his marketing skills. The comfort of living with
his parents.
Saigh was eager to start over after being laid off
in 2019 from a Detroit-area marketing company.
After a half-year of searching for work, Saigh
decided it would be cheaper to continue his
quest from home. He moved in with his parents
in Iron River, in Michigan’ s Upper Peninsula.
A few months later, Saigh was hired to lead a
nonprofit attached to his local hospital. He’d
be working 5 miles from home, reuniting with
friends in Iron River, population 3,000 — and
doing something positive for his community.
“It was just perfect,” he says. “It was like, “Wow!
Everything is falling in place.”
Then the pandemic swooped in. Hospitals faced
new financial pressures. The offer was rescinded.
Saigh went from dream job to no job.
It was back to sending out resumes, checking
LinkedIn, canvassing for interviews during one
of the most brutal job markets in decades. “It can
be overwhelming at times just to go through
this again,” he says.
He considers himself lucky, avoiding rent and
other expenses living with his parents. He
recently turned down a job offer to head a local
economic organization; it didn’t seem like the
right fit, and he feared there might not be money
for the position beyond the end of the year.
Now, Saigh plans to do some photo and video
freelance work as he tries to land another job.
He’s adjusted to an economy where so much
remains unknown.
“I’ve learned that you can’t possibly plan for
everything and, though it’s a cliche, you’ve just