Stories of Restart. How adults cope with unemployment

Abstract

In contemporary society, work is undergoing a transformation that affects its symbolic, identity, and social dimensions. Job losses can be challenging and disorienting, disrupting the linear progression of one's professional life and leading to personal vulnerability, social exclusion, and marginalization from the labour market. The article examines the social and personal implications of unemployment and precariousness, with the aim of deepening the relationship between life and work. The analysis of ten narrative interviews with individuals who have experienced unemployment, based on a phenomenological approach, reveals feelings of helplessness and disempowerment that have an impact on family and social life, as well as new dimensions of awareness, confidence and self-awareness, both professional and personal, that, with the help and participation of the community, can generate processes of personal meaning, dignity and value.