Economy - how has it affected your career/employer?

Well, that didn't turn out like I thought. The plant closed last December, and I've been out of work for 5 months now. I was approved for Trade Adjustment Act benefits, so I'll be starting college courses in August. 401K is still taking a hit though! (also, I'm 54 now)

 

I punched out of the Navy last year and am going to school on my GIbill while paying off debts (truck, credit card) I took 1 semester of student loans and dont plan to take anymore. Wichita is the aircraft capital of the world and its hit or miss weekly on the job market here. I know tons of guys that are laid off and working odd jobs to make ends meet. My heart goes out to the "old timers" with 15+ years at one company that get the boot.

 

I work in oil/gas industry & I have seen the up's & down's. I thank God everyday I wake up in the morning with the task of going to work.

 

I work for the government here in Cali, so our budget is being hit hard. We have been taking furloughs every month this year. We are looking at about 5000 layoffs next month as well as potential paycuts. I hope the wife and I keep our jobs. I feel so bad for those that have lost their jobs and I can't imagine how they do it. I don't know what I would do.

 

my job is going to china in january

 

That sucks! Are they moving you to a different job or placement? Or are you loosing your job completely?

 

I am moving to a different part of the factory that will be around for a few more years. the job is extremely boring as i will be working 360 of the same processing tools, which are the size of a regular fridge.

its a job, I am grateful, and I feel for those not so fortunate.
God speed to those not so lucky.

 

so far i have not been affected (vigorously knock on wood) too bad. we had 3 people for onsite support, but that has recently been dropped down to 2 people, and the 3rd guy was moved into only video conferencing so we were all able to keep our jobs. although i am doing hte job of 2 people now without a raise, but i still have a job. so i've been affected by having to do more work with no extra cash, but other than that i have not been affected.

 

I work for a regional telecommunications company.

We haven't seen too much downturn in subscribers. But the department I work in has gone seen an impact this year. Not nearly as much business as last year. Last year we were swamped....everyone was upgrading networks, phone systems, servers, you name it!

This year it's not looking good. This is an oil town I work in...and I think the price of oil has a lot of the companies cutting way back on budgets.

Only saving grace was a $600,000 contract to totally redo the network at a local mining company. Start on that next month.

 

I complete my 20 years of service this November.....so I'll be on the lookout for a job in the next few months. Thankfully I completed my BS in health sciences and have my masters paid for, GI Bill, so I can go to school and get a part time job until I complete my masters.

 

This economy has effected work hard. Ive been testing with several fire departments for the past few years. I have my CA FF1 FF2 and close to 20 other state fire marshall certs. Ive been teaching at the fire academy for 3 years, teaching emt for 3 years, working full time (48-96) on a 911 based ambulance for 3 years, and have been a reserve for 2 years. Every time this year I have made it to talk to the chief, they have told me that due to the budget they have to hire medics. No problem with me if these medics had any fire experience. But they dont. So i get passed up for a guy with no fire experience, no training, and less qualified fire wise, for a guy with an extra 6 months of school. Sucks cause 2 of these departments, I know the medics failed probation.

 

military ftw... however my house in Washington has 15% its value

 

I wonder how much cheaper it is to hire a new recruit than a seasoned vet.
I know with the military, they'll pay a lot to send someone to school knowing the chances of them getting out and not retiring is higher. It's the older folks, the ones that have been in longer, that the military wants to go. The cost of paying retirement is ALOT over the course of 20 years vs. the cost to send someone to a school.

 

Ya the departments are trying to save money on sending people to school. But when its all said and done, after testing, backgrounds, polygraphs, medicals, psych evals, an academy, uniforms and equipment, and paying their salary on top of all that, its more expensive when they fail out. But they only look at the short term savings not what benefits more in the long run.

 

I used to work for a Design Build Construction company in California. For those of you who don't know, California is headed out the south end of a north bound horse. The company I used to work for at the height of the economic boom was employing over 500 people (office staff and field workers), currently my ex employer is employing 75 people (office staff and field workers) with more cuts on the way. Now it's not 100% the economies fault, the owner of the company was over zealous in his ambitions and investments. Cause really, who needs to be co owner of 7 strip malls, a race track, a second office out of state, mobile offices in 2 other states, and (2) 50+ acre commercial developments in Texas? I mean really, then does he really need a house in Texas, Lake Havasu and California? Oh what about the $400k speed boat for the Lake Havasu house? Does his wife really need the brand new mercedes sl500 amg? or what about his new fully loaded H2 with 26's? Not to mention all of his "toys" were purchased shortly after laying off 125 people in the first round.

Ok so I have a little bit of a problem with people who wine and complain about how the company isn't doing well when there are clearly things that can be done to save the company.

I digress, I've been out of work for 9 months, I've found little jobs to keep my family afloat, but there are absolutely 0 jobs in my previous field of employment and it's not looking like anything is going to be coming up soon.

Maybe I'll just take Nancy Palosi's advice and wait for the health care bill to go into affect that I don't have to work and I can pursue my other passions like music and the arts, and if I can write a song about Obama or paint a picture maybe I can get paid by the National Endowment for the Arts fund and then I won't have to work at all. Humm...there's a thought.

 

who do you work for? i am in the AV department at work and we haven't seen too much in cutbacks. we went from 3 onsite support guys to 3 but i'm not sure that was financial or the fact that the 3rd guy had more complaints about his work than anyone else in all 3 sites IT departments combined. seems like alot of companies are ramping up their video conferencing in an attempt to cut back on travel expenses.

 

well, i am not currently worried for multiple reason. first of all, video communications seems to be benefiting from teh economy. secondly, i am now doing my job and my old co workers job, making me more valuable. and thirdly, even if i do get fired, pretty folk, such as myself, always land on their feet. i can only assume that all of the unemployed in this country look like they fell from the top of hte ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down

 

Its been a little nerve wrecking. My company just announced that 10 power plants and 2500+ employees gotta go. Im very low in seniority but luckily the plant i work at is hiring!