ATS - the site of doom and gloom (interesting none the least).

Well, if you have seen any statistic lately, unemployement is going up and the economy supposedly sucks.

I am just curious if there are any ATS members who have actually been *hit* by this? Being enrolled in high school, working 10-20 hours a week is as much as I can do during the summer, because once school rolls up, I can not do more and employers rarely look for an extra 10 hour spot just for summer...but I am happy with what I have. I realize "life" as some of you older folks call it gets much more rough...but I am where I am in my life and doing what I believe is better than most at my age.

Back to the question though (I do not like questioning without giving my own information first). Is anyone unemployed? Laid off? Is it IMPOSSIBLE for you to find work? Are you in such debt that you are ripping your hair out? Getting government assistance?

Or are you working 50-60 hours a week making minimum wage, busting your chaps just to get by? Or working 30-40 hours a week making enormous amounts of money?

We all come from different backgrounds so this is not a thread to judge anyone based off of their financial upbringings or support systems, but I am a bit curious to know how everyone is doing in such *dark times*?

I was laid off for seven months last year, the first time in my adult life I was out of work, and it sucked. Had I known how it would turn out I would have found an under the table job, not reported my income as the unemployment rep told me (on tape) I should have done and have taken it easy and visited the beach more. GOd, I was bored! How do you think I landed up on here?

Unemployment here is nonexistant. Anyone wants to work, they can. We got the snot knocked out of us by a hurricane last November, and business is booming!

I think some of the "recovery" areas -- here and elsewhere -- might be experiencing an artificial boom. This country -- Cayman Islands -- is in recovery still from at least three major hurricanes.

Talk I hear here amazes me: "Yah, the U.S. is in trouble financially, but I think we'll be okay." HUH??? WHaaaa? What happens to the U.S. trickles down to us. I think we're in for a bit of a shock later on in the year, when inflation spikes and goods are more costly and fuel is prohibitive and health care options to the U.S. slowly close off.

You know who really scares me (not that it really pertains to the OP..)?? The super-privileged. People who are probably good folk, but live air-conditioned lives and don't have a clue how to adapt to less savory circumstances.

I've seen it. People do crazy things when their lives are rapidly changed. Some resist adaptation and become dangerous.

Short answer: Every'ting cool mon. Chillll.

At this point I would scrub port-a-johns with a tooth brush if that job were available. I have been doing odd jobs here and their but so far nothing stable.

I applied for food stamps for the first time in my life. I was denied because I have a certain type of criminal conviction that prohibits me from ever getting food stamps.

I have never been out of work so long in my life. It sucks sucks sucks...
Even the saw mills in my area are not hiring.

I worked for a supplier to the auto industry and yes, I'm laid off. Because of my position I thought they would never let me go, Hell I had two offices in the plant.

Turns out I'm not near as important as I thought I was.

The up side is my children are grown and I'm single. I can actually live on unemployment. I can lay by the pool and work on my tan, Drink until my liver sets off the metal detector at the airport and spend way too much time on ATS.

Life is good!

I know it won't last though. I'll have to actually start looking for work again at some point. I'll have to start over. That will be a pain.

My son and I are looking into starting our own business. I want a shop on spirituality with books and crystals and incense. He's in as long as we sell glass. We'll have to see where that goes.

Unemployment is opportunity.

First I need to perfect my tan though.....

Yup! And truthfully, I'm not holding my breath on a job until I finish college ... what good is peanuts anyway?

Unemployed, besides my reserve duty and not really looking for a job for personel reasons at the moment.

I work once a week for a temp service when I feel like working. It pays for my Copenhagan, beer, movie and dinner with the wife for that weekend.

When my personel buisness gets taken care of in the next couple of weeks I will walk onto a construction site, hire on as a laborer and make 10 dollars an hour plus over time. That will do until I get my papers approved to go back active duty.

I call it my 3 step plan.

Originally posted by Donnie Darko
Yup! And truthfully, I'm not holding my breath on a job until I finish college ... what good is peanuts anyway?

Yea, why work a summer job and make your own money when you can rely on mamma and daddy.

Bad attitude right from the start.

construction work is patchy, usually this time of year i am over worked, i have had more then one, week long break.

30's. Educated, but in the wrong fields. Now, unemployed.

You haven't asked for advice but here it comes anyways:

1) smart enough (at your age) to find/contribute to ATS =smart enough to find/contribute to your heart's desire w/regards to work

2) smart enough to seek out advice of elders = smart enough to learn from their mistakes/opportunities when listed

Soooo IMHO, research, research, research universities & careers...this is the best time in history to do it! There are a ton of grants out there courtesy ospendobama, but you have to dig through 'em. Just google US Fed grants and you'll see what I mean...

If you have time & money to be on ATS, then get educated in a field you love...but check out fields that are growing like: health care, energy, and more of the obamaspendorama

We elders may be somewhat pessimistic on here, but now is the time for you, a teenager, to be totally optimistic and find your niche in the world.

Become and EMT and learn how to speak Spanish.

You can name your price to those who will demand your services.

I am unemployed by choice because I can be. Have looked out of interest for jobs in my career field and there are very few jobs to be had.

My wife is underemployed. Not by choice. Oh, she does plenty of work, enough for two people now, but in less time. However she is just happy to have a job in these tough times in our area.

My daugher, who lives with us along with her three children is unemployed. Not by choice. She's getting quite disheartened, going to the few interviews she can get, still not working. Even the new restaraunt in town, some chicken place I have never been to, wouldn't hire her because she wasn't experienced. Sheesh. She is quite a capable person, hardworking, lots of experience in jobs requiring more intelligence than ringing up a register or pulling baskets of chicken out of a deep fryer when the buzzer goes off. That certainly says something, when a fast food restaurant can be picky and require experience to flip a burger, etc.
She does receive food stamps, but that is only because our household actually has two real, working refrigerators. Yep, if we had just one fridge, she would be inelligible for food stamps. Oh, and she only receives that help, too, because we give her a receipt each month for payment for living with us.

I don't see it getting better anytime soon, either. By the way, our chamber of commerce has info packs to send to any employer interested in opening up a business in the area. Included in the package is a "suggestion" for how much to pay people. Yep. The chamber of commerce and local business owners don't want a company that pays above the prevailing wage here. It makes the rest of them look bad.

Originally posted by jd140

Originally posted by Donnie Darko
Yup! And truthfully, I'm not holding my breath on a job until I finish college ... what good is peanuts anyway?

Yea, why work a summer job and make your own money when you can rely on mamma and daddy.

Bad attitude right from the start.

Hold on. I have looked. The thing is, I don't have a car, and the town I live in has less than 20,000 people, so options are limited and I've had no luck.

40's employed. Here in Utah, unemployment is at 3.3%. Well below national average. My advicce to the youngsters out there, work while you can, there may not be other oportunities. . .

I had a great job but my mom got sick so I had to quit to take care of her. Now that things are better and I am able to work again I can't find a darn thing. I send about 200 resumes a week and not one phone call back. But I also realize the great job I had would probably been one of the first to go when the economy started to get rocky. So my mothers illness may not have even been a factor in my lack of a job now. That being said, I'm still trying everyday to find something.

I lived in a town of 2000 people. If you REALLY need the money there is work. You just have to want it bad enough.