Who also went astray by the economic downturn?

[ouiouiwewe]

Back in August-September 2008, I was finishing up my last Computer Science courses. I remember assuring my parents that I will have little problem finding a software job when I am done in December (because the demand was still high back then). Then suddenly, the U.S. economy turned to **** and by the end of the year my home province Ontario kind of went belly up as well. By the time I started to look for jobs in January, there are almost no entry-level jobs for software programmers and had to find jobs elsewhere (like web-programming industry or academic institutions). I guess I am one of the luckier ones in that I still have a job at my university writing code for researchers. However, the pay is still a distance from industry-standards and it is not a type of career that one would like to be in for long term.

 

Anyone else got owned by the U.S. economy crisis?

[Oerwinde]

The warehouse I work at banned overtime which was the source of an extra 400 bucks a month for me, and I was forced to use my vacation time in february, meaning the next time off I get is christmas, but that was in exchange for keeping my job, and it was paid vacation, so I'm not complaining too much.

 

A friend of mine though had a baby in january, and was laid off in february.

Edited April 4, 2009 by Oerwinde

[Trenitay]

My grandpa, two aunts, and two uncles got laid off from Boeing. And my grandma just got a promotion at the king county housing authority.

[Humodour]

Well, IBM in my home town (which is also where I'm at uni right now) is struggling to fill IT vacancies, and I just got a $14,000 internship with them for this year during my studies, so I'm going to offer a "no".

[Rosbjerg]

The Danish economy is actually doing ok, so I'm not affected (yet). But I hear that a few people (or alot, depending on which kind of education they have) in the 20-30 year range are having a hard time, because companies are more inclined to keep their talented workers rather than training new ones fresh out of college.

[Gorgon]

I just ran out of SU, the government tit that has allowed me to work part time only in conjunction with studying. Now I'm faced with working full time the last year, which is also when things get the most intense.

 

That means I have to get very lucky job hunting the next few months or getting finished is going to take a lot longer than 1 year.

[LadyCrimson]

My sister in law got her real estate license a couple years ago. Timing is everything, baby.

 

On the bright side, when things swing back up, she'll have experience and some seniority and will probably do well.

[Rosbjerg]

I just ran out of SU, the government tit that has allowed me to work part time only in conjunction with studying. Now I'm faced with working full time the last year, which is also when things get the most intense.

 

That means I have to get very lucky job hunting the next few months or getting finished is going to take a lot longer than 1 year.

 

I know a good job here in Copenhagen, where you can work half time and get a good salary.. it's Telemarketing, but it's a cool company and the product is very solid (so you don't feel like an idiot trying to sell it).

[Walsingham]

My main contract retainer cancelled, but I think that was more due to my erratic stress-related behaviour. That and refusing to do a cack job. It never ceases to amaze me how furiously keen some people are on doing substandard work.

[SteveThaiBinh]

I had hoped to return to Europe and find work closer to home and family this year, but I don't think that's feasible at the moment so I'm staying put. So far, Saudi Arabia hasn't been hit too hard - unlike Dubai, which is apparently in freefall.

[Atreides]

Please elaborate, Steve. I'm curious how the middle east's coping with the downturn, and the reactions on the street. Gas prices down after the recent high musta been tough on them.

[Pidesco]

The economy here in Portugal is about as good as dead. However, as that was already the case before the downturn and was already the case before my great-great-grandparents were born, things are actually more or less the same as they have always been. We have western European prices coupled with eastern European wages. I make 700

[Enoch]

Hooray for government work! The various bailouts and fiscal stimuli are actually giving me more work to do.

 

But the legal profession in general in the States is really hurting. Private law firms are firing attorneys and support staff at frightening rates, and most of those attorneys being fired are the younger crowd, recently out of law school and carrying very heavy student loan debts. My brother-in-law is one of the victims of said cutbacks, and he has been having a very tough time finding a new job. (And this is a guy who formerly worked at one of the top-20 firms in the country, with a degree from one of the top-3 law schools in the country.) I suppose that, when looking to cut costs, one of the first places firms examine is expensive outsourced professional services like legal advice-- I've heard similar reports about how terrible the market is for many accountants and consultants.

[Guard Dog]

I lost my job. But that may have happened anyway. The current government war on business has decimated my investment portfolio but for the most part I sold more than half of my stocks when I bought the house and got rid of most of the rest when it seemed certain Obama would be elected. That turned out to be an exceedingly wise move. Right now I've got most of my money in bonds but the few stocks I have are nearly worthless. I have been looking at buying back in though.

