It sounds a whole lot like the "There are starving kids in (insert country here)" line that parents always give...

Hmmmm

I'm thinking this might be worse than I thought it would be in the beginning.

Several months ago (August/Sept-ish) I figured it was going to get crappy for a little bit longer and all would be better once '09 rolled around...

but it's not really looking that way.

yes we have CC. I remember about 2 months ago on one Sunday all of my clients had to apply for CC (8 of them that day) and no one was approved!! That is when the credit market was tightened. It has been better lately. I had a client today get 4400 on CC thank goodness. Still probably about 50% get declined for CC and then what do you do??? My boss is very generous for the most part and will let us give some injections for free (we make clients sign a promise to pay but only about 1% actually end up paying). Luckily all my clients could pay today.

there is nothing wrong with grocery store food. Purina makes a good product. My cats love fancy feast and we feed that all the time to the patients at the clinic(it is sometimes the only food patients are willing to eat).
Yes- don't skimp on the HWPrevention. Heartworm treatment will easily run you 400-600$ if not more plus the risk of death.

60 Minutes totally depressed me tonight. They were talking about two new types of mortgages that were given out a lot that are just now starting to skyrocket with their interest rates. The expert said he didn't see an end to this any time soon.

The Detroit Media Partnership (a joint operating agreement between The Detroit News, an afternoon paper and The Detroit Free Press, a morning paper) announced significant changes today... another sign of the times: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...ETRO/812160419

...home delivery of The News and Free Press will end Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Delivery will continue on Thursdays and Fridays at both papers and Sundays at the Free Press. Both will still be available at the regular price at 20,000 stores and boxes throughout Michigan and through an electronic "e-edition" that allows readers to view replicas of the printed papers online.

I'm supposed to just be glad I have a job
 

So we got a memo near the end of the work day yesterday outlining what my health system is doing to keep their heads above water in these "challenging economic times". I'm not happy, not happy at all. Here's the plan:
1) no raises this year (I was expecting this, not surprised, no big deal, can live without a raise)
2) Selective layoffs (probably not too many, probably an excuse to get rid of some people who are slackers anyway but tough to fire, I'm not worried about my position)
3) Hiring freeze (Could very definitely affect me because my partner/co-worker in computer support is leaving in May and they may not be able to replace her which is going to double my work if that happens, but I'm not going to freak out until it's for sure, our management could possibly justify the new hire)
4) Revocation of our two "floating holidays".. two days that they gave us to make up for taking away the Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve holidays. They are days off that we can take any time during the year. Ok, take two days off, that's ok, but I used mine already this year! Since I used mine this year, they are going to take 16 hours from my Time Off bank. I accrue my time off at a rate of 9.23 hours per pay period all year round. Are they just going to reduce how much I accrue? No. They are going to take the 16 hours in a lump sum out of what is already accrued. I only have 35 hours accrued right now due to two illnesses that made me use 3 days each time in the last two months. That will leave me 19 hours in my bank and I don't know if I'll have enough for the vacations I already have planned this summer, which sucks totally. If they just had me accrue at a slower rate for the rest of the year, this impact would not be felt, really. However, doing it this way, it's going to hurt. I guess the logic is that they want to make sure they don't have to pay people for those days if they are the ones being laid off (see #2). They didn't tell us when those hours will be taken from our bank or what will happen if you don't have 16 hours in your bank right now. My manager is trying to find out.
5) The one that really ticks me off: They are reducing the matching retirement from 2 1/2% to .25%. So, if they put in $50 per pay now, they will now put in $5. The way the retirement plan was set up, we contribute 2% and they contributed 2.5%.We had to choose to opt in or opt out ON HIRE. Saturday is my 15 year anniversary with this health system. I opted in on hire, 15 years ago. I cannot opt out yet, the way the funds are going, with them only contributing .25% I will be losing money way faster than I'm putting it in and I have no way to get out of it. It seems to me that if we can't opt out, they shouldn't be able to change the terms so drastically. If they have to change the terms so drastically, then we should get a one time chance to opt out. I might as well take my money and flush it down the toilet. Nobody said, when we had to choose whether to opt in or not, that the terms could change. This just isn't sitting right with me. I understand having to cut the contribution, but give us the frickin' option to get out of the plan! On top of it all, they changed which funds are available to us back in September so we had to move all of our stuff to new funds right when things started to tank. The new funds are doing MUCH worse than the old ones. We are able to change which funds we invest in and I did move all of mine to a bond fund, which is losing money less quickly than the "retirement age" funds (like 2030 fund, if you're planning on retiring around 2030). I'm not sure I'm ever going to be able to retire. I don't think social security will be around and my retirement fund is dwindling daily, although not as fast as if I'd left it in the 2030 fund! I'm feeling so screwed. I want my money back and I want to put it in an FDIC money market. <sigh> I'm not as furious about this as I was yesterday, but yesterday, before I worked out, I was ready to bite someone's head off.

