How Secure is Your Job in 2009?

A week ago, I remembered feeling happy- that my husband and I are both in stable situations with our jobs. His contract was renewed at a major corporation, and I felt very secure in my own job, because we had a disclosure meeting about cutbacks at work. But then they shut down an entire department at work, and within the last 30 days, have laid off hundreds of people worldwide. I was assured my position was safe, but now I am not so sure.

Today- my husband came home from work and was distraught. Today he learned- from the internet and local newspaper- that his company was cutting 375 jobs this friday- and nobody knows who it is yet. This fortune 500 company screwed their employees by letting this news leak before even telling their employees. Nobody feels safe now. Even if he does not get let go this time around- who's to say in another 3 months there wont be another job cut?

My husband- is an engineer. And, we dont live in a huge metropolitan city where there is alot of other job openings if his company lets him go. He might have to commute and hour and a half to a larger city if he is let go- this means we might have to move... or what happens if he cant find work?

How nieve I was, to think that our household was not going to be affected by this economy. The worst part is, now, i will never feel secure with his- or my job. Because I fear the worst is yet to come with our economy.

Please share your story if you've heard about major layoffs at your job/company...or if you've personally been affected by the cutbacks and layoffs. I hope that this thread can help people see a clearer picture of what's in store for us.



[edit on 13-1-2009 by xynephadyn]

ha, erm...

Funny you should mention this really..

I work at a large bank as a IT contractor, and i HATE it here, this job really sucks, so i saved up and i gave in my resignation, last day of work is the end of this month.

Everyone asked me if im not worried about not finding other work with the whole economic crisis thing and people being retrenched etc.

I saved up enough to be comfortable for up to 3 months if it takes that long to find another job, i plan on taking a month holiday anyway, so im going to ENJOY it and not worry about it.

As a Graphic Designer, I foresee this year being extremely lean as companies cut back on spending, advertisement and so on. Hopefully I will get an extra job teaching this year to make ends meet.

IRM

I know one person who is not worried about her job.
She works at the unemployment office.

My husband and I work in the restaurant business, and in bad economic times when people are cutting back on luxuries like eating out, well...I don't think job security for people who work in the restaurant business is all that good.

Our restaurant has always been pretty busy and is located near three major hospitals and is right off the expressway. Our last quarterly report looked pretty good.

I just googled the name of the restaurant I work for and added the word "closings." To my surprise, I found an article written today in a major newspaper that said our company is closing almost 30 restaurants. I had absolutely no idea until just now.

Hopefully our restaurant isn't one that's closing, but I feel badly for all the people who will lose their jobs.

Thanks for sharing your experience, and I sure hope your husband's job will be secure.

I work as a warehouse worker for a Fortune 500 company .. (clothing Industry)

I was wondering if anyone here would have any insight...If i should find an other line of work?

I have an IT degree but certs.. I plan on getting my Microsoft Cert soon but only at the hand of finding another job, If need be.

Well I am honestly sorry to hear about everyones crappy job situations. However, my job is about the only secure job you can have in the United States right now. I am a Marine currently deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. My job is secure until at least 2010 which is when my current enlistment runs out and I have to re-enlist. Which I will be doing. I love my job and the chance to defend my country from anyone and everyone.

Originally posted by speed_demon
... I love my job and the chance to defend my country from anyone and everyone.

The Marines have done an outstanding job of protecting us from foreign enemies.

Domestic enemies? Not so much.

i am a care worker in the UK. The care industry is one of a few sectors that will grow over the coming economic downturn. Children will suffer due to parents losing their jobs and falling further down the social ladder to the point the parents can not care for them. i work with children such as this, an can see a lot more coming into the care system with emotional and disfunctional problems.

So my advise would be to try and get into the care worker industry.

Things are slowing down accross europe as well but I am afraid that we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg the money been thrown by paniced government throughout the western world will only bankrupt the system faster and devalue the currency further.
then chaos and mayhem will follow

people should build a 6 to 12 month food supply just for peace of mind.

peace and hope

I'm not too sure about the security of my job. I was recently transferred into the recieving department from my old department at Home Depot. The HD I work at has been doing pretty bad since the economy tanked, they went from making almost a million dollars a day to barely scraping over 100k in a day now.

Of course that is also due to a slowdown in revenue during the winter season, but even for winter that is bad. HD has been cutting back hours and laying off part timers, but I haven't been affected yet since I'm full time.

My job seems relatively safe as of right now as theres only two night recievers (me and another guy) so they can't logically lay us off. If things stay this bad though, I don't think we'll have to worry about layoffs or hour cutbacks anymore, we'll have to start worrying about a possible store closure...

That scares the hell out of me because there is NO jobs in my area right now. My backup plan was to go back to the diamond drilling company with my brother I used to work at, but they've shut down all operations and there's no word when (or if) they will have any more contracts.

Bad times....

