is 'the crunch' affecting you

yes, I've had to reduce hours of my staff greatly, and later today tell everyone there's no cost of living pay increase. My salary increase was put on hold. Shitty.

buy my paintings.

starving artist prices in effect.

i was also due a salary review at the start of january... when i went and asked my boss if we could discuss my pay review he said 'yes but i'm afraid that's all we can do... discuss it'.

i was assured at this end of the market we wouldn't be affected but there is a domino effect from the bottom up. i suppose i'm pretty safe in that almost everyone else on the pay roll would be laid off before me.

*touches wood*

I work in a cafe. My hours have been reduced, one of our major suppliers regularly delivered out-of-date stock for a month and then went bust last week, and I can't get another minimum wage job anywhere, nobody is hiring.

My search for a graduate job was already a constant disappointment of never hearing back from anyone I applied to, that hasn't really changed.

I expect I will have to do another clinical drugs trial in a few months.

Yeah, I'm good 'til June 30th when my contract runs out. It seems likely that they will renew it, but there is always doubt. One thing that makes me doubt is that my boss called me into her office last week and told me that I have 40 days of paid leave that I need to use before June 30th. So on the good side I will get a lot of nice vacation time in the next 6 months. On the bad side, it might be followed by them letting me go because our grant money is running out.

  LUDD said:

only in that reading the words "credit crunch" or hearing the word "recession" or "economic climate" every 5 seconds, is really really really fucking boring and annoying

i was at the bar (pub) on thursday night and there was some indian guy standing next to me who i wanted to punch in the face because he wouldn't shut up about "these difficult economic times" and he was doing all this ridiculous theorizing about causes and future effects... people were constantly asking him how he was doing (he must be a regular there, it was my first time) and the spiel would start over again every fucking time... DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING else/positive to talk about in your life right now sir please? (i couldnt move, it was the only free barstool in the place).

annoyingAnnoyingasShit.

and to answer the query, not really. i got a new job a few months ago as i was probably going to get laid off and i was tired of traveling around the country for work anyways. best move of '08 by far. but i do recognize that lots of people are hurting right now, so to all of you i give a hearty and good luck.

edit for monday morning spelling

Ive lost my job already

aye but the danger with getting a new job so recently in these difficult economic times is the old 'last in, first out' approach to cut-backs.

I wasnt last in either. I think ive be discriminated against because of my personal circumstances, not having a morgage or kids etc, thats the only reasons i can think of because i was 100% more value to the company than most others. Untill it starts happening to u, people dont appreciate how harshly it affects u.

what you say is true except that i knew for a fact my new job was much better and more stable in general because i was moving out of a corporate environment and into a small business where i can more directly see the contribution that i'm making to our company surviving (read: making a profit) on a day-to-day basis.

but yeah, in general you're spot on... it IS a gamble just because not only do you not know how stable the employment would be, you also don't know if you're even going to like your new job.

good thread, i was wondering the same thing last week

so far i've not seen much difference. but my bosses are both saying its going to be a slower year. luckily currently my main job is semi quiet (15 hours a week say) and my second job (usually 10 hours a week max) is running at about 30 hours. so so far this year so good. my wife just graduated and obv now isnt a good time for looking for career jobs. we're wondering how office temping jobs are looking atm.

We've lost a few of our accounts due to businesses closing (a shame to see a 2 or 3 family generation business close its' doors). We've also had an increase in calls from our clients requesting decreases in their monthly bill. However, we're being just as aggressive as ever, and bringing in more clients than we're losing... so I'm hoping we'll come out of all this for the better. I did take a pay decrease 'for the good of the company' (but considering I've helped build this company from a startup for the last 8 years, it's all good, I'll get mine later, plus my bonuses make up for the loss), and I just made up for it by taking on a little extra freelance. Which is more abundant than ever these days... seems everyone trying to save a dollar, means more people are searching out freelancers.

But really all the bad news in the world, and judging the effects of "the economy" by studying other peoples habits has no bearing on you... if you want to work, and you want to make money, you can. I'm taking advantage of every aspect of the economy I can lately.

Lately it seems to me that people are just using "the economy" as an excuse, and I'm getting a little tired of hearing conversations start with "well, you know, with the economy and all...".

  EDGEY said:

if you want to work, and you want to make money, you can. I'm taking advantage of every aspect of the economy I can lately.

 

Lately it seems to me that people are just using "the economy" as an excuse, and I'm getting a little tired of hearing conversations start with "well, you know, with the economy and all...".

sorry, what are you saying?

in general, people aren't spending their money at the moment. which obviously has a direct impact on money making opportunities... many businesses have no customers... what are you suggesting they do?

and who's using 'the economy' as an excuse? surely not the thousands of businesses going under every day? it's a reason, not an excuse.