Yet, everybody says "Be happy you have a job" and I am happy that I have a job. It's a decent job and my immediate management has been incredibly good to me. However, I'm mourning my summer plans and my retirement fund. I think grad school has now become a necessity rather than a choice I was trying to make. It's the only way I'm ever going to get ahead and be able to put more into retirement.

My friend's company decided to remove a weeks vacation from everyone's compensation package. She is the Director of Human Resources, so was in the meeting when the President said "if they don't like it, let them quit. I'll have their position filled in a day." The sad thing is, the President is right. Unemployment numbers are just that high.

I've been grinding my teeth at night and I wake up with really bad headache. It all started when the market tanked.

What's sad is that retail isn't even hiring. And if they are, they want you to have experience. Another thing is that the crime rate here is starting to rise. An 86 year old woman got carjacked down the road from me at a meat market that my mom frequents, and it's across the street from the mall. I'm not sure I want to be walking out of the mall after a night shift. Too dangerous.

Gas prices have risen a good 40cents in the last month. Back to $2 a gallon.

I'm in the same boat. There are SO MANY jobs out there hiring. I've sent out over 100 resumes to the companies that I'm actually eligible for. I haven't gotten one phone call. My friends told me that I may be over qualified for the jobs I'm applying for. I'm thinking about lying on my resume to say that I did NOT graduate college. I'm sick of seeing people who haven't stepped foot on a college campus, or those without even a high school diploma, getting these jobs over those of us who have worked our asses off to get where we should be.

I used to be one of those people who stuck up for the UAW but after really thinking about it and seeing numerous things on the news where they just don't want to give anything up and are STILL fighting for more benefits, I'm just disgusted and can't help but think they are to blame. I know someone who got a LARGE buyout package and they hadn't even been there a year. When I say large, I mean pushing towards $100,000.

A big part of the problem, PM_Mama, is that companies that have one open position get inundated with so many resumes that they can't even look at all of them. There was a position posted on our website for a job in purchasing and they got over 200 resumes the first day, took the posting down and only kept the first 100 resumes that came in.

Interestingly, I just found a PDF on our retirement savings plan website that says your election to participate in our RSP is irrevocable UNLESS HFHS reduces the employer contribution to the Plan. "If that happens, you may change your original election." Therefore, I should be able to opt out. My manager is going to ask HR about it and I don't expect the answer to be good, but I feel better having raised the question.

UMD was having a career fair today. I planned on going until I saw the employer list. I'm only qualified for one of the 28 jobs... that being a promotions assistant at Radio Disney Detroit. Would have been a cool job but I'm sure there would have been hundreds of alumni there and I wouldn't have had a chance.

Yes, it is depressing and I am depressed. I think it is more depressing for me because it is combined with a number of big life changes (moving back from Scotland sorta-kinda against my will, getting married, graduating again, etc). The lack of jobs is very. very. stressful. I'm not even getting rejection e-mails, just nothing. Sending applications every.single.day. and not getting a single word back.

I've been compensating for it by volunteering and interning in my field,hoping to network that way...but I'd be lying if I didn't think of the money every minute of every hour of every day (OMG, I need insulin, do we have money for that? How many more days til my student loans go into repayment? I'll just not eat lunch today...etc).

I'm taking my good friend, who was laid off from my work place last week, out for drinks tonight. She's also a single mom of two teenagers who works hard just to keep things going. She got 12 weeks severance pay. She has a very optimistic attitude.

