The economy ain't got no strings on me

[jackfaire]

I am curious am I the only one that has been largely unaffected by the economy?

Every single person that lost their job prior to 2008 many times being one of them as I was a Temp for 3 years was all, "Sucks okay find another job"

And shortly thereafter found another job.

Post 2008 it's been, "Economy sucks okay find another job"

and shortly thereafter found another job.

The people that I know that have been having problems finding jobs now are the same people that had problems doing so straight out of college and every time they lost a job after that.

To me and the people around me nothing has changed. In fact the company I work or has even been expanding and growing including hiring new people.

Yet everyday I hear how horrible it is.

Am I the only one that hasn't noticed a change in my quality of life?

[Rapscallion]

Am I the only one that hasn't noticed a change in my quality of life?

I'm unaffected, but I'm insulated due to my workplace. However, I'm aware that if my place crashed and burned then I'd struggle to get another job. To get a paper round over here you need a sodding degree.

It's an employer's market right now.

Rapscallion

[Andara Bledin]

Same with me an the boyfriend. If it weren't for the fact that the company we work for is in a good position for our industry, things might be very different. I know that a small number of our contemporaries have failed in the last couple of years.

^-.-^

[Gravekeeper]

I'm going to assume its locational in nature. Up here in Canada, where we stayed relatively stable through the shitstorm ( Omigawd, bank regulations work? WTF? ) I wasn't affected at all nor was anyone really around here. But I'm guessing its a twofold problem:

1) People that live in areas where the local economy did not endure well and the crisis pushed it over the edge. Maybe a lot of small to middle sized businesses, no larger corporations that could ride out the storm or even big ones that tanked due to their own shitty practices. So many of the small to middle employers vanished and if one big employer went down a big chunk of people would have been flushed back into the job market.

2) You have a society that's churning out college/university students in a wide variety of fields for which there are absolutely no jobs. They get sent out into society with a fuck ton of debt on them and a degree everyone's told them will land them a good job annnnnd they go straight back to flipping burgers so to speak. So everyone's competing for the same group of low end jobs instead of working in the field they're trained to work in and want to work in.

Employer's meanwhile, can indeed cherry pick whomever they want. But they're getting people with Bachelor's degrees applying for jobs at McDonalds. -.-

[Shangri-laschild]

Mostly unaffected too but I got lucky. My best friend worked where I now work and got me a part time job on second shift. My job was the part time equivalent of a 1st shift full time position. That person got fired and as a result of me covering for that position for about a month till they could do interview I was basically a shoe in for the full time union job. I know some unions have issues but mine's not too bad and having that job security has been nice. Plus as a community college, with the push for people to get more schooling and us being so cheap, things are only expanding where I work so it's a safer environment job wise.

While most of the people I know who are out of work are the types that you were mentioning, my roommate had a hard time finding a job as well. He's got a college degree and is a very hard worker. Not only that, he's nice and very personable. He's worked at at least one bank and as a lead customer service desk person at a grocery store. He worked for a video game company for a while as a "temp" (they stay on for the video game but after release, they are let go) and afterwards he had a lot of trouble getting hired. He was trying for several months straight with the threat of me not resigning a lease with him after ours was up. He lucked out and the video game company started hiring for their next video game again and he got back on just in time. No one else was interested in hiring him though and I know he searched a lot of places. Thank god he recently got one of the full time slots that opened. He's a great roommate, but when he's unemployed, he turns to me for all of his social interaction and I end up going a little crazy :)

[Gravekeeper]

No one else was interested in hiring him though and I know he searched a lot of places.

Yeah, that'd be it right there. One side's overqualified, the other side doesn't have enough experience to apply for a better job, but they're both competing for the same position as a cashier. As an employer, do you want the guy with no experience that you can train and will stick around, or the guy with the degree whom you know is going to bail the moment he can find the job he wants? -.-

[Shangri-laschild]

As an employer, do you want the guy with no experience that you can train and will stick around, or the guy with the degree whom you know is going to bail the moment he can find the job he wants? -.-

Amusingly enough, he majored in history which has nothing to do with the career he wants (working at the video game company). Honestly, I'd say it would depend more on the person if I were the one doing the hiring. The guy with no experience is untested with no references for how well he can do that kind of job. The guy with experience, like you said, might not be there for long. Either way it's a gamble. The guy with experience may last longer if the other guy ends up being crap at that kind of thing. It would depend on the person :) but then again I've been told sometimes my logic is odd :D

[Gravekeeper]

The guy with no experience is untested with no references for how well he can do that kind of job.

