Paul Nawrocki: the face of the recession
At the end of 2008, toy company exec Paul Nawrocki, 59 was laid off.
He then walked the streets of Manhattan wearing a sandwich board that said “Almost Homeless” and handing out his resume.
He became a celebrity – appearing on CNN, followed around by journalists, and in a few weeks gave more than 100 interviews in studios and on the streets.
Thus, he became the face of the recession.
Nawrocki and wife declared bankruptcy in 2009, got food stamps & attended food banks.
Still, he didn’t land a job until 2 years later, not because of his TV gigs, but traditional networking: a friend introducing him to his would-be employer.
He’s got 2 mortgages, one of them 6 months behind, so money is very tight, it might take a while for him to look for life insurance online quotes again.
His salary is almost half what he used to earn (it was USD100K/yr), but he’s thankful for the “rescue.”
