Walmart Greeter w/ PhD...aka...Portland unemployment (Ashland: sales, rental market)

[Wicked Felina]

Originally Posted by LeftCoastee

My "undisclosed state" comment was meant as a joke given all the anti-California references. I've lived all over: New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and for the past 3 years the Los Angeles area. Its not for me.

I know, I was just joshing you..

[LeftCoastee]

FYI - My original post was not directed at any one specific thread or post or person. Its just based on an overall observation from all the recent threads that involved employment. I don't want anyone to think its a personal attack.

I am not an overt optimist, I'm a realist. The job market is terrible. Terrible does not equal impossible.

[Nell Plotts]

I know for a fact that there have been PhDs working as Techs at Tektronix. Sometimes it is just burn-out.

There are lots of Oregonians in Portland and Eugene metro with college degrees working in semi-skilled jobs, particularly right out of school.

I do know a former executive who worked as a WallMart greeter after he retired. He was such a PITA that some of us thought his wife told him to go get a job in his late 60s.

[subsound]

I get my unemployment data from the Oregonian, they are referred to often in the news and has survived peer testing. Of course the whole nation is suffering pretty heavily, Portland is one of the focuses of the worst...L.A. too, much worse then Portland but not as bad as Michigan. Comparing it to #3 on the worst charts and saying Portland (#5) could be worse is not a good comparison...it's still in the top 10%. I know my employer just laid off more then 1,200 people in the last two weeks, and we are the largest employer in the state.

I have no idea about the Ph.D. but I know our departmental admin was "Bumped" (gotta love unions) by a senior union member with 10 years in IT, same with my wife as she was one of the admins in her office. She is having some good luck with research interviews (she has experience at it), but we find out next week.

Sorry it's harsh, but it's the dumps here without a specialized skill or education...if you don't being persistent, resourceful, frugal, and humble might work. Depends how long, that no one can predict 100%. The average I see from people who have been laid off here is 9 months of no work till they land something, and when they do it's usually not at a lower level then what they were laid off from. Some people find something right away, of course they do...but some people don't.

Can any person tell me which they will be with 100% certainty? Would they bet a 3,6, or 9 months worth of income on it?

So if anyone wants to, come...please do. If some one doesn't want to listen to people that plead for caution say hunker down after the Dow loses 50% of it's value in 6 months, it's their life. Want to quit a good job and move to a new city with no job plans, no research, and just wing it...take the risk. However, that person doesn't get to whine and say "I didn't know it was going to be this difficult to find a job"...and don't expect me to give out change.

I can take a picture of the lines down at the China Town missions for the people looking for food, a place to warm up, and a hand out...I ride past there every day on the 9.

[Minervah]

But there are eight other metro US markets where it is worse. Should you be prepared for an extended period of time being unemployed (at least 6 months)? You'd be a fool if you didn't.

Yes there are other cities worse than Portland but this is the Portland forum and people come here to ask questions about Portland. They want to know what the employment situation is in Portland. I am sorry for the people in Michigan and I know they have a higher unemployment rate but this is not a Michigan forum it is a Portland forum so I wouldn't try to pass out information about Michigan.

And yes, people are foolish enough to come here without savings. I have had neighbors who have done this. I have also had neighbors who did come here with backup savings for a year and never got a job.

My story is that after living in Portland for 25 years I was out of work for a couple of years and also used all my savings which had been pretty substantial. I was "persistent, resourceful, frugal, and humble. But I was also over the age of 50 competing with 20 year olds. I think you are very naive if you think what you suggest is all one needs to make it. But then again, you haven't live here; I have.

No one is giving bogus information. Most of the time people talk about moving here without a plan because they don't research the situation. I have never seen anyone telling anyone else on this board not to come if they had a job and a plan.

I wonder, what is your job that you can be so confident you will have no problems?

[LeftCoastee]

I am, in no way, questioning that its bad and something which most of us have never seen before. Portland is one of the worst economies for finding employment. But some of the threads lead you to believe its the apocalypse. People just want the truth.

Again, I am not suggesting anyone should pick up and move to Portland without doing their proper due dilligence. If someone is prepared for six months to a year without finding employment and they are marketable and skilled, why shouldn't they move if its their dream?