But he'd also be easier to mold into a good little obedient drone that's going to do whatever you say and put up with whatever you tell them to do. -.-

[guywithashovel]

I graduated from grad school in August 2008, and for the next year, I felt the recession because I was struggling to find permanent employment in my field. Eventually, I found it, and ever since then, it has almost felt like the economy was just fine. However, when I read the news, I see otherwise.

Here's another thing that I've noticed though (and yes, this doesn't really prove anything, but it's fun to point out): If I go to a mall or restaurant during the weekend, I could swear the economy was booming. We often go out to eat on the weekends, and sometimes we get the urge to go to Olive Garden. Every, single. time. we go there, it's a 20-minute wait to get a table.

Apparently, some people are weathering things out okay.

[Greenday]

Well, it didn't affect me. I got an internship in 2004, worked it during summer and winter breaks, it became official when I graduated. Could have kept that job, but I decided to hit the job market anyway and scored my current job after looking for about five months or so. It was tough because most chemist jobs weren't hiring people without experience but my company decided to try it out (I'm the first person they've hired who didn't have experience that wasn't an internship).

My aunt switched jobs a few times without too much trouble. Even my cousin with a decent record building up and is still mentally a child (he's 24) has been able to land some decent paying jobs (which he got fired from all of them because he rarely showed up).

I dunno. You here about how tough it is, yet I got a job, my aunt got jobs, my cousin got jobs, two of my best friends got jobs in their fields, another started his own business and is doing alright.

[jackfaire]

2) You have a society that's churning out college/university students in a wide variety of fields for which there are absolutely no jobs.

Part of the problem is that every time a student starts college he is told, "This is the big field missing lots of people right now"

Four years later everyone that used that fact to pick their major floods the marketplace and suddenly there are more people looking for that kind of job than their are jobs.

[FArchivist]

To me and the people around me nothing has changed. In fact the company I work or has even been expanding and growing including hiring new people.

Yet everyday I hear how horrible it is.

Am I the only one that hasn't noticed a change in my quality of life?

1) I personally have not experienced a change in my quality of life, but that's simply because I can't get fired. If I get caught fucking a direct subordinate in the meeting room during the time in which I am supposed to be supervising, I'll just get demoted a level (how I got my current position). The only way I could get fired is by being arrested. My job is permanent and secure; I need at least 3 VPs to sign off on a firing.

2) For everyone else I know, it's fucking horrible. People who were well employed in professional positions now cannot get another job as accountants, as paralegals, as programmers. The market is flooded. Nobody is hiring and several corporations in the Atlanta area have adopted "no hiring if surplused" models in their employment practices. The IT world here in Atlanta is especially bad, in comparison to how it was pre-2008.

[jackfaire]

FArchivist how much of that is trimming the fat

I have often been curious at various companies I have worked how rather than give a raise to us lower end employees they hire 5 different supervisors all doing the same job.

It makes me wonder how many of those people that lost their jobs were doing the same job as 20 other people.

I am not saying that is the only reason people lose their jobs but I wonder how often it does happen.

One concern I have is I am going back to school for my degree in Psychology and will either be a therapist or a high school guidance counselor but unless the market is either flooded or needing people it's hard to find out if it's a good direction or bad.

[FArchivist]

FArchivist how much of that is trimming the fat I have often been curious at various companies I have worked how rather than give a raise to us lower end employees they hire 5 different supervisors all doing the same job.

Well, considering that none of the people I know who have been laid off have been management or supervisors of ANY stripe and that the reactions in those departments where people were laid off was to:
a) take the fired people's workload and put it on everyone else
b) convert everyone to salary
c) require metrics that would require people to work overtime, but they can't get paid overtime because, hey, you're on salary and there's no OT compensation for that
I would say not a lot of fat trimming. I don't know about you, but the people I saw getting laid off have been worker bees, not management.

[jackfaire]

I would say not a lot of fat trimming. I don't know about you, but the people I saw getting laid off have been worker bees, not management.

*Shrugs* Most of the people I have heard of and seen being laid off were management.

Some of which were complaining about having to take jobs like mine where they still make more money than I do at it.

