something like “worked on Hillary Clinton’s failed campaign” on their resumes probably won’t be a big selling point to potential employers.
I can’t help point out the irony in this scenario, as both Clinton and Obama claimed that under Democrat supervision the economy and job market has been brought back to life with unemployment is at it’s lowest in years. I suppose if all else fails, there should be plenty of part-time food services or bar tending jobs, as these positions have seen significant increase thanks to Obamacare
Don’t worry Clinton staffers, although you didn’t vote for him, Donald Trump is working to create jobs for all Americans and has already helped gain commitment from companies to create over 60,000 new positions before even taking office. By getting a bit of training and acquiring useful job skills that actually produce real goods, rather than politics, your future can look very bright indeed.