‘I’m just… happy to be working anywhere at all’

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This article was published 29/05/2021 (1781 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Michelle Bailey has always called herself a writer, first and foremost.

It’s what she knew how to do best. And it’s why she jumped at any opportunity she could find for more than three decades to get her words out for the world to read — even if that meant joining “the dark, yet well-paid side” of corporate communications, she says with a laugh.

From working for the City of Winnipeg to large not-for-profits and local magazines or broadcast news outlets, Bailey has done it all. She graduated from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in the early ’90s.

But after her last contract ended in early 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she struggled to land stable work.

Try as she might, the 51-year-old couldn’t land a regular job as a writer or a communicator no matter where she applied. Even the freelance gigs she would take from time to time dried up.

She drained her savings and eventually took out all the money she could from her locked-in retirement account. She even sold her condo.

“That’s when I knew I had to make changes,” Bailey told the Free Press. “COVID forced me to redefine my career and what I thought I was going to do for the rest of my life, so that I could financially survive and put food on the table for me and my high-school-aged son.”

At first, Bailey became a seasonal employee at Bath & Body Works back in October. “It wasn’t at all like the lucrative jobs I had over the years, but it was something I was still very proud of because I was able to pay my bills,” she said.

By Christmas, however, when coronavirus cases kept piling up in Manitoba and forced most businesses to close, Bailey was laid off along with most of the other seasonal staff.

By the time slow reopening measures were put forward in February, the lack of foot traffic at retailers meant she wasn’t asked to return to her job.

“There were a lot of tears, a lot of sleepless nights and tough decisions packed with anxiety,” she said. “All I did was just turn to any money I had saved up at all, whatsoever, and taking it all out. It was terrifying.”

In April, Bailey “got lucky,” when a friend referred her to a job.

Now, the Winnipegger works for Boulevard Meats and Deli at the Southdale Shopping Centre — where she cooks meals such as lasagna, cleans the family-owned store when she’s asked to, and is at the counter helping customers on most days of the week.

“It’s a big switch for me. Really big because I’m still getting used to it,” she said. “But what are you supposed to do when there’s just no jobs in your field for you to get anymore?”

Bailey isn’t the only one who has faced this reality, and been forced to switch careers.

According to Statistics Canada, more than three million Canadians were affected by job losses or reduced hours in March 2020, when pandemic restrictions first began.

Since then, while many businesses have begun to recover and start hiring back staff, others have not been so lucky.

Economists call this phenomenon the K-shaped recovery — where one segment of the economy climbs back up while another segment continues to suffer. Part of this phenomenon is the competition created or accelerated for fewer jobs in certain industries as others have ample opportunities.

The third wave of the pandemic has not helped, either. A recent poll commissioned by Express Employment Professionals in Winnipeg found 38 per cent of Canadian respondents have been unemployed for six months or less.

The survey also found that 62 per cent of a sample-sized group of 1,000 unemployed Canadian adults have been unable to find work for more than six months.

It’s why Bailey counts herself as one of the lucky ones, because she’s not only found a job that pays her bills, but one that she’s growing to love and enjoy every day.

“Of course, it hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies either,” she said. “While my daughter and son are really proud of me, and they often say how much stress-free I seem since I started this job compared to my communications jobs, there’s been lots of side-eyes and taunts from many other people.”

Bailey has had people spew lots of mean-spirited comments her way, calling her job at the deli “shallow and not real work because of what I did before,” she said.

“It’s been eye-opening to hear what people’s perspectives are for certain kinds of jobs. These are folks I’ve known forever. But you know what? I don’t want to live in my car and not pay my bills, waiting for a job when I could be doing something with myself that gets things done.”

Bailey isn’t sure when she’ll get back to writing full time, though she does take on any freelance work she gets — including a recent gig at the monthly Neighbours of Island Lakes magazine.

“At the end of the day, this is my story and this is my pivot. It might look a bit messy now, but that’s life, you know,” she said.

“For now, I’m just a happy trooper who’s happy to be working anywhere at all.”

temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur