Losing it in these United States

[Horse with no Name]

One has to wonder where all of the good is happening in the economy.
I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. He came to Texas a few years ago from Ohio when the tech boom was going on.
He arrived with a High School education and an old beat up Dodge Colt.
Within the last few years he secured a job at Texas Instruments (not exactly sure what he did but it was something with wafers), he bought a home in a prestigious community, and bought a porche. In his spare time, he attended community college and got an Associates Degree. He then went to SMU where he got a degree in engineering. He was promoted to an engineering position at TI.
Then...he had to take a 24% pay cut and then ultimately was laid off at TI. There were no other available jobs because he was relatively a brand new engineer and the market was glutted with experienced engineers.
He downgraded his house and downgraded his car. Then, he downgraded again.
He now lives in a one-bedroom apartment and works at Honeywell as an electrical engineer making $15 and takes the light rail to work.
His girlfriend took the car when she left.
He is obviously depressed...and he understands that he will have to relocate somewhere in order to make a living. $15 an hour in Dallas doesn't quite cut it.
My husband has worked in the same industry for almost 40 years. He was laid off January 2 after 10 years with the same company.
Job prospects are about nil, so, he will probably stay on unemployment as long as he can since he won't be able to replace the job he lost for as much as he is making on that.
I have been a nurse for 20 years. There is a blog devoted to the hospital I work at--the corruption, the corporate mentality, deceit...and it has been speculated that it will be shutting down sooner than later. I personally have no doubts that it will because it has a terribly community reputation. On the blog last week, it said that there were some job cuts coming. I took it with a grain of salt. Now, it is on the front page that they will be doing some major staff cuts in ALL departments. I have no doubt that my position will be eliminated. Most of the people I work with have been there for 10 years, so the elimination of my position is only fair.
Who knows?
My Father-in-law died on Thursday so I have been out on bereavement leave. I guess I will find out when I go back to work.
I honestly don't want anyone to take this as a "poor me"...because of my profession, one inefficiently run hospital does not a career make...I will have no problems finding a job. I just didn't want to drive. There are people a lot worse off out there when they get this news. That is the point. No matter what your profession is...if you work for a corporation, your job is not safe in America.

[unblock]

1. the economy is doing great! what, you aren't on the board of exxonmobil?

or halliburton?

no? well, you must be lazy then, you see!

:sarcasm:

[kineneb]

2. we already learned that

Hubby worked for WorldCom until the big layoff of 2002. People wonder why we live where we do, then I mention WC, and they have an "a-ha" moment... and then say "gee, I'm sorry".

We were middle class.

[NMDemDist2]

3. my husband could tell your friend's story (with minor changes of course)

but to make a long story short, we're in NM living in a trailer and he's learning to drive a oil field truck and i'm back tending bar

we're happy and making a good living for where we are, we're lucky cuz we had a lot of equity in a home in AZ and sold before the bottom dropped out so could pay cash here for our trailer on an acre of land

the Clinton years were a fun ride and we have plenty of those 'toys' left but there is no corporate loyalty to their employees or their communities so we have lost any loyality to our employers. we still give an honest days work for a days pay, but if something better comes along we'll be gone in a heartbeat

screw em

[Horse with no Name]

6. I agree

The days of company loyalty are long gone.

[aikoaiko]

4. Its tough in the private sector --

But this is where the bigger bucks are if you seek such things.

[blues90]

5. This seems to be becoming more and more common

I am sorry to hear this is what things have come to for you . I know all to well how this can happen , it happened to me in 2004 and again a year ago .

People always talk about re-training but I have to ask for what . There are so many youths coming out of school with all the new tech skills who are far above mine and they can work for less usually .

Now there seems to be 100 people all lined up for that one job and jobs are vanishing faster than ever before .

I have no idea what I will do for work now , all my experience means nothing now since the sort of work I did is drying up , worked in the auto dealership field in the service dept . Dealerships are closing because of no sales and it has all changed so much that it is not what it was even 5 years ago .

I hear all sorts of horror stories especially for those over 50 .

[Horse with no Name]

7. I am a nurse

It is just a matter of getting another job for me. I am one of the fortunate ones.
We have no credit car debt and no car payments and we live frugally. Everything I have is paid for.
Two kids in college that pretty much have their own funding via scholarship.
This isn't a life altering thing. But for my friend and many others like him, it is.

[donco6]

8. And people wonder why there's no job loyalty anymore.

Why be loyal to a company when the company will almost certainly screw you if they can make a buck?

To quote "V for Vendetta": There's something very wrong with this country.

[Horse with no Name]

9. No reason to

But along with it...will go pride for a job well done and THAT will hurt.

