Chrysler Declares Bankruptcy: The Downfall of Its Employees

Being the son of an employee at Chrysler, which happens to be declaring bankruptcy this week, life has become fairly hectic in my neck of the woods. The typical, yet no less feared question of unemployment has long since entered my father's mind as well as those of his coworkers. Now that these fears are about to be realized, my father, Brian Lifen, and all of the other employees of Chrysler will soon find themselves in need of another form of income. Unfortunately, in the current recession the U.S. is struggling through, such efforts to find employment are often fruitless, which is where I, Seth Helix, come into the picture.

Not being an employee of Chrysler some would believe that I would have little or nothing to do with the company's downfall, but it is there that they would be incorrect. Being that my father is soon to be unemployed without the seniority for a stable retirement plan and my mother is a worker at a low-income part time occupation, much of the income must come from me. Unfortunately this is not the most favorable setup as I am also working at a low paying job for the time being. At the age of 19, I manage to support myself as a new recruit to the field of journalism, having graduated early with a bachelor's degree. Of course, I feel it is my responsibility to care for my family's financial survival until my father receives further employment, but living in Sacramento, California, employment can be rather difficult to come by. Businesses are so far spread out that seeking a new job can be a fairly tedious choir, making the amount of time I spend as the primary "breadwinner" far longer than would be expected.

Having spoken with my father only a few days ago, I have found that he too is suffering from a great deal of stress. By no means is he happy about the current filing setup nor about the dependence on my income, but his greatest fear is losing his home. Seeing as how he has not yet paid off his first mortgage on his house, my father sees this new complication as a disaster in the making. To add to the list of issues, my father's limited education presents him with very few options for jobs, noting the instability of the automobile industry to date. Then comes the question of the remainder of the employees at the Chrysler Company, many of whom face similar situations. After having asked him about the situation at the company, my father told me, "My friends down at the office are all worried about what jobs to take, what to look forward to, and some don't even really care about getting fired. Sad thing is, most of those guys have an even lower education than me and have almost nothing to look ahead at." Apparently the situation down at the "office" is no different than any of the other recession-scourged industries.