Roughly a year and a half ago, Jared was laid off from his data scientist job at a financial services company. Despite trying several strategies to make himself more appealing to employers, he’s been unable to find work in the tech and finance industries ever since.
Jared received severance pay for three months and then started collecting unemployment benefits, he told Business Insider via email. But this eventually came to an end: In the state of New York, where he resides, one can only receive unemployment checks for up to 26 weeks.
To save money, Jared, who’s in his 30s, said he moved his family to a more affordable area of New York. To make up for his lost income, he started selling some of his stock market investments and in recent months, has begun withdrawing some money from his 401(k). He also tried doing some stock market day trading, but he’s since pulled back after losing money.
“It didn’t …