Is the recession making you depressed? Cranky?

[SWTXBelle]

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.

[ADqtPiMel]

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previously would have had a strong shot at are going to the graduates from better schools who had their big firm offers rescinded and are now going after government jobs.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.

[Munchkin03]

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.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

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. 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 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.

Originally Posted by OtterXO

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.

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?

Originally Posted by ADqtPiMel

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.

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.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by AGDee

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.

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.

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

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.

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.