I do a lot of survey's and this question will always come up in the end.
"Do you feel the Economy is Good or Bad.
My job just got cut to part time and my pay got cut in half too. I was told I should have never been paid for what I did in my line of work. A volunteer could come in tomorrow and do my job for free. :sad.
Me and my dh both work, (me part time now), but gas prices are back up. Our heat bill has been $400 a month since November. Food prices are up. I know most people have jobs again, but it feels like we just keep swimming and never really get ahead. We have cut back on so many expeditures, paid off almost all our bills, except utility bills.
So most times I select the economy is going down again. But that is my personel preferrence. I know my dh company is hiring like crazy, if you are a mechanic, electrician, welder want to work on the pipeline or put in a tunnel. How is it really out there.
So much depends on who you are talking to and their field of work.
My nephew has an associate's degree in computer science from the local community college. He has not found a permanent job since he graduated about 2.5 years ago. However, he has always had some sort of employment. My son will graduate in May with a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology. He has a job waiting for him when he gets out.
I have one friend who lost his job and was on unemployment until he maxed out his benefits. He ended up taking a cut in pay and is making a fraction of what he made before. He is 59 years old and happy that someone is willing to taking a chance on someone who will eligible for retirement in only a few years.
Another friend was just told that she will have her hours cut back to 5 days per pay period. A pay period is 2 weeks. She works in health care as a radiation therapist treating cancer patients. She is looking at it as an opportunity to spend more time with her 6-month old grandson. Patients will have to wait longer to receive their treatment at her inner-city hospital. The powers-that-be will be closing down one machine.
My sister (age 52) just left her job as an OR nurse at another inner-city hospital. She is taking a cut in pay to work at a surgical center. Her take-home pay will be the same because she will no longer pay the city's wage tax, daily parking fees and bridge tolls. She's excited that the quality of her work situation will improve. They have posted her position both in-house and online. The hospital is willing to replace a BSRN who has 30+ years of experience with a recent graduate nurse with a minimal amount of OR experience. I pity the patients.
There isn't a week that doesn't go by where someone passing through our office hasn't asked if we are hiring. People are still looking for work. We aren't expanding (in fact, we had two people retire and we did not replace them). However, the Target up the street is accepting applications. They're always accepting applications.
My brother works in the healthcare division of a major company. There are rumors that their division is being sold off to another mega-company. He's worried about his job but I think that middle management should be the ones who are really concerned. He works as a field service specialist, servicing hospital equipment. I hope that he has at least a 9-month emergency fund but I somehow doubt it. His kids have a lot of medical bills and his ex-wife doesn't pay her share.
Another nephew got his Bachelor's degree 2 years ago from our state's flagship university. His degree is very specialized but there is not a huge demand for his type of training. He currently manages the restaurant at a country club. He's taking courses in restaurant management.
So, I happen to know a lot of people who are either unemployed, under-employed or in fear of losing their jobs soon. I'm seeing more and more people come through our office who are relying on some form of assistance to make ends meet. I don't think the economy has improved. I think that people have become accustomed to this "new normal".
