Comment Re:Not entirely surprising (Score 1) 67
When I worked at an unnamed company, this was the rule. HR said, "If someone else isn't sticking their neck out and employing them, then why should we?" In fact, candidates were screened by if they were actively working or not.
This is very common. Was common for 5+ years after 2000, 4+ years after 2008.
Men have been steadily dropping out of the workforce since the 1960's. It's a gradual descent, but still constantly downward. Right now we have a male non-labor participation rate that's extraordinarily high for a non-depression economy. A lot of men have simply decided they're not going to work if someone else... family, government, whoever... can support them. So a male applying for a job that hasn't worked in years throws up all kinds of work-ethic red flags to HR departments. No one wants to be the workplace where that guy struggles to become productive again.