
1980s Unemployment Rate: What Job Seekers Can Learn from the Decade
The 1980s taught job seekers that a recession can turn a picky search into a take-what-you-can-get scramble.

Author profile
Vlad Budko is a founder, operator, and writer focused on building software companies from the ground up. He is the Co-founder and CEO of GrowKong Group, where he connects product creation, distribution, operating systems, and founder judgment to build and grow first-party products. Over the past decade, Vlad has built businesses across e-commerce, marketplaces, and AI — including scaling and exiting an e-commerce company before turning his focus to technology and company building. He writes about the practical side of tech: how ideas become products, how products become durable businesses, and how founders make better decisions under uncertainty. Based in the United States, Vlad has lived and worked across Eastern Europe, Asia, and the US. His writing combines a global perspective with firsthand experience in building teams, products, and systems that work beyond the pitch deck.
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The 1980s taught job seekers that a recession can turn a picky search into a take-what-you-can-get scramble.

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