View on the Ground

ruggedtoast

Anyway, what does a 5% fall in GDP feel like to you? Loads of mates losing their jobs and overtime taking a dive or just a storm in a newspaper shaped tecup?

Its one of those cases where its a recession when your neighbour loses their job, and a depression when you lose yours.

I now know a rather uncomfortably large number of people who are out of work longish term, and a lot more people (myself included) who are keen to move on to other employment but are finding theres just nothing out there to apply for.

The 'R' word is stalking HR departments and in London there is a definite change in attitude towards employees in some companies. Employers are beginning to realise after a decade long personnel shortage, that they finally have the upper hand in terms of benefits, salaries and terms of employment.

A colleague advertised for a simple admin job in his team lately and got 186 applications.

The picture looks bleaker if you have kids leaving education now (or even are one of them). There is very little around for graduates, few apprenticeships, and for those school leavers who want to go into HE they are walking into a brick wall of about to be runaway tuition fees, and swingeing cuts in funded places for EU and UK students.

Its not all doom and gloom though. Mrs RT works for a charity that provides "point of no return" support for drug addicts and the homeless. They've never been busier.

chucky

i work in IT in finance and jobs have been not as easy to find but there are jobs out there if you're prepared to look and maybe take a slight pay cut.

i guess when there are more people on the job market the employers will always have more to choose from and "weaker" candidates are usually the last in finding work.

the people that i know that have been made redundant in various areas of work and have all found work within 2/3 months.

personally, i'm exactly if not in a better financial position as pre-recession. it hasn't affect me luckily.

my purchasing power has increased dramatically as there seems to be good deals on most things that i need at the moment - so can't complain about that either.

purch

The queue of cars for Butlins was the longest it's been since the Xmas changeover on Friday evening, so the market for alcohol infused £30 weekend breaks isn't drying up

Out,_Vile_Jelly

chewmylegoff wrote: »

the tube isn't getting any less busy either, which i was really hoping for.

Yes, that would be nice. Maybe the unemployed could be paid to fan sweltering commuters and spray air freshener into the carriages?

I still can't afford to buy anywhere decent in London, but rent a really nice flat, have a secure job, no debts and am richer than I've ever been. I get to walk past a recently emptied estate agents office on the way to work every day, which always cheers me up.

Lotus-eater

Many of the people I know are self employed, it's a real mixed bag, some (like me) have almost no work on, some are really struggling to find enough to live on and some have noticed no difference.

Of the people I know in proper jobs, again mixed, some are in v good recession proof jobs and have noticed nothing but the mortgage going down, a couple have been made redundant, one found a new job straight away, the rest are a bit worried about their employer.

I've noticed alot more people I know now starting to grow their own food at home, saying it's because things are getting tight.

StevieJ

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

Yes, that would be nice. Maybe the unemployed could be paid to fan sweltering commuters and spray air freshener into the carriages?

Where is thy luster now:eek:

kennyboy66_2

The economy is all dark and comfortless.

StevieJ

'Call me Dave' I implore you

enkindle all the sparks of nature
To quit this horrid act.

Generali

StevieJ wrote: »

'Call me Dave' I implore you

enkindle all the sparks of nature
To quit this horrid act.

thrust [Brown] out.....and let him smell his way to Dover

:-p

StevieJ

End of ACT One