ABC News has reported the sobering tale of 49-year-old Ken Karpman, a UCLA graduate who, until 2005, was earning $750,000-a-year as an institutional equity salesperson, and had enjoyed at least a six-figure income for most of his professional life.

Karpman struggled after establishing his own hedge fund in 2005, and quickly burned through $500,000 of savings after finding it difficult to attract clients in the wake of the financial crisis that followed the collapse of the US property market. His luxury home is close to being repossessed (the mortgage in said to be two years in arrears), the Mercedes no longer works as he can't afford to fix the transmission, he and his wife (they have two young children) have over $100,000 in credit card debts, and have only survived courtesy of food stamps.

Trying everything to get a job as the recession began to bite, Karpman struggled. 'When I used to go into a job interview, I probably came across as a jerk, because I was like interviewing (the interviewer) to see whether (the) firm was worthy of me. Now it's kind of like you almost feel like you're coming in with your hat in your hand'.

After being turned down for almost every kind of job out there, including bar work, Karpman finally bagged a job as a pizza delivery man - earning $7.29-an-hour (plus tips). 'This whole progression down, it's amazing how many things you say, 'I can't do', and a week later you say, 'Yeah, I could do that'.' And as for Pizza delivery ? 'Pizza was a step up', Karpman said, 'I'm not going to make a career out of this but, until I get something that pays more, this is what I'll do to keep food on the table'.

And although Karpman's story is probably an extreme example, all around the world former financial market professionals are being forced into taking lower-paying jobs just to make ends meet. Some are training to be teachers (and good on 'em), others are working in restaurants and shopping malls. One former banker (now a waiter) told Here Is The City: 'Soon after I started, I had to wait on a table of cocky bankers throwing their cash around. They were so rude and arrogant and I was about to explode. Then I remembered - just a few months ago that would have been me. I was one of the as.holes then. How times change'.

'Would you swap with them now, given the chance ?', we ask him. 'You bet I would - in an instant. Being an as.hole sure beats serving one any day!'.

Reader Comment

'As a mortgage broker who has been making 6 figures since the boom ( I started in 2001), I can certainly relate to all this. I'd make $10 - 15k a month on a 30 - 35-hour week. Now I'm working twice as hard, and am not even making half as much. My wife has now had to work for the first time in 7 years, and we're driving beater cars and are thankful that they even run. Providing for 3 young kids has also taken on a whole new dimension. And I know a whole slew of guys from the mortgage biz just like me - one minute you've got the world on a string, and the next your car is repossessed and your house is going into foreclosure'.

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