[smileyeagle1021]

It took my husband over a year to find a new job, mainly because he doesn't have a car, and the transit authority here sucks, employers know it, and when they have 5 people applying for one job, they will choose the person with a car every time. Now that he has a job he has very little risk of losing it, but it took a long time to find someone who was willing to look at his qualification rather than just saying "oh, you don't have reliable transportation, no thanks"
Where I'm at though is doing holy shit hiring... I know that this though is probably at the expense of somewhere else losing jobs to our increasing market share (the two departments I'm familiar with have gone from a combined size of 400 to over 600 since August).

[IDrinkaRum]

Here in the Northern Virginia area, it's the same thing.

When I was working at a Temp Agency, the person I was working with told me that it was a good thing I had a car because she (and other in this particular Temp Agency) never looked at an applicant that didn't have a car and had to rely on public transportation.

And this was 10-15 years ago.

Hubs uses a bus provided for the employer for all the employees who still live in Virginia (the Government Agency was sent to Maryland). I prefer when he uses the bus, but I know he sometimes has to drive in which I hate because he comes home later. (To avoid traffic).

[protege]

2) For everyone else I know, it's fucking horrible. People who were well employed in professional positions now cannot get another job as accountants, as paralegals, as programmers. The market is flooded. Nobody is hiring and several corporations in the Atlanta area have adopted "no hiring if surplused" models in their employment practices. The IT world here in Atlanta is especially bad, in comparison to how it was pre-2008.

I remember the 1998-on internet bubble. Everyone, their mom, and their dog...wanted to get online. Quite a few online firms were started, took off...and then crashed and burned by 2001. I know several people who lost their jobs after the bubble burst. It sucks, but even though Pittsburgh has a thriving tech industry now...it's still difficult to get a job.

As for accountants, at least locally, there are jobs out there. Provided...you're willing to work for peanuts, as well as get your CPA. I could make more at *McDonald's* than at some of those firms. Sorry, but fuck that. What happened, is that there was an office of Arthur Andersen (then one of the "Big Six" accounting firms) downtown. When Enron unraveled, Andersen found itself in trouble--they'd been tainted--and nobody wanted them handling their finances. Andersen imploded, flooding the job market with unemployed accountants, many of whom gobbled up the better-paying jobs. That's why salaries are down, and why those jobs are difficult to fill.

[blas87]

Since 2008, I've been "laid off" (temporarily, one to two weeks at a time) at least four times. Even with UE, that still doesn't come close to what I actually make. It's a big loss.

We still got merit raises last year and this year, but it doesn't help that the price of food, raw materials for clothes, parts for cars, etc etc, have went up. You don't get cost of living raises, after all.

And now because of how much I make, I lose almost $30 if I take a day off, because they don't pay you your shift premium for taking a day off, neither does holiday pay. I was standing to lose so much this holiday (two days off) , that I ended up going in for extra hours just to make that up.

[HYHYBT]

Nobody wants me even for burger flipping... whether that's despite, or because, I was with McDonald's for fourteen years is anybody's guess.

(And it sounds like taking accounting courses in the meantime was a mistake.)

[Panacea]

1) I personally have not experienced a change in my quality of life, but that's simply because I can't get fired. If I get caught fucking a direct subordinate in the meeting room during the time in which I am supposed to be supervising, I'll just get demoted a level (how I got my current position). The only way I could get fired is by being arrested. My job is permanent and secure; I need at least 3 VPs to sign off on a firing.

I . . . I'm not really sure what this says about you. Did you mean to write it that way?

The unemployment level for college grads is about 5%, which is about 5% less than the general population. The people having the most trouble are older workers, because companies have this reluctance to hire older workers who either may want more money or not stick around long enough.

In my profession (nursing) we've had a shortage for years. But hospitals are in financial trouble, so they've been downsizing for the past couple of years. This is cyclical; some bean counter will decide nurses are costing too much so they'll implement hiring freezes and even lay offs. That's what's happening right now.

Then patient outcomes will hit the toilet and someone will say, "We need to improve outcomes and that means hiring more staff." Then they'll hire more nurses, outcomes will improve until somebody decides we're paying too much on nurses and round and round we go :rolleyes:

When I first started teaching, students had their pick of jobs. This was 6 years ago. Now they're waiting six months to get a job, and it's not always the one they want or the hours they want. But most of them are getting jobs where they want within a year of starting working. I don't know of any of them who have NOT gotten a job.

