Is the U. S. economic slowdown affecting you??

[mamajoan]

It sure is affecting my family. Industry growth is decreasing at a rapid rate here in the Silicon Valley. Lay offs loom for many in the not to distant future, others are threatened weekly by the lay off patrols. Dh's company is scrambling to find new contracts to keep employees working... they have laid off heavily in the past 6 weeks. Dh work time has been cut in half this last week.
I will say we have been blessed with steady, financially secure employment btwn the USMC and other employment for the past 22 years (give or take a few short periods of adjustment)
I am so nervous about the US economy, I am nervous about my husbands job.. this is a new set of emotions for me.
Anybody else feeling the pinch??

 

[tiggerlover]

{{{HUGS}}} Joan. I am sorry things are so uncertain for you and your family right now. I sure hope things get better soon.

Debbi

 

[Mamu]

Sadly I think there are some bleak days ahead before things get better. While I am not worried about my DH he is retired and working too.

But I am worried about my DD husbands and my DS. Two of my children are environmental chemist and they keep telling me not to worry their jobs are secure.

I think things slow down on the west coast quite a while before the east coast, and vice versa, usually the boom starts out west and finally makes it's way to the east.

Sending some PD your way. I know how stressful this can be.

 

[gina2000]

The east coast has been a roller coaster for the last couple of years....especially telecommunications. Wall Street is having trouble this year and I expect to see layoffs come year end.

In a nutshell......YES!

 

[helenabear]

We did this past year and honestly for us not quite so much right now. For the last two years my company had done a steady stream of layoffs and got rid of about 25-30% of its total amount of employees. Some groups were hit harder than others and I have seen 10-20% reductions in my group often, not to mention watching whole groups just pack up and leave. My DH had been laid off over a year ago and found work just to keep us going (out of debt) and just recently did he get out of contracting and into a very stable position with major room for moving up (and quickly). And for the first time in a long time there are no rumors about lay offs here (knock on wood). But obviously we've felt it and just at this moment in time things are feeling better. I hope things start looking up for you too Joan as well as all others feeling the pinch... I know the feeling well and am still getting over the stress it caused in our lives.

 

[bfeller]

Definately affected here. After two years of no raises(we got stock options instead) DH's company finally kicked the bucket. No severance and no insurance. Happened the week before 9/11. DH was out of job for 7 months. Ran out of Unemployment, he took job making 40% of what he had made earlier. The new company is struggling, trying to find contracts. DH just left that company because he was a offered a contract for a 6 month project(more stable than with job) and he would get the $ with no middle man. Had to do all the legal stuff to be his own boss but it is what we have to do. Financially, we are hurting. We used our savings and the kids college fund(senior and freshman in HS) and the 401K has been hurt. Glad we did some saving early on.

I agree the economy is very bad. I get so tired hearing about how unemployment is down. Maybe it is because the unemployment benefits have been used and now people are living off their savings. Maybe research into how fast savings are dwindling would be a better measure of the countries situation.

Until the economy recovers, we take it one day at a time.

Didn't really mean to be the downer but it does hit a nerve!!!!
Delta just announce cutbacks and Proctor and Gamble just announced a down sizing of one its local plants also. Jobs are going fast.

 

[Mskanga]

I know very well this is scary...but I am kind of used to it. In Europe this has always happened ever since I can remember, sad to say but I grew up having to worry about what was going to happen if my father lost his job the next day....layoffs threats have always been a part of my life and it's no different now.

 

[mamajoan]

'Thank you all for sharing.. it helps to know. I really was not looking for sympathy but will take your good wishes and hugs with open arms. Thank You..

We have been so fortunate in our lives not to have experienced this situation before this year.

Do you have any tips on how you've made it thru leaner/uncertain times?

Best wishes for a brighter futurer.
Joan

 

[caitycaity]

yes -- BIG time. we have had 3 rounds of layoffs here this year already. maybe more by year end.

in order to prevent even more layoffs we have to take the entire week of xmas (including xmas day) off unpaid. we also can't rollover or cash out unused vacation. a whole bunch of other benefits have been cut too. they took a million dollars out of the bonus pool for next year, so i am guessing that bonuses will be few and far between next year.

those things are frustrating, but i am happy i still have a job.

 

[WDWHound]

We had two weeks of furloughs in our company last year. Like Caity, we were not allowed to take vacation for it. We also had a salary freeze.

The company tried very hard to make the furloughs fair. Employees below a certain salary level were not allowed to take the furlough. Middle income folks could volunteer (approx 1/2 of them did) and above a certain salary level it was manditory. Each of the 2 furloughs had to be taken in seperate calendar quarters and each could be spread out over the entire quarter to avoid too big an impact on any given paycheck.

This year has been better and no such measures have been needed.

 

[iluvorlando]

Yes, I definitely felt the pinch. I worked at a Marriott. When I came back from christmas vacation, I was told my job was eliminated. I had to work for two departments, or else I wouldn't have a job. I decided to take the pay cut and leave to teach at my dd's preschool. I have never been happier.

I wish you luck Joan....

 

[nativetxn]

My brother was just "downsized" out of his job. Hopefully he will find another one soon.

So far my dh's job seems secure.

 

[Carl the Bartender]

Absolutely. Both dw and I lost our jobs this year. We both are employed again, each at 1/2 the salary we used to earn. We're very grateful that we planned ahead for the lean times, and we've learned to adjust to our new income. We won't be going to DW as often as we'd like, but we won't starve either.

 

[catsrule]

not yet.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Nope, not yet. That is a definite benefit of being in the military - steady pay.

 

[coqui]

As long as people keep buying houses, cars and propane tanks for gas grills I will be allright now.

I got hit really hard earlier though (like Elaine said)

I was looking for a "real" job for over a year.

 

[caitycaity]

hound, your furloughs sound really fair. ours are just company wide, no exceptions, and you can't spreda out the paycheck. everyone in the company will be getting half a paycheck that week.

at least they gave us enough notice to start saving so the money won't be so bad. and since it's over christmas, we'll probably be at one of our parent's houses so at least we won't have to buy groceries that week. that will help.

 

[jsmith]

I work for a company that is in Chpt 11 since last January-60% of the world wide work force has been laid off since then and I am amazed that I still have a job. DH's job is pretty solid but he is also a military reservist in a unit that has ties to the 25th infantry division-one of the units SECDEF has identified as being needed for sucess in Iraq-i swear if it is not one thing it is something else!