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Ted Casper, 60
In this Jan. 27, 2012 photo, Ted Casper of Edgerton, Wis., stands for a photograph in a machine shop at Blackhawk Technical College in Janesville, Wis. Casper, 62, who was laid off in 2009 from a semitrailer plant, is getting his second degree at the college in hopes of going into business for himself. He initially thought he'd rebound quickly. He was a skilled tool-and-die maker and had never been unemployed for more than a few days. "I thought I'd spend a week filling out applications," Casper says, "and I'd spend my next week deciding which of the three or four jobs I would take." He soon discovered he had misjudged. "It was a real eye-opening experience,' he says. “I started looking for work and no one was looking back." For the complete story on these faces beyond the numbers of long-term unemployed, go here. -
Dennis Hansen, 32
In this Jan. 24, 2012 photo, Dennis Hansen, an aquatics biologist who lost his job at a Minnesota lab in late 2009, stands on the shore of Lake Superior in Duluth, Minn. An aquatics biologist, Hansen has taught college, had his research published in scientific journals and spoken at conferences from New York to Hawaii, but in recent years, he's bounced from no job to temporary job to taking any job for a paycheck. In late 2009, the Duluth, Minn., lab where he worked as operations manager, testing the toxicity of chemicals (and the impact on fish and water), closed because of declining business. After a year without work, Hansen, 32, was hired to monitor Lake Michigan and Lake Superior water for the state and federal governments over two summers. He also had short stints as a census worker and as an extra post office hand during one holiday crush. -
Jon Creek, 35
In this Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 photo, Jon Creek pets his dogs Harley, left, and Memphis while studying for a graduate school admissions test at his home in Mason, Ohio. Creek, who lives in suburban Cincinnati, was a construction company office manager until he and almost everyone else at the firm were laid off in December 2007. He'd known the business was in trouble and says he actually turned down another better-paying job earlier, out of loyalty. It took 18 months to land part-time work as an insurance agent's assistant at $240 a week - a dollar less than his unemployment checks. -
J.R. Childress
In this Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012 photo, J.R. Childress searches on the computer for job opportunities at his home in Kernersville, N.C. Childress has been laid off twice since late 2009, most recently for 10 months. "Every day is a struggle," he says. "The struggle is the unknown. You've worked your way up the ladder and you get to a point in life and a position in work where you're comfortable ... then all of a sudden everything goes away. It's like being thrown into a hole and you're climbing to get up, but it's greased. There’s no way of getting out."
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