My standard of living is essentially unchanged. I have a state job and teach in a field still considered in high demand; I'm in no danger of layoffs unlike other professors, and in a field where adjuncts don't work well based on our teaching philosophy (we only use adjuncts in clinic, never in the classroom). I haven't gotten a raise in 3 years and am unlikely to any time soon. This is why I work both a second and a third job (as a college professor I make far less than I would working as a floor nurse in the hospital).

I'm comfortable. My bills are paid, I am able to save a bit, and have the occasional splurge on something really cool. But I haven't taken a vacation in years and am unlikely to anytime in the near future. The closest I had to one was a weekend camping about 3 years ago.

Not everyone has my luxuries, though. And some people continue to spend as if they did, which is why the restaurants are full and Black Friday madness is what it is. We still haven't gotten away from a consumer driven economy.

As bad as our economy got (and it's better than it was two years ago), it could have been far, far worse. Many people still really struggle, and that's easy to miss if you're not part of the 9% or so who's unemployed.

[Gravekeeper]

The unemployment level for college grads is about 5%, which is about 5% less than the general population.


Specifically, it's 4.4% for over 25 with a Bachelor's degree. 8.3% otherwise. 9.6% with just a high school diploma. 13.8% without any education. Also, 85% of college grads end up living with their parents again (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/of_college_grads_return_to_nest_kjMXejGjOymsRom3pz 9gaM?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=) after graduation. >.>

[Andara Bledin]

Nobody wants me even for burger flipping... whether that's despite, or because, I was with McDonald's for fourteen years is anybody's guess.
You're overqualified.

Even while the economy was still booming (nearly 20 years ago), I couldn't even get MacDonalds to call me back, and that was without any experience in anything to speak of. But I could type, and that made me too great a risk of taking off at the first opportunity, so I wasn't worth hiring.

The manager at the place I've been working for the last 16+ years also mentioned that he was afraid that I wouldn't stick around because I was massively overqualified for the job they were hiring for; I only got it because the company has a habit of practicing nepotism (extending to friends of current employees) whenever feasible.

The people having the most trouble are older workers, because companies have this reluctance to hire older workers who either may want more money or not stick around long enough.
Don't forget the much higher cost of insuring older full-time staff. Also, while some of them do get hired, it's much more likely to be for a position that doesn't receive medical benefits.

^-.-^

[Rageaholic]

I wish I could say the same. I have not been able to find a job yet and I have been searching for over 3 years. You'd think I'd be able to just walk right in and say "hey I'm willing to work", but it's never that simple. I'm competing against several other people for the same minimum wage position and all my competitors have experience and charisma, something I don't.

Sorry to sound bitter, but this is a pretty depressing topic for me.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

I wish I could say the same. I have not been able to find a job yet and I have been searching for over 3 years. You'd think I'd be able to just walk right in and say "hey I'm willing to work", but it's never that simple. I'm competing against several other people for the same minimum wage position and all my competitors have experience and charisma, something I don't.

Sorry to sound bitter, but this is a pretty depressing topic for me.

I feel you. I made the mistake of taking Journalism courses in college back in 2001 , this was right around the time the newspaper industry fell at the hands of the Internet. There just aren't many decent journalism positions left.

I still write, but I have since turned my attention to fiction writing (hoping to self publish a couple of novels).

Job wise, I consider myself lucky in that since the recession began, I have never been unemployed. In the summer of 2008, I took a manager-in-training position with a wireless company, but when the bottom started falling out and the company started closing locations left and right, I knew it was time to bail, since I could not manage what didn't exist.

I took a full time retail job which I still do part-time. In October of 2010 I took a second job working at a sandwich shop (which I got because my friend was the manager there) to help make ends meet. This past summer I was fortunate enough to land a full time position at one of the nearby Casinos. The pay isn't stellar but I do enjoy the work and there's some decent benefits (something very hard to come by these days).

So currently I have the casino job and the part time retail job. I'm not making a fortune, but my wife and I are getting by.

I do plan to go back to college in the New Year to train in, of all things, Funeral Directing. I've already spoken to the head of that program who told me there is definitely a demand for trained professionals in that industry.

I'm hoping to have a stable career either as a writer or as a funeral director (or perhaps both) within the next few years, but I do feel lucky I've been able to hold down a job one way or the other throughout the whole downturn.