The attitude on the law school campus is down, to put it mildly. People either have had offers withdrawn, are having trouble finding any work, or have had their start dates moved back from September to January. The legal market is looking rough.

My private-sector attorney friends are, by far, having the worst time of anyone I know. One buddy was actively getting new clients for his firm, and they laid him off. :mad: Another person, one of my best friends, is HR at a big firm. It really sucks to be her now.

Do you read abovethelaw?

I graduate in 35 days, have not been able to find a job, have graduate school acceptances that I can't afford without massive loans (if I could even get a loan right now), and have no other ideas whatsoever. I don't know what I'm going to do and it is REALLY starting to stress me out. I seem to be in the same boat as a lot of other people in my graduating class.

That's putting it mildly. I can't even imagine starting out right now. I've had several friends my experience level (in our 4th year of practice) get laid off recently. Some from large firms, some smaller. The trouble with hiring first year attorneys is that they generally don't know what the heck they're doing...but you spend the money to train them. Unfortunately, even the more marketable (3rd-5th year) attorneys are having trouble finding jobs right now though. First year attorneys are getting shut out of the game. I have a friend who has been licensed for over a year with no job.

While I'm definitely happy to have a job, but I don't feel like any legal job is stable right now. If one of our big clients goes out of business then who knows what would happen.

While I could allow myself to get more depressed with the loss of jobs, I refuse to be saddened because for every downfall, there is an opportunity--according to the entrepreneurs.

Since I am in a healthcare related field, I am embarking on a totally different course with health and wellness--which is coaching. I am almost finished with my training program and working with several practice clients, looking for more. Of course this is a free service because I do not have my certificate, yet. But, what is nice about this program vs. a "life coach" is that is solely for "health and wellness"--i.e. weight loss, fitness, nutrition, whole health lifestyle changes...

The thing is it doesn't matter how many new treatment options or healthcare needs we have, when one chooses not to take the prescribed treatment. Think smoking cessation... Someone, usually NOT the physician or nurse, has to walk the patient through the process or patient navigate.

What is interesting is social media is a viable possibility in learning about health option, however it cannot be used for diagnosis. A collaborative is being developed and there is a huge meeting in Boston in 2 weeks about Health 2.0 with the Google folks presenting their Health Informative platforms. All it is a linked API's, while nice, may not increase diagnoses, but does track some health changes...

Anyhow, I am cautiously hopeful because things are not rosy for me either after all the education I have received... I just want to make a positive difference in people's lives.

Please, have a real recovery start soon......
--In the past week, I received an email and a letter from two companies saying positions they intended to fill have been frozen.
--business at the resort where my sister works is way, way off. It has a small staff, two workers have been let go since mid-March. My sister has learned about every job there, is one of the senior staff and works double shifts often.
--My sister's best friend, a nursing supervisor, had her job cut as did several others at a Rhode Island hospital. So much for health care being a safer job, in terms of cuts.
---One brother, a solo practice attorney, has seen his business drop, in hard times people don't have money to sue, and stay married, divorce costs money. He is looking at moving his practice out of CA, but can't decide where, and is limited to which states accept CA license.
--My younger brother is set with his teaching job, but alot of the new teachers in his distrct have received notices, and are on standby to see if money magically appears from the federal government.
--my mom has taken her condo off the market, she came down in price. Several condos in her community have been up for sale for months.
--One friend lost her job when a paper closed, and another thinks it's just a matter of time until the paper he works for folds, and is sending out his resume.
:(

The newspaper for which I write stopped being able to pay me in February. I continue to write my column, because 1.) I'd just as soon have 2004 - present follow that particular line on my resume and 2.) I teach writing - I figure being a professional (albeit one who is currently not paid) writer can only help, and might help me distinguish myself as I look for a full-time teaching gig.

I'm really tired of barely scraping by - sigh.

Nope, not at all. Promotion a couple weeks ago and our company is doing excellent, all things considered.

Some industries are doing well, no doubt. My brother is director of marketing for a gun manufacturer - they are having to work round the clock to try and fill all the orders being sent in by those afraid of an Obama gun ban. On the negative side, he's still having trouble selling his house.

