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77 Comments
- TheSpook, on 01/30/2009, -0/+19> "Layoffs that began in the real estate and finance sectors are now hitting workers in nearly every field."
Really? I hadn't noticed. - inactive, on 01/31/2009, -1/+16There are lots and lots of people struggling, not because they're lazy, not because they're uneducated, but simply there are just not enough high paying jobs goig around for families to face the brave new world of million dollor homes and, overpriced educations, skyrocketing medical expenses and goods and services in a state of long term inflationary creep.
My story is the story of nearly everyone I know who's lost their job in recent years. I can only find a new job if I settle downward on my salary; it's getting genuinely hard to imagine how we're going to get our kids through school, and hard to imagine that whatever education they get will be worth the job market of deflated expectations that will await them since they won't go to a top of the line school.
We live in a plutocracy. Merit and experience are useless. The public's dreams are popcorn fed with idolatry; athletes with ridiculous salaries lure kids into believing impossible lives can be gotten easily,singers and musicians have no work and can only hope to get picked in a stupid tv roman circus lottery, writers had better be gorgeous and wealthy and ready to crank out crapola to get published and hard working, inventive scientists increasingly find the only work out there involves cranking out worthless trash for corporate propaganda. - yerdaddy, on 01/31/2009, -1/+15I have an idea. Let's funnel everyone's money upwward through the "stock market" to a handful of people that have been "successful" in "trading" your your money for theirs and then cut jobs everywhere and raise taxes on everyone to cover the cash vaccum at the bottom.
AMERICA ***** YEAH - KibblesnBitts, on 01/31/2009, -0/+13Breaking News: Jobs are cut during a recession
- C0ntraRadical, on 01/30/2009, -0/+13Hope you don't need a student loan.
- doublefelix, on 01/30/2009, -0/+12I'm thinking it might be a good time to go back to school.
- badqat, on 01/31/2009, -0/+11A lot of private colleges are resorting to drug dealer type tactics...give laid off workers their first semester for free. Then charge 'em.
- brandita, on 01/31/2009, -0/+9I just graduated and i wish i would've been a slacker and taken another year.
- AmusedToDeath, on 01/31/2009, -0/+9FatLoser's sarcasm meter has apparently been laid off as well.
- badqat, on 01/31/2009, -0/+8Do what I did...go straight into grad school. I had a teaching assistantship, so grad school was free and I got paid.
- Dumbledorito, on 01/31/2009, -0/+8I think a lot of people in finance have no more idea about what they're doing than I do about how my car's engine was put together. They were just told "do this and this and money comes out," without realizing that if EVERYONE "did this and this" that the whole economy would go over a cliff.
It also didn't help that the SEC poo-pooed every call for any kind of investigation into profits that were, by all measures, impossible without dire consequences.
Further, we've got a corporate sector where the average term of a CFO is 3 years. There's a huge incentive to make short-term profits that will eventually destroy or severely hurt the company (by laying off workers, deferring maintenance, cutting spending on r&d or improving one's products, etc.), so it's no wonder that our business infrastructure is run by a bunch of slash-n-burn profiteers with button-pressing bankers/investors under them who don't get why their magic money machine called Wall Street is suddenly on fire. - pintomp3, on 01/31/2009, -0/+7Neither did the people who received bonuses on Wall Street last year.
- Hamletlere, on 01/31/2009, -0/+6I certainly noticed the last two layoffs at my company (one each quarter). I hope I am not introduced to next quarter's layoffs more intimately.
- secrity, on 01/31/2009, -0/+6People need to pay off their credit cards and save.
- SniperGX1, on 01/31/2009, -0/+6"good lord some people are ignorant" You make a good point...
btw, he was being sarcastic... - dave122, on 01/31/2009, -0/+5agree except the singers/musicians. 99% of bands work their asses of for practically no money.
- brandita, on 01/31/2009, -0/+5First the chicken pox now this?
- SemiSarcastic, on 01/31/2009, -2/+7If there is one silver lining to this, maybe all the very intelligent people in finance will take an opportunity to put their brain power to creating tangible goods that will actually make money. Things that actually create jobs instead of invisible money.
- stevelectric, on 01/31/2009, -0/+5Dildoolielly- Very well said. The executives at the banks that received millions of dollars in "bonus money" after the government provided them with the bailout funds, paid over a hundred million dollars to lobby the Congress to make it much harder for US (the taxpayers that are going to have to pay for the bailout in future taxes) to declare bankruptcy:
http://www.communati.com/steve-lee/think-bankruptc ...
