How does the euphemism "between assignments" affect the meaning of this sentence?

After twenty years as an insurance underwriter, Joe is pursuing a freelance journalism career and is currently between assignments.

I believe that it makes this sentence less depressing, if Joe is sad about losing his job. So he used to work as an insurance underwriter for 20 years, but has now left his job to be a freelance journalist. However, this job is obviously not going so well because he is "between assignments." This means that he is not currently writing anything, and is embarrassed to put it that way.