How the opioid crisis decimated the American workforce
In northeastern Ohio, employers say they see jobseekers all the time who look like "the walking dead," would-be workers struggling with opioid addiction. The problem is so great, reports economics...
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MICHAEL OATES, Welder: I would wake up in the morning and take four pills and snort two. That's just to get out of bed. PAUL SOLMAN: Michael Oates, a lifelong welder, is recovering from a 10-year opioid addiction which began when he took Vicodin for pain while working at a steel mill. Did you lose the job? MICHAEL OATES: Actually, my job went to China. And that was my excuse to do even more pills. PAUL SOLMAN: Have you worked since? MICHAEL OATES: I have had four or five different jobs since then. PAUL SOLMAN: And what happened to those jobs? MICHAEL OATES: I lost them all due to being addicted to opiates. They would random drug-test me, and I would be like, well, see you later. I would walk out. I even got caught one time with synthetic urin...
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MICHAEL OATES, Welder: I would wake up in the morning and take four pills and snort two. That's just to get out of bed. PAUL SOLMAN: Michael Oates, a lifelong welder, is recovering from a 10-year opioid addiction which began when he took Vicodin for pain while working at a steel mill. Did you lose the job? MICHAEL OATES: Actually, my job went to China. And that was my excuse to do even more pills. PAUL SOLMAN: Have you worked since? MICHAEL OATES: I have had four or five different jobs since then. PAUL SOLMAN: And what happened to those jobs? MICHAEL OATES: I lost them all due to being addicted to opiates. They would random drug-test me, and I would be like, well, see you later. I would walk out. I even got caught one time with synthetic urin...