When the auto industry asked the Congress for similar help (about 5% of what the banks received) many Republican Congressmen were on the news programs complaining that this wasn't part of their "free markets" philosophy!
http://www.communati.com/steve-lee/think-american- ... - Tantrum, on 01/31/2009, -0/+4Totally agree.... I'm sure there are lots of justified reasons for layoffs but I've also noticed that companies that are doing OK will jump on board the layoff train to get rid of employees that they have been looking to get rid of but had no legal way to do it.
- dronf23, on 01/31/2009, -0/+4The person that laid me off dugg this, no joke!
- Hamletlere, on 01/31/2009, -1/+5I think you are being too cynical. Merit and experience may not get you RICH, but they are certainly not useless.
I went to a public high school (actually, K-12) in podunk Arkansas (population: 512, graduating class: 42). I went on to the University of Arkansas (not a top ranked school for engineering, but I liked it in any case). Now, 17 years later, I'm a very highly paid professional.
While anecdotal, my story directly contradicts your statements that "going to a non-top-of-the-line school will seriously hurt your career" and "merit and experience are worthless". Companies still value employees who can get the most done, or come up with better ways of doing things. They are willing to pay for that value.
I have fears too, but I feel mine are a little more realistic. I fear that companies are more willing to take on inexperienced people in cheap labor markets (China and India) than they are in the US. That means it won't matter if you have a top-of-the-line education or not... they won't hire you either way. I have the experience that a company is willing to pay for, I'm not sure my son will be given a chance to get that same experience. - Hamletlere, on 01/31/2009, -0/+4The economy of the past decade has been driven by people borrowing money (through home equity loans or credit cards) and spending more than they can afford. The US actually had a NEGATIVE saving rate for a while.
This is unsustainable.
If nothing else, the economy will need to contract back to levels that can be sustained by people living within their means. Unfortunately, the economy will go far beyond that point before it comes back. - woofers07, on 01/31/2009, -0/+4The advertising industry is really hurting. Advertising/Marketing was the first thing every company cut at the signs of a recession. Our agency finally went to 4 day work weeks after a few layoffs. It's rough out there.
- Swivelstick, on 01/31/2009, -0/+4My head hurts, a tangible product? So something that bends you over and rams one up the arse.
- Hamletlere, on 01/31/2009, -0/+4Wow. Good attitude, but...
Older workers are usually paid more because they have experience and knowledge valued by the company. It takes years to learn what works better and what works worse, what is likely to go awry or cause problems to customers, and how to work well with others. If new-hire grads were the same as the older workers, they'd not be willing to pay the them those "bloated salaries". Also, highly-paid workers tend to get that way because they have been consistently better than their peers over a long number of years. Otherwise, they get really small raises (if any), which don't lead to those large salaries you talk about.
Also, companies don't usually lay off people based on their bloated salaries. The people with the highest salaries are usually their best people. They lay off people based on who they can most afford to lose (who's loss will have the least impact). That's why early layoffs will target the "dead wood", while subsequent layoffs will have greater and greater impact on projects and production. - antechinus, on 01/31/2009, -0/+4Really intelligent people? I like your sense of humour. If they were really intelligent this ***** wouldn't have eventuated.
- inactive, on 01/31/2009, -0/+3Whoa, don't smoke too much of whatever that is. Your brain is already half gone.
- FatLoser, on 01/31/2009, -1/+4cockface dickmonger what the ***** was that? jesus your a real mormon
- shandromand, on 01/31/2009, -0/+3I got laid off last year early on, but I got lucky getting the job I have now. A few days ago I dodged a bullet by getting outsourced doing the same thing. Some folks, my boss included, weren't so lucky. :(
- FatLoser, on 01/31/2009, -0/+3stole my bike
- inactive, on 01/31/2009, -0/+3Because putting all those people on unemployment will really help things... moron.
- Hamletlere, on 01/31/2009, -0/+3Even really intelligent people can be short sighted, especially if money is involved.
- Hamletlere, on 01/31/2009, -0/+3It would be interesting to see consumer statistics from your industry. Are people cutting back on their rate plans? Doing without text messages or the like? Have they stopped buying ringtones?
- inactive, on 01/31/2009, -0/+3little mac?
- Choplifter, on 02/01/2009, -0/+2Ive been cutting my own hair for about 8 years now. God knows how much I've saved. Get yourself a pair of hair cutting scissors, some clippers and a hand mirror and stop paying some douche bag $20 for something you can easily do yourself.
