. >> reporter: at home in mannasas, virginia, the bills are piling you up for david and his wife susanady in collections. >> we don't have anything more we can write a check today. >> no. >> reporter: david who made as much as $80,000 as a salesman to high-end restaurants, lost his job last october. he's been laid off three times in the past three years. three years three jobs. >> yes. >> reporter: what is that saying to you? >> over the years i've done very well in the industry and all of the sudden it's let go, let go, let go, and for me it's, it's depressing. >> reporter: but research shows workers who have been laid off once, if rehired, are more likely to be laid off again. 21%. that's one in five, face unemployment again within a year. >> you reach the point you were willing to apply to a fast food company for an assistant manager's job. >> $9 an hour. >> reporter: you didn't get it? >> no. >> reporter: when you made the choice to go to a fast food restaurant to apply, what were you saying to yourself? >> has it come to this, and that's with no disrespect to the people that work