http://www.democraticunderground.org/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4531222Oh my.
yibbehobba (1000+ posts) Tue Nov-25-08 12:44 AM
Original message
Who here has lost their job due to the economic kablooey?
Some of you may have seen my post here last week, in which I described how I lost my job, due primarily to the fact that company's retailers stopped buying anything from anyone. I'm curious to know what kind of similar stories are out there.
Have you lost your job? If so, in which sector were you working? Were there many other layoffs? If you haven't lost your job, do you consider your position to be safe? I'm just interested in hearing what other kinds of stories are out there. I know this gets discussed here all the time, but I thought it might be useful to have a thread just to share experiences.
AZDemDist6 (1000+ posts) Tue Nov-25-08 12:53 AM
Response to Reply #2
6. many parts of NM have VERY low unemployment but much of the work is difficult (mines/oil fields)
I'm a Federal employee and was lucky to get a permanent position, those are few and far between and difficult to get.
I am lucky, like I said......
proud2Blib (1000+ posts) Tue Nov-25-08 12:48 AM
Response to Original message
3. My son got laid off a few weeks ago
He isn't having much luck finding another job.
Don't worry; he'll have a job and money in his pockets and a free house and milk and honey and free medical care and peace in the world in about 55 days.
The Obamaites and the Obamaite primitives promised.
leftofthedial (1000+ posts) Tue Nov-25-08 12:50 AM
Response to Original message
4. no. lost it (for all intents and purposes) seven years ago
not able to get another "real" job since.
drmeow (879 posts) Tue Nov-25-08 12:55 AM
Response to Original message
7. My job is secure until about June '09
I am a research scientist paid off a federal grant. The grant year ends in May or June of '09. We should get 3 more years after that but if the federal government is in a real mess and they cut NIH funding, who knows what will happen. I don't think it is likely we will lose our funding but anything is possible.
Spouse is a tenured faculty member at a state university with every growing enrollment (but ever decreasing state funding). That job is secure pretty much unless the University closes.
We are very lucky.
Brother-in-law lost his job (a lawyer) for more than one reason but partly because the law firm couldn't collect money owed to it (it also sounds like there was conflict among the partners and a bunch left to form their own law firm). He got another job quickly (possibly before his previous job actually ended) so it wasn't painful but it was a bit of a wake-up call.
elocs (1000+ posts) Tue Nov-25-08 01:19 AM
Response to Original message
9. I didn't lose my job, I quit it last May and took the summer off.
Now I'm just temping and I could probably get by for a couple of years just doing that. I live so dirt cheap that I could easily survive on almost any job.
phaseolus (1000+ posts) Tue Nov-25-08 01:39 AM
Response to Original message
11. I did, in August
Orders had dried up for what former employer makes, and I was one of the last hired & first to get laid off in my department.
I had a better gig within two weeks -- money wasn't quite as good as it was at the place that laid me off, but it's a better place to work & the pay's still decent for my job description. There's much less drama at this place, I don't work with RW assholes anymore, we're busier than ever due to a couple big customers who are doing well these days & buying our stuff for $1billion factory expansions, and I don't have to travel quite so much... so I lucked out, getting laid off a couple months before the financial panic set in.
Journalgrrl (1000+ posts) Tue Nov-25-08 02:38 AM
Response to Original message
12. I work for my church in a resort area...
Budget has been so bad the past 2 years that this January, my hours are cut to 10/week!
I also frelance as a writer/office mgr/etc but my one main client has cut drastically and is worried she will lose her home...
So now I am back at the ROP and the Job One trying to get on a govt program that will help me find a career job that will be truly stable (I have ben freelancing for the Newspaper, my first love...hope they may take me on as a career journalist and groom me, but only if the govt program helps them afford me...they're broke too!). I am 18 mos away from a BA, but can't quit working to go to school as a single mom of 3. If I didn't have help with HUD for rent, we'd be living in our car or at my parents house...
Trying not to worry, sometimes succeeding at least 15% of the time ...
dubeskin (1000+ posts) Tue Nov-25-08 03:29 AM
Response to Original message
13. Other - I haven't been able to GET a job
It's a hostile market out there for a teen to get a job, and it's going to get worse in the next year as more teens find themselves been passed up for someone with more "experience," assuming that a business would actually be hiring.
In fact, it's a sad sight to pull into a shopping center and see Mervyn's displaying a "Store Closing" sign, Shoe Pavilion claiming "50%+ off all!" and Linen's 'N Things "Going out of business." It's going to spawn a large collection of teens and recent college grads who are going to be jobless and have to utilize the welfare system.
ben_thayer (266 posts) Tue Nov-25-08 06:23 AM
Response to Original message
14. Could be worse, but not much...
My (AFSCME) union position was eliminated in September due to a County budget shortfall. Fortunately, I was placed on paid leave through the end of the year, and will be collecting a (tiny) defined benefit pension with health benefits starting Jan. 1st. I managed to find another job in the same field, for 50% of the pay and 60% of the hours as my former job. My wife works for a Ford vendor and is worried sick. We can squeak by if I can get more hours or a better job next year, but if she loses her job, it's all over.
Heckuva job Georgie...
Oh, but the Big Zero's going to make it all better, in about 55 days.
The Obamaites and the Obamaite primitives promised.