Living in DC has mostly cushioned me from the recession, since the federal government is the big game in town. I'm a journalist, which is a terrible thing to be right now, but my company is actually doing really well (our publications focus on Congress and most of our clients are Congressional offices and government agencies).

Unfortunately, my company is getting sold in a few months. Our parent company is falling apart and is selling us off in a desperate money grab. There are several companies I know of that have been trying to purchase us for years, so I'm certain the sale will go through. I hope whoever buys us decides to keep operating they way we do now. I love my job, and beyond any financial hardships, I would really be devastated to leave it. I'm not super-worried, but I guess you never know.

My husband is also having a hell of a time finding a job. He's graduating law school in May and still doesn't have anything. He's at the top of his class but attends a lower-tier school -- so all of the jobs that he previously would have had a strong shot at are going to the graduates from better schools who had their big firm offers rescinded and are now going after government jobs.

We have enough in savings to live until December with him not working, but all bets are off if I end up getting laid off. Stupid economy.

I feel the same way about NYC. Even though several sectors of the financial industry collapsed, most of my friends in that field (except the investment bankers) still have jobs. Of those who don't, they got handsome severance packages spanning from 3 months to a year. We still have a ton of tourists coming in, and hotels are still booked. The situation with my lawyer friends is less stable, but I think they'll be okay.

My industry isn't doing that well, but my firm is doing very well. Part of that is that the housing crisis didn't impact NYC as much because we have more co-ops that require down payments and standard mortgages. Also, we don't do design for high-end homes--we do much more practical things that people won't skimp on regardless of the economy. There's a law in NYC indicating that every building over 6 floors has to be inspected and/or repaired every 5 years. That cycle starts next year, so we have a lot of people trying to finish up repairs this year.

Still, I'm trying not to be cocky or gloat too hard, because as I said before, a lot of people who worked very hard for companies are getting released.

I am a teacher in a small suburban district near Los Angeles. Teachers who were hired as back as 2003 received pink slips on March 13th. LA Unified will be laying off many teachers, too. I just had a student teacher complete her student teaching in my classroom. She will be an outstanding teacher, but she cannot even get hired as a substitute. Unemployment in CA is at 10.5 percent. Factoring in discouraged workers, and those who can only find part time work, the real rate of unemployment is closer to 15 percent.

Have you guys heard about this?

Are any of you going? I am, my church is sponsoring it, and I'm really excited about it.....

I do read abovethelaw, although I'm considering going cold turkey on it for a few months. Every day there are reports of firms laying people off and it's gotten really depressing. Apparently the NYC market has been hit the hardest, and they're putting severe limitations on who they're recruting in the fall.

One of my professors is a well-regarded appellate attorney in the area, and his firm laid off a bunch of attorneys. He's been in practice around 20 years, and he said this is the toughest market he's ever seen for the profession.

True. I feel like in most years I would be fairly marketable, especially for a new attorney. I get good grades (at a fairly good law school, lower first tier), I'm on a journal, I'm on moot court board (which at my school is extremely selective), and I already have good experience arguing in court on a number of occasions and prevailing on some dispositive motions. Even still, the market is limited, and I've had to completely re-shape my job searching strategy.

I feel really bad for the mid-level associates who are getting laid off from their firms. I can't imagine putting that time into a place and having them cut you loose like that. At the end of the day I'm pretty lucky; I have a good job as a legal intern, for decent pay, and the economy (in a backwards kind of way) has allowed me to do a lot of assignments that normally would have been assigned to an attorney. The question is, though, what happens when I graduate in January?

I may have said this before, but good luck to your husband. It's rough out there, no doubt, and it sounds like he's done as much as he can to make himself marketable.

My friend called me on Friday and cancelled. She didn't sound good. She said it all suddenly hit her and she just wasn't feeling up to going out. I'm worried about her.

I think the gun thing will die down soon.

Alpha Gam celebrates their Founder's Day with what we call International Reunion Day where we have regional/chapter luncheons. Because we have a lot of chapters in Michigan, we do a statewide IRD with all the collegiate chapters and any alumnae who want to attend present. So, it's a great chance to catch up with alumnae from other areas. The question of the day was "Are you still working?" I heard it so many times that I ended up saying to my table..

