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This recession has been going on for eight years now and it is only marginally better now then was back in 2010. I listen to NPR a lot and although it is depressing, they often have some good talks on the far reaching effects of the down turn. Unemployment is down but wages are still low. So how has this down turn affected you?
-Has it affected your marriage? Finances are ofted cited as a major cause of divorce.
-Has anyone you know commited suicide in part due to joblessness?
-Has anyone you know stared drinking a litte more or smoking pot during a long period of unemployment?
-Have you lost your retirement and are now having to work in to your old age?
-Have you had to move in with your parents or other family members to save money? Has a loved one had to move in with you?
-Has it been positive for you????? Have you gone back to school to pursue something you love and had the career change work out for you?????
I don't think the recession started 8 years ago, it started 12 years ago in 2003 after the dotcom bomb and the economy has never really recovered. Several economic booms have only benefited less than 1/2 of the population while the rest fared same or worse.
The dotcom bust definitely screwed me over on multiple levels. But the Great Recession ended up being the start of an awesome branch of my career. I have doubled my salary since then, and picked up some skills that make me way more attractive to employers.
I can't write my ticket yet, but at this point finding a new job has been a breeze. I have made more contacts, built out my fan club, and started getting more warm intros.
On the flip side, I have made a lot of lateral moves, and I am behind job title wise.
On the whole, I feel really fortunate, for me the Great Recession has been a good period in my career. I am finally getting close to being able to catchup from the rough patches in my career. But I have a ways to go to save enough money and build up my cushion. And getting to the level I'd like to be.
I'm in a funny business. When things are great and people are buying up homes, they need an appraisal. When the market's in the tank and people are losing their homes, the banks need an appraisal. When the Fed steps in and lowers interest rates, EVERYBODY refinances (sometimes several times) and, you guessed it, they need an appraisal. My favorite two words are....what recession?
Due to the recession, most of the good paying jobs that I was qualified for were eliminated. I left my state for about 4 years, continuing on with my learning. When I returned back to my home state, there were plenty of opportunities once more, and I could earn a great income working for the right people.
The recession was a minor inconvenience for me. However, I saw what it did to baby boomers in my state. I don't ever want to see anything like that again.
Pharmaceuticals started collapsing ~2007 but accelerated in the recession and afterwards shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs, off-shoring a ton of R&D and outsourcing/permatemping a lot of the remaining jobs turning much of science into a race to the bottom. I ended up in the food industry instead even though most of my graduate training was highly relevant to biotech/pharma. I no longer have any desire even to work in that industry given how unstable it is and how poor their future outlook is (patent cliff).
A lot of scientists had their lives ruined. For the rest it has become a lower paying staffing agency infested race to the bottom or very unstable profession.
Last edited by MSchemist80; 11-22-2015 at 06:20 AM..
In the long run I think the recession made my life a lot better although it was "painful" for a few years. (red is the setbacks, green is the good)
1) I was let go from my job at a tire factory that I had been at for 18 years when they shut down production in 2009. It wasn't a bad thing because in the last few years I really started to dislike the place.
2) I went back to school and got a degree in managerial accounting.
3) Had a tough time finding work due to my age and the area I live in. Most companies shy away from hiring entry level cost accountants that are pushing 50. Went into debt and burned through savings during this time.
4) Finally found a job in cost accounting that is about five miles from my house as opposed to the old job that was 45 miles away. It was a rare find since I live in a rural area 30 miles from a larger town and 60 miles south of Nashville. I was able to get out of debt and build my savings back up.
5) Realized I dislike office work. My old job was very physical and I was on my feet for most of the 12 hour shifts. The new job involves sitting at a computer almost the entire day. I can feel it taking its toll on me; I do walk three miles every day after work but I don't think I can keep sitting all day.
6) After realizing that my days of being an employee are probably coming to an end I did a little self discovery. I had always done a little trading over the years but nothing serious. I knew the statistics that most (90%) lose money. I did a lot of research and that led me to scalping futures contracts. Spent a year practicing the method and at this point I am trading the 6E euro future before work in the mornings. I am consistently making more money from trading than I am from my job. The plan is to continue working until I have built the account up to 50k and have one years expenses in the bank. At that point I will go full time.
So in 6 years I lost a job I didn't like at all, went back to school, found a better job and then found something I REALLY enjoy doing.
was in college when the crash happened, got out without any debt, started job and got house for half off, since then it's recovered.
investments are doing well since I missed the whole crash and was only in for the bull market... <--- best market timing I could have done and I didn't even plan it
seems like recession hit the older people more, the millennials for the most part weren't even in the economy yet, starting jobs or still in school. So we didn't have as much to lose if anything, and only things to gain by coming out with a open jobs and cheap housing
Pharmaceuticals started collapsing ~2007 but accelerated in the recession and afterwards shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs, off-shoring a ton of R&D and outsourcing/permatemping a lot of the remaining jobs turning much of science into a race to the bottom. I ended up in the food industry instead even though most of my graduate training was highly relevant to biotech/pharma. I no longer have any desire even to work in that industry given how unstable it is and how poor their future outlook is (patent cliff).
A lot of scientists had their lives ruined. For the rest it has become a lower paying staffing agency infested race to the bottom or very unstable profession.
I have a family member who was a chemist, who lost their job around 2007 as well. Became a chemistry teacher. Benefits aren't same but it's a stable gig, and always in demand.
was in college when the crash happened, got out without any debt, started job and got house for half off, since then it's recovered.
investments are doing well since I missed the whole crash and was only in for the bull market... <--- best market timing I could have done and I didn't even plan it
seems like recession hit the older people more, the millennials for the most part weren't even in the economy yet, starting jobs or still in school. So we didn't have as much to lose if anything, and only things to gain by coming out with a open jobs and cheap housing
I think it did hit older people hard. My neighbor up the road was 58 when it hit and he lost his trucking job. He went on unemployment for two years and then on SSDI. He is now 65 collecting regular social security. I have seen numerous stories over the years in our local news about older guys working factory jobs that were let go. What do you do when you are in your late 50's or early 60's and the jobs dry up? As an employer looking for production workers do you hire the 60 year old or do you hire the 22 year old? In my experience there seems to be a lot of age discrimination in hiring.
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Went into debt and burned through savings during this time.
