Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich takes on the white collar world in
Bait and Switch. Using her maiden name and an invented resume, she applies for corporate positions in public relations, all to no avail. Along the way, she discovers the world of the white collar unemployment, where skilled workers struggle to find a job, any job, and where an industry has emerged to take advantage of them. She reveals how career coaches, resume writers, and motivational gurus prey on the desperation of these people, and how many finally have to settle for menial labor and minimum wage jobs.
Bait and Switch has received mixed reviews with the New York Times saying, "
Bait and Switch is about a process rather than an end result, and it captures that process all too clearly. As usual, Ms. Ehrenreich makes great, acerbic company for the reader and tells her story knowingly."