When we went through rush (because we had all gone through rush, not recruitment), the question of the day was "What's your major?" When we graduated, it became "What do you do? Who do you work for?" It's sad that now, the question is "Are you still working?"

One of my sisters said "Yeah, and we're the ones who did the right thing, got an education, stayed in our careers, but an education is no guarantee anymore"

But, all of Michigan has a bright spot at the moment. Thanks MSU for making it to the dance on your home turf. We needed that. We needed a bright spot among all the bleak news. And, for this weekend, we have the press and many visitors in Detroit for the Final Four. Hopefully it will help carry our downtown businesses for a little bit longer. In a way too though, it's sad, because this is our last big event. In the past few years, we hosted the All Star Game, the Super Bowl and now the Final Four. These events really helped our downtown restaurants and bars keep going. But, this is the last of these huge events. I don't know how they're going to survive after this.

Many of the moms at my sons school stay at home, and a few are bit vocal about it. They are able to volunteer in the classrooms, etcetera. Which is fine. As a working mom, I can't do that, and instead donate supplies to my sons class. Recently, a stay at mom of one of my sons friends asked me if I was still working. I replied, "of course," and thought gee, what planet is she living on? Some one else asked me that a few days later, and I began to realize that, with so many imminent layoffs in education, the questions about whether or not I am working have to do with the lousy economy, not the work vs. stay home issue.

Dee I'm so sick of people with no college education getting jobs over those with degrees. I busted my butt to get through and here I am, 4 months jobless with hundreds of resumes out there, and I've gotten ONE interview. At a hair salon. I've got the experience they want, I'm available 24/7, I put my salary requirement at $8 (min wage is $7.40)... tell me why I have a feeling that someone less educated got the job? To top it off, I went to a few Greek events in the last few weeks and apparently I'm the ONLY alumni (tiny Greek system) who is jobless. It's so embarrassing. My mom keeps telling me that there are thousands of others out there just like me but when I went to the unemployment office, it looked like a bunch of lazy trash. I was so glad that I didn't dress up and just threw on jeans and a hoodie and I was STILL dressed nicer than the people in there.

Must be nice to be those union autoworkers now getting hefty packages. THOSE are the people who are going to find jobs when they leave. We won't.

It's been almost a year since I graduated from college (will be a year May 10th) and have yet to find a job. It sucks! I've also only had one interview---for a job that ended up being part time, and they claimed i was the frontrunner yet i didn't get the job :(

Hmm. Good for you.

I hope that you never have to experience it, because you'll be eating your words. People have REASON to worry right now. Unemployment and backup money only lasts for so long especially when you have a family to support. It's kind of hard to "just live" if you have nothing and fear that you will be homeless in a few months.

Well, and we're obviously feeling it more in Michigan since our unemployment is 4% higher than the rest of the country. Last month it was 12% and the cuts are nowhere near done yet. When 1 out of 8 people have lost their jobs, you know an awful lot of people who are out.

PM_Mama: It's the old issue of being overqualified for the jobs that you're applying for. They know that you'd be gone as soon as you got something better. What was your major?

One thing I'm finding humorous is the personal ads. I keep seeing ads for men in the mid-40's where the profession says "Retired from GM". Ummm, you may have taken a voluntary buyout, but do you really think you're never working again? You're unemployed dudes, totally unemployed.

Wow.

Also, a lot of the young professionals may not have filed for unemployment because they have savings or a healthy severance package. So, they're still out there, just not at the unemployment office. Of my friends who aren't working, I don't think any of them have taken unemployment yet.

It didn't seem like you were mocking anyone or responding to any one specific post in the thread. This is a big issue and each person has their own perspectives; no one is "right" or "wrong."

That's been my experience as well. I know a bunch of people (both attorneys and staff) at law firms who took pretty solid severance packages, or spent their last month mostly job hunting (because they weren't having clients' matters taken away from them). For some sectors, I think it's going to take longer for people to hit the unemployment line, if they do at all.