Nobody wants me even for burger flipping... whether that's despite, or because, I was with McDonald's for fourteen years is anybody's guess.


That's because they think you're going to bail the instant something better comes along. The same reason a lot of older people can't get lower paying positions.

[Panacea]

And now because of how much I make, I lose almost $30 if I take a day off, because they don't pay you your shift premium for taking a day off, neither does holiday pay. I was standing to lose so much this holiday (two days off) , that I ended up going in for extra hours just to make that up.

Ouch. That sucks. I read all the time about how people should try to save up six months living expenses, but it's really hard to save that much. But when you work minimum wage, everything goes to paying the bills, so how are people supposed to save? I know it can be done, but it's not easy and one disaster is all it takes to ruin someone. :(

Specifically, it's 4.4% for over 25 with a Bachelor's degree. 8.3% otherwise. 9.6% with just a high school diploma. 13.8% without any education. Also, 85% of college grads end up living with their parents again (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/of_college_grads_return_to_nest_kjMXejGjOymsRom3pz 9gaM?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=) after graduation. >.>

I stand corrected ;) Can you blame them for moving back in with Mom and Dad, with all the student loan debt they took out just to GO to school?

I do plan to go back to college in the New Year to train in, of all things, Funeral Directing. I've already spoken to the head of that program who told me there is definitely a demand for trained professionals in that industry.

I'm hoping to have a stable career either as a writer or as a funeral director (or perhaps both) within the next few years, but I do feel lucky I've been able to hold down a job one way or the other throughout the whole downturn.

Well, the Baby Boomers are going to start dropping off in droves in about 10 or 15 years so you'll probably be in demand.

Then when the Boomers are all done, the job market will crash and burn because Gen X and Gen Y birth rates really dropped :lol:

[HYHYBT]

So what do I do, then? I'm nearly finished with the accounting program I've been in the last two years, but there don't seem to be any jobs in that. And while food service apparently considers experience a negative, everything else I'd think of as about the same level wants what seem to me ridiculous amounts of experience or odd skills. One place I applied as cashier would only consider me for cart pusher, and turned me down, if I understood right (they never tell directly) because my Spanish isn't so good of all things. I'm honest and likable (in person, at least), I learn quickly and WORK when on the clock, I don't do drugs or spread gossip... but I see people with the opposite qualities get hired all the time.

Of course, my resume is awful. I don't mean it's formatted in an ugly manner or has the wrong content; I just don't have much to work with that looks good.

[jackfaire]

Amusingly every single job I was at college for, I dropped out, is now one where the market is flooded and I would be out of work.

The only job I ever wanted that is never truly flooded is being a Writer and I don't need a degree for that.

[HYHYBT]

Well, that depends. It's hard to make a living as a writer, even if you're good at it.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

Well, that depends. It's hard to make a living as a writer, even if you're good at it.

Welcome to my world. That's why I do writing as a side project at the moment. If I make a little extra money with it, great, but I am not willing to go full time on it yet.

[jackfaire]

Well, that depends. It's hard to make a living as a writer, even if you're good at it.

Oh I know my dad was a writer too. Made money on his technical books but never on his fiction.

I never even as a kid planned on making money on it. If I am one of the few that does become that successful hey great but I knew that to be a writer I would need two things.

One. A Job to pay the bills

Two. Ideas.

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

Oh I know my dad was a writer too. Made money on his technical books but never on his fiction.

I never even as a kid planned on making money on it. If I am one of the few that does become that successful hey great but I knew that to be a writer I would need two things.

One. A Job to pay the bills

Two. Ideas.

See I have both of those. I'm great with ideas, but terrible on follow through. I finally did complete a book earlier this year (go me!) but I have no less than three unfinished projects on my hard drive right now.

[jackfaire]

See I have both of those. I'm great with ideas, but terrible on follow through. I finally did complete a book earlier this year (go me!) but I have no less than three unfinished projects on my hard drive right now.

Me too but I guess I was trying to say that for me writing is my career but I work a job so I don't have to be results oriented.

[Gravekeeper]

See I have both of those. I'm great with ideas, but terrible on follow through. I finally did complete a book earlier this year (go me!) but I have no less than three unfinished projects on my hard drive right now.

To only have three <looks wistful> sigh. >.>

I have an alarming amount of writing that's never seen the light of day. I'm not even going to hazard a guess at how many books worth. I may begin to weep.