Edited April 5, 2009 by Guard Dog

[Hurlshort]

I'm about $90,000 underwater on my home, and it's too small to accommodate my growing family.

 

But we have our jobs and can pay the mortgage, so I'm not too bad off.

[Gorgon]

I just ran out of SU, the government tit that has allowed me to work part time only in conjunction with studying. Now I'm faced with working full time the last year, which is also when things get the most intense.

 

That means I have to get very lucky job hunting the next few months or getting finished is going to take a lot longer than 1 year.

 

I know a good job here in Copenhagen, where you can work half time and get a good salary.. it's Telemarketing, but it's a cool company and the product is very solid (so you don't feel like an idiot trying to sell it).

I'm definitely going to be interested in a couple of months when the exams are done. Do they do any coaching on site.

[mkreku]

The economy here in Portugal is about as good as dead. However, as that was already the case before the downturn and was already the case before my great-great-grandparents were born, things are actually more or less the same as they have always been. We have western European prices coupled with eastern European wages. I make 700

[Hiro Protagonist]

The Customs clearance industry has always been screaming for people in Australia but it's a job which is not widely known. However, I haven't seen it this bad, nearly no Customs job vacancies which is practically unheard of since the last recession back in the early '90s. Fortunately, my main client (importer) has doubled their imports since last year (Mining equipment parts). So, for the moment our company seems to be doing okay. I've heard of other companies in my field that have had redunancies or people taking pay cuts to keep their jobs. Despite this, I'm off to China for holidays this Wednesday with my girlfriends for the next 3 1/2 weeks and stopping off at Hong Kong on the way back for a few days.

Edited April 6, 2009 by Hiro Protagonist

[Tigranes]

Our company is expanding and hiring, and I'm one of the first 4 in a new team & position they created back in December. Which seems a bit odd, but oh well.

 

It's weird because we technically are part-time, but in reality work nearly full-time and are treated as such, and yet I don't know how long I'll stay here.

[Meshugger]

About 6 months ago, the local businesses were still hiring a lot of people. Now, some departments have laid off quite a few of them. No one has gone bancrupt yet though. Generally speaking, the academic unemployment has skyrocketed, since they are all over-qualified or too specialized for any form of 'general' work. It is not a matter of will or sucking it up due to bad times, but it is more in the employer; why would you hire someone that is just desperate for the time being, when they are going to leave the company anyway in the the near future. There's load of people who can clean, fix hamburgers and do telemarketing that are actually planning to stay.

 

Beside those mentioned, the only currently available jobs are meaningless governmental jobs, like secretary and such, with a ridicolous low pay.

 

My current working place has to do some cleaning up as well, but my department is not currently under the radar (Hint: working within the field of developing tools also gives the impression that you have A LOT to do). Nor should i complain, i make almost 4 times the amount of what Pidesco mentioned, and was only turned down to a significant payraise due to the times.

[Humodour]

The economy here in Portugal is about as good as dead. However, as that was already the case before the downturn and was already the case before my great-great-grandparents were born, things are actually more or less the same as they have always been. We have western European prices coupled with eastern European wages. I make 700

[ouiouiwewe]

I lost my job. But that may have happened anyway. The current government war on business has decimated my investment portfolio but for the most part I sold more than half of my stocks when I bought the house and got rid of most of the rest when it seemed certain Obama would be elected. That turned out to be an exceedingly wise move. Right now I've got most of my money in bonds but the few stocks I have are nearly worthless. I have been looking at buying back in though.

Heh, I suppose you voted Republicans eh.

 

Well, even though I don't have much confidence in Obama, I can only imagine John McCain doing far worse. Sure, he may be good at bureaucracy (as do many politicians), but he already demonstrated how in-touch he is with the intracacies within the realm of economics during the election campaign.

 

Anyhow, I would suggest you to wait a while before buying back in. At least wait till the news for GM to come out - it's likely to collapse.

[taks]

I lost my job. But that may have happened anyway.

the new job you got right before the accident, or are you talking the old job?

 

taks

[Rosbjerg]

I'm definitely going to be interested in a couple of months when the exams are done. Do they do any coaching on site.

 

Yeah they do - but it would be a big advantage if you had some experience from previous jobs. It's a "small" (60 employees) company with it's own TM department. Just send me a PM if you want their info.

[Gorgon]

Well, I have been working at Gallup doing TV and Radio rating interviews the last year and a half, so I suppose I'm suave on the phone, no telemarketing experience as such though.