Chicken licken syndrome

rikbar

As an auditor of many companies I can honestly say that Q4 2008 is looking about as stagnant as it can get.

Companies have either already reduced workforces by approximately 30% or are in discussions with remaining staff to reduce wage bills and other overhead costs.

Some companies are doing very well, due to the types of business and contracts that they have, but many are really feeling the pinch and, like Lotus Eater, are worried about their ability to continue should a key customer go under or not pay. I have never seen a market as slow as this, and really feel for those bosses of companies currently having to make some very difficult decisions that affect not only their business but also the lives of people who work for them.

Whilst it is nice to try and remain positive, the real problem is that these issues will not truley be felt in peoples lives for another 6 months, thus any feeling of ' i'm alright jack' may be very short lived. This downturn is only going to get worse, before it starts to get better, and whilst the media may over hype some bits of the problem, people really should start thinking about trying to reduce their exposure.

Other than that all looks fine to me

Purse_String

With my eyes I've seen our local Woolies close as well as the jewellers, gift shop,cinema,library reducing its hours, building redevelopment slow down, job losses at Argos warehouse, less jobs advertised in the regional paper, bank shares worth pennies,next door's nice house still on the market over a year.
So, I don't need to rely on the media - its wobbly out there!

Purse_String

With my eyes I've seen our local Woolies close as well as the jewellers, gift shop,cinema,library reducing its hours, building redevelopment slow down, job losses at Argos warehouse, less jobs advertised in the regional paper, bank shares worth pennies,next door's nice house still on the market over a year.
So, I don't need to rely on the media - its wobbly out there!

handful

I've already had to make redundancies in the depot I work at (food distribution) due to falling orders in the pub/restaurant/hotel areas. Another one to come this week and he doesn't know it yet. Locally 3 pubs shut in our nearest small town. Brother in law made redundant last week, sister's job in media (journalist) under review and expected to go, mother's earnings from savings has meant her eating into capital as she can't relay on her pension alone. Numerous friends and acquantances on reduced hours and some already made redundant.

But hey, let's look on the bright side.

skap7309

FungusFighter wrote: »

But what have you seen with your own eyes?:rolleyes:

Yes. My overseas orders have increased from 10% to 95% (!) total sales due to the falling value of the pound. :beer:;)

StevieJ

1echidna wrote: »

Nobody has ever seen an atom - didn't stop some smart people creating an atomic bomb. An engineer seeing a pressure guauge rising above the equipment design pressure knows that it is likely to burst and doesn't hang around saying he hasn't yet 'experienced anything'.

Something wrong with that equation, Media = Smart people :eek:

wymondham

6 of my customers have gone bust and talks of us going to 3 or 4 day week now regularly on the agenda, sister made redundant, no pay rise for 2nd year on the trot although bills have risen, woolies shut (have to put that one in!) - you are indeed lucky to be so insulated from this.... long may it last!

PasturesNew

skap7309 wrote: »

Yes. My overseas orders have increased from 10% to 95% (!) total sales due to the falling value of the pound. :beer:;)

And your product is ...?

pfpf

pfpf wrote: »

Asda 'Smart Price' Curry Noodles, up from 8p to 10p, thats 25%.

Asda 'Smart Price' Tomato Sauce, used to be my favourite of any TS EVER. Now a few pence more expensive BUT they have obviously changed their supplier as it now tastes like %^&*.

if anyone knows who supplied Asda with their own brand TS up to about 3 months ago, please let me know.

....and of course, my OH is redundant as of the 26th January (tomorrow) after 15 years with the same employer how did i forget that? oh yea, it was my stress due to the TS situation. :mad:

slipthru

So far just a company my friend works for making the entire staff go four days a week about six months ago.

The company that my wife works for has been making redundancies and pay cuts in offices in America and in the UK and is about to tell 15 people they are being made redundant and a further 3 will be asked to go to three days a week in the London office that she works in. Her team is lucky that she is going on maternity leave in the next month or one of them would have been on the list too.