I'm saying... there is opportunity (not that it just presents itself, you have to create it). I was using freelance as an example, with people trying to save a dollar, they're no longer looking to do business with big companies with lots of overhead, so they seek out an individual that is just as capable, but half the cost. Capitalize on that. I'm not just talking about digital media freelancers either... that applies to anyone with a skill or a trade.

As for people using it as an excuse, people aren't spending because of "the economy", even people that aren't truly being affected by it. I watch company's cut back on advertising, because they're scared, but they're doing more harm than good. Now is an excellent time to advertise more, secure a better footing, and pull in more business than their competitors who are cutting back. Clients of ours that have stepped up their advertising in the past few months are doing well...

Just my observations on the state of things...

  EDGEY said:

I'm saying... there is opportunity (not that it just presents itself, you have to create it). I was using freelance as an example, with people trying to save a dollar, they're no longer looking to do business with big companies with lots of overhead, so they seek out an individual that is just as capable, but half the cost. Capitalize on that. I'm not just talking about digital media freelancers either... that applies to anyone with a skill or a trade.

so you are suggesting i should go out and offer my services to my companies customers at a discounted rate?

  EDGEY said:

As for people using it as an excuse, people aren't spending because of "the economy", even people that aren't truly being affected by it. I watch company's cut back on advertising, because they're scared, but they're doing more harm than good. Now is an excellent time to advertise more, secure a better footing, and pull in more business than their competitors who are cutting back. Clients of ours that have stepped up their advertising in the past few months are doing well

everyone's affected by it though... does your company use a bank? yes? then you're affected by it.

yes, but only in the sense that the main effect of the crunch is that perfectly viable businesses have had their credit lines cut, and as a result many are now facing serious cash flow problems. this affects millions of employees and both myself and the wife would be among those that have curtailed lifestyle spending for fear of losing job in the future.

until that fear diminishes, we will continue to be 'affected' by the crunch.

Most of my clients are financial companies around the city that are feeling it. Everybody is hesitant to buy any hardware now, fortunately the IT support side of the company is keeping things rolling along and we're profiting, if only slightly. We'll see how things change as the year goes by, if we lose about two good clients I could be out of a job, it's possible, but right now things are safe.

I'm preparing for the eventuality of losing my job by blowing all my money on festivals right now so if things go shitty look out for me sleeping in Old Street station and throw me some change. Thanks.

Still trying to find a 9-5 job, but my music career is picking up a little.

  EDGEY said:

I'm saying... there is opportunity (not that it just presents itself, you have to create it). I was using freelance as an example, with people trying to save a dollar, they're no longer looking to do business with big companies with lots of overhead, so they seek out an individual that is just as capable, but half the cost. Capitalize on that. I'm not just talking about digital media freelancers either... that applies to anyone with a skill or a trade.

 

As for people using it as an excuse, people aren't spending because of "the economy", even people that aren't truly being affected by it. I watch company's cut back on advertising, because they're scared, but they're doing more harm than good. Now is an excellent time to advertise more, secure a better footing, and pull in more business than their competitors who are cutting back. Clients of ours that have stepped up their advertising in the past few months are doing well...

 

Just my observations on the state of things...

Sorry, but what field are you in? Advertising? Webdesign? just curious.

Decent synths on ebay have gone up considerably,

proper bastard :getlost:

I've started taking it with a spoon and milk. Doesn't cut the roof of my mouth so much that way, if I let it soak for a few seconds.

For us ("interactive marketing") it's been the other way around. I've had much more to do in the past year, some clients have lowered their budget considerably though. Anyway I'm not too worried about economy bullshit. I'm quiting in september to study for something else.

My employer haven't payed me for two months. I'd be in serious financial problems right now if I wouldn't finish a freelance project a month ago, which still provides me with food and water. But I don't know for how long, though. I have 130eur left on my account, and I don't have the slightest idea when the next money is going to arrive. This weekend is going to be another busy weekend despite many options I have to go to the seaside. I can't afford vacation. I've had many plans for this year, and more than half a year already passed and I'm not even near working on them. So yeah, I can say the crunch affected me. Fuck this shit.

fuck the crunch i got a fuckoff raise and things are on the up.

i haven't had a "real" job since this thread started, actually. i have done tons and tons of odd jobs and freelance work but no actual steady job. it's been bad. i've sold nearly everything i own except for my vinyl, turntable, and guitar, and i'm even considering selling all that stuff for the grand and a half its probably worth and moving somewhere else.

a friend of mine has offered a place to crash and a steady-but-shitty job in london... this is looking like an option, maybe. how is london? i've never even been there. I know its expensive, but like i said, i've got a place to crash for a while... also, i want to go back to school. how possible is it to get into a half decent university in/around london with an art history program for a 25 year old with 2 years of school under her belt? (dropped out 5 years ago, decent grades though)