Maria Aspin

It's been pretty hard. For this story, I spent a lot of time talking to Candice Birdsong Williams. She was a top executive with almost two decades of experience in this field, doing things like creating mentorship programs to help underrepresented employees get more visibility and opportunities at the office.

It's been pretty hard. For this story, I spent a lot of time talking to Candice Birdsong Williams. She was a top executive with almost two decades of experience in this field, doing things like creating mentorship programs to help underrepresented employees get more visibility and opportunities at the office.

It's been pretty hard. For this story, I spent a lot of time talking to Candice Birdsong Williams. She was a top executive with almost two decades of experience in this field, doing things like creating mentorship programs to help underrepresented employees get more visibility and opportunities at the office.

But she was laid off from her last company last summer, and she hasn't been able to find a new job. This is what Birdsong Williams told me when I visited her at home in Raleigh this spring.

But she was laid off from her last company last summer, and she hasn't been able to find a new job. This is what Birdsong Williams told me when I visited her at home in Raleigh this spring.

But she was laid off from her last company last summer, and she hasn't been able to find a new job. This is what Birdsong Williams told me when I visited her at home in Raleigh this spring.

We tell a lot more of her story in a new digital feature that published today at NPR.org. Now, Birdsong Williams is just one person, of course. But now we know that there are thousands of people who have been living through this very changing and now very politicized job market.

We tell a lot more of her story in a new digital feature that published today at NPR.org. Now, Birdsong Williams is just one person, of course. But now we know that there are thousands of people who have been living through this very changing and now very politicized job market.

We tell a lot more of her story in a new digital feature that published today at NPR.org. Now, Birdsong Williams is just one person, of course. But now we know that there are thousands of people who have been living through this very changing and now very politicized job market.

Thanks so much.

Thanks so much.

Thanks so much.

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Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon Prime members can listen to Up First sponsor-free through Amazon Music.

Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon Prime members can listen to Up First sponsor-free through Amazon Music.

The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, also known as the Old Guard, placed American flags at more than 260,000 headstones, and on Sunday, visitors placed flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at grave sites throughout the more than 600-acre cemetery. The first decoration day, now known as Memorial Day, was held at Arlington National Cemetery in 1868.

The 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment, also known as the Old Guard, placed American flags at more than 260,000 headstones, and on Sunday, visitors placed flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and at grave sites throughout the more than 600-acre cemetery. The first decoration day, now known as Memorial Day, was held at Arlington National Cemetery in 1868.

Service members from every major American war dating back to the Revolutionary War are interred at the cemetery. Recent presidents have typically participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day, honoring fallen service members and commemorating their sacrifices. Ava Pukach, NPR News.

Service members from every major American war dating back to the Revolutionary War are interred at the cemetery. Recent presidents have typically participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day, honoring fallen service members and commemorating their sacrifices. Ava Pukach, NPR News.

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