[seabeyond]

10. not just corporations. it is tough keeping a business going today... ergo

other peoples jobs...

[poverlay]

11. Even if you think others are worse off, your experiences are your own and

if things are bad for you then they are BAD. I hope things turn around for you and that you are happy soon.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

12. when a company downsizes, it hurts everyone

I work for a very small company whose work is tied into the construction and housing industry. No one is buying houses in our area, and a number of spec houses have been stopped in mid construction. There are rumors flying about major layoffs at the biggest employer in town--and since Levis and others have left the area for other nations, leaving long time workers high and dry, most folks believe it will happen again. The only folks spending money are retirees from California, who have discovered that their pension dollars go a lot farther in Arkansas. But even deals with Californians are drying up-a realtor called last week to tell me another sale fell through because the Californians couldn't sell their house out there.

[EFerrari]

13. I'm so sorry you guys have had so much on your plates and all at the same time.

And you're right. No one is safe unless they're BushCo cronies.

Be well, my friend. You keep us posted.

I don't recognize this country but, we've said that many times before. :hug:

[Horse with no Name]

16. I count my blessings

I really do.
I have no doubts we will pull out of this. I can get by on next to nothing.
However...I feel sorry for the ones who can't, and they are surely more plentiful than the ones who can.:hug: backatcha

[EFerrari]

21. I oount too. Every day. Here's hoping we can outlast these bastarda

long enough to get this country back on track.

I don't even know if it can be done but today, I'm not asking that question. :hug:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

14. For a guy who started out without a degree, to have bought his own house and car

(a Porsche no less, I'm assuming he got a used one as new ones run about 100K and up) right away, he was doing way better than anyone who hadn't started their own successful business had any right to expect, but I guess it didn't last...

I live near Dallas. Several years ago when I first came here interviewing for jobs, I attended a party in Richardson (suburb near Dallas). The host was a young twentysomething engineer at TI, someone very much like your friend sounds like, and most of the guests were similar: twentysomething or early thirties, engineers or marketing people at TI, Alcatel, Nortel and various telecoms in the area.

I remember being struck how these young guys in basically entry level positions were able to afford a pretty nice home for what couldn't have been more than 150-200Kish price range.

Telecom pretty much blew up around here right after that, I'm guessing that most of the people at that party no longer have jobs in that field and many are probably no longer in the area.

[Horse with no Name]

15. It was a new one...and I am not denying he worked hard and long hours

and the telecom blowup is why Plano has the highest rate of foreclosures in Texas.
You would probably be right about those party goers jobs. There aren't any jobs...but they have all been replaced by service jobs making a small fraction of what they made before.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

17. Oh, and I lived in San Diego and Washington D.C. before coming here, so for whatever

entry level salaries these guys were making at TI and Nortel, there's no WAY they could afford a nice medium sized home anywhere in the area, so my sense of what's an affordable house is very different...

[Horse with no Name]

19. As is mine

Which is why I live in the middle of nowhere where things are more affordable.

[blues90]

18. I have absolutely no hope

That I will ever have a decent job again .

As jobs continue to be either outsouced or closed down including layoffs and cutbacks more and more people who have no home to sell or savings set aside will suffer and dry up .

I don't see anyway how the jobs that were lost will ever be replaced or how many people will be able to adapt or retrain .

The chance was passed up long ago when it was clear that box stores were popping up replacing the smaller shops . People went for the few dollars saved and in the process cut their own throats .

There were many indicators for those who paid attention but then money takes the drivers seat over all else .

How many realize that in the beginning many of these box stores did have lower prices but as soon as they took over the prices rose back to what the independants had to offer and the products were cheap labor made in china . Now even a surviving independant can only offer the same cheap products and in order to survive they sell for the same price .

Just in home building alone there is a long branch of companies needed from tools to wood to everything in between who all suffer and scamble to make a buck and home building is dying off at a rapid pace .

No matter how people illude themselves many more will find they are without a job .

[Horse with no Name]

20. Absolutely.

For anyone that is in a position to re-train, I wholeheartedly suggest retraining in the medical field.
Whether it is for a COTA or an LPTA or an X-Ray tech or Respiratory Therapist or Medical Transcriptionist or biller....there are lots of opportunities OUTSIDE of nursing that pay very well and most are adaptable to one's situation.
Personally I have just about quit buying new stuff. I am very pleased with the used stuff I pick up.
It is adjusting to a new way of life for some...but the treasures that I find second-hand have inspired some of my well-healed friends to do the same.
Good luck to you finding a new job.:hug:

[Edweird]

22. Construction Contractor, no work here either. Things are tough all over.