Job market

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by piemma

Thanks, man. I needed a pick me up

I thought you were looking for a new gig anyways.

[BigBo]

I may be looking soon myself. Problem is....where?
Things will get better eventually I guess. Unfortunately, I think they're going to get worse before that happens though. I wouldn't mind as much if I were younger. Gonna be a bumpy ride me thinks.
Good luck Paul.

[Raven]

Originally Posted by BigBo

I may be looking soon myself. Problem is....where?

Look to The Bio tech sector... why? Because the restrictions on
stem cell research have just been lifted...

the companies participating in stem cell research are on the fast track. People have recently said about Obama ...your ending Gitmo and killing babies... not true, as embryonic fluid was also found to have stem cells in it... I know it means huge changes but taking away health care is totally unacceptable.

Paul, sorry to hear of your situation. But it sounds like to me
your past performance would look excellent on your resume.

[rwilhelm]

Sorry to hear that. I could see if your company was hurting but it sounds like your company had a great year despite the economy. Unless future sales look very grim?

[piemma]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

I thought you were looking for a new gig anyways.

I am but didn't expect to take a 20% hit on my base while I looked. I am more pissed about them doing this to my tech support guy. He has 6 kids!

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by piemma

I am but didn't expect to take a 20% hit on my base while I looked. I am more pissed about them doing this to my tech support guy. He has 6 kids!

I know. Just saying

Sucks.
It's the same thing in the state, when they claim the ave state worker makes $X, so whats 20% or paying a huge chunk of your health care? It's a lot for someone like a department secretary making 30G.

good luck.

[piemma]

I didn't mean for this to come across as weining. I have health coverage. The company was reimbursing me for my coverage but not my wife.
The whole thing just pisses me off because they obviously made a boat load of profit. The Company went from revenue of $4.6M in 07 to $9.5M in 08 with essentially the same number of employees (i.e. the same overhead.) So they grossed $5M more in 08 yet wack 30% of the staff and cut everyone's salary and health coverage.
It smacks of what's happening on Wall Street.

Personally, I am more pissed about the ethics of what they did than anything else. I'm going to be 62 in October and I should probably retire then and fish full time.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by piemma

Personally, I am more pissed about the ethics of what they did than anything else. I'm going to be 62 in October and I should probably retire then and fish full time.

When you get a new gig, send them a farewell gift...
Mail them a frozen eel.
and make sure you mail it parcel post so it takes a while to get there..

[Jenn]

Join the club. Over the summer (our BUSY time we got a mandatory cut across the board to 32 hours....that 20% down from 40...see a trend?) It was supposed to be for a month but lasted over three months. Well here we are again in our SLOW period cut again to 32 hours. This on top of no XMAS bonus or raise which I have gotten yearly for the past 6 years. Its just one hit after another......

[Jenn]

oh and I forgot to mention that our largest client (the major backbone of our business) reportedly layed off 40% of its people!

[Raider Ronnie]

Sucks reading stories like this every day !
And to think Jason Veritec is offended playing for $5 mill this season !

[5/0]

Originally Posted by piemma

I didn't mean for this to come across as weining. I have health coverage. The company was reimbursing me for my coverage but not my wife.
The whole thing just pisses me off because they obviously made a boat load of profit. The Company went from revenue of $4.6M in 07 to $9.5M in 08 with essentially the same number of employees (i.e. the same overhead.) So they grossed $5M more in 08 yet wack 30% of the staff and cut everyone's salary and health coverage.
It smacks of what's happening on Wall Street.

Personally, I am more pissed about the ethics of what they did than anything else. I'm going to be 62 in October and I should probably retire then and fish full time.

Im sorry to hear about the going on's at your work,the health care is the real kicker,it sucks.
In time's such as these alot of companies such as yours who made a large profit can just jump on the economy wagon and say hey times are tough sorry.

Paul Im sorry for you & yours to go through this but it could be worse.


I got a 33% pay cut and was told I must work a 40hr. work week
So I know how your feeling.



5/0

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by piemma

I didn't mean for this to come across as weining. I have health coverage. The company was reimbursing me for my coverage but not my wife.
I'm going to be 62 in October and I should probably retire then and fish full time.

Didn't sound like whining, you were simply reflecting on a situation that may hit all of us at some point.
Last November, I had to inform 12 outstanding employees of their impending fate. I did get far enough ahead of the curve so as not to blindside anyone, but my seasonal staff will be facing hourly rate cuts and fewer hours for 2009. My salaried people will be working more hours as a result. The bottom line is this is really an opportunity to prove your value as an employee, regardless of your position. The reality is there is a growing talent pool out there. People are willing to take someone else's job, do it better, and accept lower compensation.

If I were in your shoes Paul, I'd wave goodbye to the working life and live on my own terms, which it sounds like you could do.

[Tagger]

Originally Posted by Back Beach

The bottom line is this is really an opportunity to prove your value as an employee, regardless of your position. The reality is there is a growing talent pool out there. People are willing to take someone else's job, do it better, and accept lower compensation.

Yea Mike .. Its called cutting each others throats ..

Salary ? sure great .. Work late at night ? sure boss.. Work every Saturday ? no problem .. Work for less ? ..Ok .. How about Sundays ? oh I can't work Sunday .. Next !!!!

[spence]

Paul, it sounds like your company is pretty small and has serviced some very volatile industries. As such, even with last years performance they are looking into a huge drop in cashflow and few resources or leverage to prop things up for a longer recession.

But the behavior should tell you something about where your company could be headed, it doesn't sound like they're trying to retain talent.

Sucks all around.

One thing that's surprising is that even though the economy didn't feel all that great under Bush, a lot of companies were expanding...and many seem to have been really exposed. Do we really need a Starbucks on every other corner? Did Caterpillar think the construction boom wasn't going to ever slow down?

Fortunately my line of work is pretty diversified, and some of our customers have been doing pretty well. That being said I'm prepared for it to catch up to us eventually.

-spence

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by Tagger

Yea Mike .. Its called cutting each others throats ..

Salary ? sure great .. Work late at night ? sure boss.. Work every Saturday ? no problem .. Work for less ? ..Ok .. How about Sundays ? oh I can't work Sunday .. Next !!!!

Its the same situation from the top down, Ed. Everyone is doing more with less. From a hiring perspective, its a great opportunity to acquire very good talent that may not have been available during the peak ecomonic boom when there were fewer potential candidates out there.
Throat cutting? Not in my mind. You need to adapt to survive, IMO. I would call it value creation.
There's no guarantee if we come out of this mess that things will be as they were before. What's happening now may become the norm, meaning as good as one may be at their job, they'll need to get even better just to keep a small piece of the pie.