Well guys, its time to ask the most important question of this year, Hows it going? Have family and friends suffered during this economic downturn? Just think if the fed drops the bottom out of the market by flooding the economy with new money it just created we will all soon be screwed. For one i am concerned, I graduate in October (finish uni in july) and i don't think there will be a job for me to go to. I am a product designer, but how can you design when there is no market, no one buying anything because they have no money, or are saving it. I am thinking of starting up my own business but i am not sure how long this will last. If it continues for more than 3 years we will all be in serious trouble. Here is something to ponder while you have your lunch http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/scenes_from_the_recession.html
I'm fine thank you. I make websites, and a lot of people are turning to the web as an alternative to their usual print adverts which is great for us. My Dad is worried about his job though. More experienced pilots are having a tough time of it at the moment as it's cheaper to hire the newbs. A friend of mine is having a bit of trouble getting a job after leaving his old one. He has a second interview today though as a gadget reviewer which is pretty ****ing awesome if you ask me... Fingers crossed for him today! There are some awesome deals on electronics at the moment too which is awesome, but ironically makes my life more expensive...
I'm a software tester in service of a company that finds me assignemnts (detachering in Dutch, dunno in English), and i just got a raise, so i'm perfectly fine. IT is a heavily impacted industry, but so far my company seems to be shrugging it off pretty easily. I'll find out how bad things are soon enough, because i'll need to start looking for a next assignment in three weeks. I'm not worried though. +1
People are thinking about how to spend their money more at the moment, so critical journalism is doing OK.
i'm a research council-funded phd student, so i'm pretty much OK for the next three years. also i have, rather insanely generously, been given a house that i'm renting for an extra income, but my funding and living arrangements are set up in such a way as to allow me to save all the income from the rent - minus tax and any expenses it incurs. it means i can't live an extravagant lifestyle, but hey, three years down the line i'll have a deposit for my own house. so, yeah, i'm OK. i have a sneaking suspicion this thread will be used as an invitation to gloat. that would be dickish.
Pretty **** ATM, stuck in a job in a harvester kitchen right now because there's too many job seekers and not very many jobs so employers are being really picky about experience. From what I can tell the bottom rung of the ladder has all but broken.
as a student - fine, probably best place to be. working for myself in various aspects of IT - it's interesting. Blowing hot and cold. One minute there will be loads of work, one minute there will be nothing.
meh, you can have a lot of fun at home with friends. invite em round, divvy a budget up on snacks and drinks, get the xbox fired up, sorted. we have started having regular poker nights. great fun, and dirt cheap (we don't play with cash).
I'm in Web Design, Development & SEO and I have never been so busy. I'm building websites for people that would otherwise nor even think about having one. Our area, east central Iowa, has seen some layoffs from larger companies, and construction is down from previous years, but for the most part it's not too bad.
Being a student set to graduate in summer 2010 I'm a little worried about the future, with the uncertainty of the future I've decided to continue my education after my degree and pursue a masters. Whilst I'm doing the masters I'll work on a business idea I have, it'll keep me busy, focussed and optimistic. So the hope is that by summer 2011 things will look better, with the masters under my belt and small business making some pocket money, no matter what happens to the economy, I'll know I've tried to do something. A few of my friends have not been so lucky. One was working for a multinational bank until the other week, when she mysteriously got suspended for sending personal emails even though she stopped sending emails altogether the second she got a warning months ago. Her and a bunch of others received the same fate and got fired. Sure enough, the bank announced job cuts today.... the *******s. As for the now, I still get to socialise with friends, we now take advantage of offers when we go out: orange wednesdays, 241 at restaurants, 50% pizza hut delivery and sometimes we even just do something simple, like game night or movie night. I'm surprised the girlfriend is also quiet understanding of the current situation and we tend to do things that dont cost money at all alot more nowadays.
I'm a street-canvasser for a tour bus company in York, so I've got a secure job (especially as people will be staying in England for their holiday this year, abroad is too expensive)
Up the stakes and play for a pound! You'd be amazed how much longer that keeps my interest in poker. I last a whole half an hour before going all in!
If you friend honestly adhered to the warning, she has considerable legal legs to stand on - industrial tribunal, unfair dismissal sort of thing. I recommend getting in touch with an employment solicitor, more specifically, Stone Joseph, at www.stonejoseph.com . They did some very very good work for a friend of mine and netted a serious amount of compensation for him, he got dismissed in very similar circumstances.
I've got a month to get a job or else I'll be kicked out. Yah, it's like my parents don't even know this recession is happening, so they set unrealistic expectations. There isn't a single job available here, so I'm just getting my things ready.
To cut a long story short I ended up going self employed this year. Left one industry and just couldn't get the positions I wanted and the one I did get I just couldn't get into it so I left. It's starting to snowball a little now and I would imagine by the end of the year I will be earning what I was at the end of last year while doing about 25% of the hours. Loving it.
I was hammering onto her with the same reason, unfair dismissal, considering she listened to the initial warning. She's lost the will and was trying for over a year to get another job so I think she's accepted this as her only way out. Maybe I'll keep the pressure on. Thanks for the recommendation JuliamMartin.