Too many threads start out with someone mentioning they want to move to Portland and the immediate response is usually something like: "Well I hope you have a job or else you'll be in line with former physicians trying to get a shoe shining job at the airport. Also, be prepared to be hated for taking a job away from a local."

People need the facts and if the facts scare them away, so be it. What may scare some may not scare others.

Your post is a great example of the right type of information. You provide facts.

Originally Posted by subsound

it's the dumps here without a specialized skill or education...

The average I see from people who have been laid off here is 9 months of no work till they land something, and when they do it's usually not at a lower level then what they were laid off from.

Believe me, I know how bad things are. I work for a company with 380,000+ employees and we've laid off thousands within the past few months. My former colleagues are waiting months to even get the slightest of job leads. But some of them who have lived properly (not overspending) have the ability to make this a great opportunity to either travel, go back to school, or make a huge career change. I realize not everyone is as fortunate, but you don't have to make a ton of money either.

My brother-in-law sold used cars in the San Francisco area and was laid off. He had to make ends meet for his family and realized selling cars in this economy does not make sense. He's a good cook and worked in restaurants throughout his life so he started a home based catering company by posting ads on Craigslist. He's bringing in enough money catering small parties to pay his bills AND he likes it.

My wife worked in real estate for a retail clothing company and was laid off in December. She's spent the last three months looking for work in LA / Portland / Seattle without much luck. But as part of her severance package she got hooked up with a career management company. They analyze your skills, strengths, likes/dislikes, etc and tell you what your "ideal" career should be. Her analysis showed nursing as a potential career. We started looking in to nursing and found out that some hospitals will not only pay for the majority of her nursing education, but will also pay a living stipend. This is something we never would have even known about or considered until she got laid off.

This economy can be the kick that some people need to get going.

[hml1976]

I guess it depends on your industry. If I go by my suburban neighborhood, one person is a nurse and immediately found work, another is a laid off marketing person with an engineering degree and a top notch MBA...he's been looking since last summer and hasn't found a thing. A lot of the laid off IT guys from the company my husband works for have had a horrible time but his admin assistant was able to find something quite quickly. It seems to be that the middle-higher management IT, marketing, advertising, engineers are having an especially hard time.

[LeftCoastee]

Originally Posted by Minervah

My story is that after living in Portland for 25 years I was out of work for a couple of years and also used all my savings which had been pretty substantial. I was "persistent, resourceful, frugal, and humble. But I was also over the age of 50 competing with 20 year olds. I think you are very naive if you think what you suggest is all one needs to make it.
I wonder, what is your job that you can be so confident you will have no problems?

I politely disagree and I am not naive. By "humble" I mean looking at every possible option for obtaining employment in whatever form it may be. If someone gets laid off, they typically do their job search for the exact or very similar type of work. In this economy that doesn't work. As far as being over 50, you may be right. Age discrimination is a factor and something people of that age need to be aware of. It certainly doesn't make things easier.

I am not confident that I'll have no problems with my job. No one is safe. But I am confident that my job security has no dependence on where I live. I am a software engineer. My company is a global company. I support the Pacific Northwest area. I can live anywhere as long as I have access to an airport. Am I in fear of losing my job? Sure am.

[LeftCoastee]

Originally Posted by hml1976

I guess it depends on your industry. If I go by my suburban neighborhood, one person is a nurse and immediately found work, another is a laid off marketing person with an engineering degree and a top notch MBA...he's been looking since last summer and hasn't found a thing. A lot of the laid off IT guys from the company my husband works for have had a horrible time but his admin assistant was able to find something quite quickly. It seems to be that the middle-higher management IT, marketing, advertising, engineers are having an especially hard time.

Thank you. This is great information.

[Nell Plotts]

If airport access is your prime consideration, and you live in CA, then you could save a bundle in either OR or WA. Frankly, getting to SEA can be a PITA unless Burien or Normandy Park meets your needs. Access to PDX is much easier, particularly if you use the MAX.

The next consideration may be the demand for your skill set if you lost your job. MS is reducing its force but I don't know in what skill sets. Competiting against those folks in a tight job market could be tough. I have no idea about the Portland market for software engineers. The other issue is your professional network as that is how most people make contacts that result in job offers. If you are currently in SJC I would ride out this economic dust-up there.

My $0.02.