- LogicalWisdom, on 02/09/2009, -0/+2No one I know has gotten laid off, nor are any of their companies doing badly. They just announced that our bonuses are coming, and we have been interviewing more people as our company grows. I went shopping this weekend and there was a line at Border's, it was hard finding parking at Whole Foods. I don't think things are as bad as the media is making it out to be, what's happened is that a lot of people who were overemployed are just getting a smack upside the head from reality. Living beyond their means thinking that they are entitled to the lifestyle they should never have had to begin with. 4 more months and I will be debt free, my student loan debt will finally be gone, I can only see good times ahead for me :)
- LogicalWisdom, on 02/09/2009, -0/+2bigfeets,
You are absolutely 100% correct, all companies and governments grow inefficient as they grow. There needs to be house cleaning from time to time in order to flush out the dead wood. Force people to do more with less and they always figure out how to make it work. - inactive, on 01/31/2009, -0/+2that is right on. Half of these lay offs are a total scam, just trying to keep more money at the top.
- Eorster, on 01/31/2009, -0/+2Are you serious? The smart companies, the companies that will be around after this bank cluster F&*^, are the ones that cut costs before or just after demand drops. Labor is a cost that is a part of production. Less demand means less needed supply. The gravy train (AKA your house really is not worth what you paid or are asking) has come to a stop and we all have to adjust back to what life is or was like before we handed tax breaks to only the wealthiest among us in exchange for candy land credit.
- stevelectric, on 01/31/2009, -0/+2SemiSarcastic- Yes, it's true that the "financial engineering" has relpaced mechanical engineering but the education system has fed more graduates into that business model because "that's where the money is."
General Motors is trying to develop a new standard of transportation that may arise from the Chevy Volt Electric Plug-In Car:
http://www.communati.com/steve-lee/think-car-desig ...
The American economy's next problem might not be happening on Wall Street:
http://www.communati.com/steve-lee/think-china - Hamletlere, on 01/31/2009, -0/+2You're demonizing the Republicans where they don't deserve it. They initially rejected the TARP ($700B bailout) as well. Eventually, due to fear for our economy and political pressure, they gave in. Just because there did it there doesn't mean they are obligated to do it for every bill related to a bailout (especially when it helps the unions they so hate).
There are plenty of things to hate them for, but don't act like they were gung-ho about the TARP bill. - publiclurker, on 01/31/2009, -2/+4Your "Ignorance is bliss" attitude is exactly what got us into this situation. Please go to your room until the grownups have finished cleaning up your mess.
- apena89, on 02/01/2009, -0/+2My mom works for the state of Texas, It's not the federal government, but do you want moms and families like mine to go through the effects of a lay off?
And didn't the federal government, during and after the great depression, help the economy by putting people to work? Like building public schools, roads and bridges? - apena89, on 02/01/2009, -0/+2and I was really thinking about switching my major to advertising/marketing too. =/
I can't find a good techie job here in San Antonio.
I was watching "Off The Grid" the other night and it really made me feel like just going into manual labor and build a home or something. I'm guessing that's the most 'for sure' kind of job if we go into a serious depression. - diggdatt, on 02/02/2009, -0/+2Yep, the Bush policies are gonna ***** us over for years. That being said I will never work 2 jobs, sorry I'll live in an old ass trailer before i do that. I know someone that bought one for $3500 and now doenst pay any rent/mortgage bills. I guess trailers are the future for america. :/
- Hamletlere, on 01/31/2009, -0/+2You must not have gotten the memo. We no longer raise taxes. These days, we cut them and go right on spending! Yay! (The last part there was sarcasm.)
- apena89, on 02/01/2009, -0/+2@ above
well no duh older workers have more experience. But that experience equals higher pay as well.
I just had a talk with my uncle a few hours ago, he works for a local transportation bus company called VIA here in San Antonio, he said that the company is laying off senior workers so that they can hire two new guys to replace him for the same price. So the company increases their number of workers without paying more. Genius, but it's ***** up. Its things like this that large corporations do time and time again so save a buck here and a buck there, that truly cripple an economy. Outsourcing included, but i don't have to preach the rest of that stuff to you guys. - apena89, on 02/01/2009, -0/+2your boss is on digg?
- themostimproved, on 01/31/2009, -0/+2any ones who don't, are the ones who make all that money.
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