I work at a Foreclosure company and let me tell you, just because it's bad out there doesn't mean it's good in here - Careful what you wish for, huh...

We have cut quite a few jobs over the last couple of months and more to come...

I may get lucky and ride this one out, but I will definitely be looking to move to another industry asap...

The situation hasn't affected me persay, but i have had many friends who alhtough seemed to have jobs that were in high demand, let were let because of this crisis.

I am also an Engineer, but i work with Information Systems. I build complete Networks top to bottom, including building security and World Wide Access. This are of the labour market is in dire need of qualified personnel to further the technological revolution gripping most businesses.

If he can into that sector at all, he would have a very good level of job security. As long as we have computers, were gonna need people to make them work together.

Cheers and I hope all goes well for you and your family and i will be sending positive energies your way during my meditation.

reply to post by ben420


Looks like I made a mistake in that post, I meant that they went from making around a million dollars a week to barely scraping 100k in a week, not a day.

Well, I hate to be miserable, so I promise I won't be, but I was made redundant just over a week ago, completely out of the blue. I went from having a secure...so I thought...job, that I didn't really like but could put up with and work at, to being out of work in less than 30 minutes. All I wanted to do was talk to my boss about a few problems we were having and the first thing he did was put the redundancy letter in my hand. Clearly it was planned, and very badly handled.

I'm taking the view that the Universe has a different plan for me and a "hate it but it pays the bills" job isn't right, no matter how much I was willing to make it work. I have no other offers just now, so I'm making the best of the little bit of free time I have till something else turns up, and working on my website.

My heart goes out to anyone who finds themselves in this situation, or threatened with it. All I can suggest is that you take the advice about food storage and try to save a little cash if you can. Make yourselves safe, as much as you can, financially speaking. Keep your heads up, and be flexible.

Cait

I work as a Dept recovery officer in the UK, but please don't hate me for that It used to be a steady living but all that has changed now. People in general are so overstretched with multi-card debts, bank loans and potential negative equity on their property that they have reached a point of not really caring anymore. My Company's usual threats of wage arrestments and furniture poinding no longer has the desired effect as, in my opinion, the average person in dept has passed the point of no return as far as even trying to service their financial commitments. To conclude, I would really advise anyone in this position to NOT WORRY AND RELAX PLEASE, as we are all in the same boat, including me soon, and I personally think we will eventually reach base and then will be able slowly rebuild from that position. Trust in God and each other

It saddens me to read your stories.

Yes, it will be very hard for some.

I enjoy relatively decent means, but even I have concerns for the future. (Anyone who thinks they are immune from this does not appreciate the full extent of the risk.)

I'm also one of those who has had to make the layoff decisions. So, I see this fiasco from a slightly different vantage point.

I think we have arrived at one of those times in history, where the only sound advice is to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

There's going to be some pain in all of this.

I wish you all the best of luck.

Keep positive.

[edit on 21-1-2009 by loam]

I am sorry to hear about others being laid off.

I wanted to post that we finally heard from his employer, and he wont be laid off this time around. Thank God! We are blessed this time around. I just hope with Obama in office, our country will regain confidence in the economy and no one else will have to lose their jobs!

Working in the environmental sector here, and so far, nothing huge. Some few cutbacks, but fairly stable. All profit last year.

But.. I think it can change on a dime for any job field. Right now, it is not good to get too comfortable. Have your resume up-to-date, peruse the papers for other jobs, let a job cut not come as a surprise, but as an expected possibility, and ready to hit the ground running for a new job.

reply to post by xynephadyn


I'm contracted three years in advance and I'm probably going to hire a couple of new people. We have no problems here. 3.5% growth last year and the projections released yesterday predict we will be one of the cities (Anchorage, AK) most likely to have a great year. My customers are spending less per transaction but I have more customers than usual.

I panicked for a bit due to ATS and even thought about reducing my staff until I realized that we were untouched and I'm doing just fine. My sales people are earning nearly as much with their commissions as I'm making. They are fine also.

It depends on where you live. On the report I read they predicted cities like NY, Chicago and L.A. would be the hardest hit. I feel fortunate to live where there has been no impact at all and none is expected. Our only problem is prices rising due to the actions by poorly managed economies in other areas, over which we have no control.

I lived through the incredibly hard times during Carter and had to deal with 21% interest on a Mortgage and the insane inflation he caused. One thing I noticed then is that I did OK because I was willing to sacrifice and move to where the work is rather than let my family starve like some of my counterparts did. Instead of sitting, whining and waiting to go broke because of some misguided desire to stay put in the old back 40 people need to put financial survival first and move if need be. Most won't but the wise ones who do won't suffer much.

To those who bought things like houses they could not afford, it is hard to have sympathy, but I do have empathy for their dilemma. They thought the trough would always be full and ate more than they could handle.

[edit on 1/21/2009 by Blaine91555]