Job market collapse has people packing

San Francisco Chronicle ^

[RCW2001]

Jobless and broke, Bryan Clouse sits among the dwindling possessions in his studio in San Francisco's Fillmore District getting ready to leave what he once thought was a computer nerd's promised land.

In a week, the 35-year-old programmer will load up a rented SUV and say goodbye to the city that has been his home for the past nine years. He will go to live with his grandparents in Brooklyn, Mich., a tiny town of brick storefronts and clapboard houses a few hours west of Detroit. There, with no rent to worry about, he will look for work.

[VRWC For Truth]

Two words which are buffering the downturn: Big Dig

Our day of reckoning is coming, the state is overspending on all of the state programs and the pols know it. I suspect Mitt, if elected, will slash and burn. The tech bubble has burst, the stock market has burst, and so will the big gov't bubble.

[VRWC For Truth]

Like it or not it's a digital world and increasingly so each day.

[FITZ]

WHAT DOES THE WHITE COLLAR HIGH TECH WORKER THINK ABOUT TH GLOBAL ECONOMY NOW ON THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE.

There was a lot of sneering at the blue collar types by the white collar types when the blue collar types were losing their jobs and homes. Home foreclosures under Clinton were at very high levels but those who didn't see their own fates were headed in the same direction thought those without college degrees deserved what they got.

[RipSawyer]

The programmers are being hit with the same club as so many others, which is that if there is any money to be made in any field it will be flooded with newbies until supply exceeds demand and there is no money to be made anymore. Of course, our wonderful leaders have an answer to the problem, bring in more people who will work cheaply, and tax into oblivion everyone who has figured out a way to make enough to live on.

[Vince Ferrer]

As I recall, the NASDAQ began its long slide just about the time that clinton brought the antitrust suit against Microsoft. I can't seem to find a long-term NASDAQ chart, but I would have said it's more like three years.

As far as the stock markets go, I put the slide beginning on March 19, 2000, and Microsoft was not the cause. On March 6, Forbes magazine published an article questioning Microstrategy's accounting practices. Microstrategy was one of the darlings of NASDAQ, the dot commiest of the dot coms. On March 19, Microstrategy restated its earnings, admitting the article was right, and its stock collapsed. The collapse sent investors to question other dot com accounting, and the whole dot com house of cards soon came down.

[RipSawyer]

You said a mouthful, the problem is not that not enough people go to college, the problem is that a college degree will not get you to the same level of earnings that a high school diploma was good for in the sixties. A high percentage of those receiving undergraduate degrees now don't have a legitimate high school education. Jobs which actually require, at most, a real high school education are seen as requiring a four year degree. How long is it before you need a Doctorate to get a job at McDonald's? Meanwhile, I see ads for maintenance technicians and they are actually looking for someone with experience in electronic repair, mechanical repair and maintenance, welding, heating and air, pneumatics and hydraulics and they offer less than $500.00 per week. For the benefit of the liberal arts type who don't know, this represents a combination of technical knowledge which would certainly be equal to a Master's degree if it were earned in college rather than on the job. The only field that is wide open and pays well that I know of is nursing.

[thathamiltonwoman]

WHAT DOES THE WHITE COLLAR HIGH TECH WORKER THINK ABOUT TH GLOBAL ECONOMY NOW ON THE UNEMPLOYMENT LINE.

Remember when the steel workers were losing their jobs in Pennsylvania? The reaction from white collar workers was smug satisfaction. It seemed like nobody cared one bit. Now the college educated techies have found that even a degree won't save you from hard times and they don't like it. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee...

[RipSawyer]

In this case he may sponge but it was once quite common for young people to live in the same house with parents and grandparents and help support their elders and do the heavy work that the older folks could no longer do and in return they had lodging. This system actually used to work quite well until people started teaching their children that the world owed them a living. It still seems to work in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.

[SSN558]

"Like it or not it's a digital world and increasingly so each day."

Not in the Nuclear world. When the spec sez hardwired IO, they mean banks of mechanical relays and 48 volt signals. The popular controller is an old fashioned PLC. Digital anything is only for non safety related circuits.

[T-Bird45]

Bumper sticker from the 80's oil bust here in OK is apropos to the IT collapse: "Please God, send us another oil boom...We promise not to piss it away next time."

Probably some similar wording being used today by many in high tech.

[magellan]

"I know it's a matter of personal taste, but my one side-trip to San Francisco left me underwhelmed. Dirty streets, stumbling bums, with a few nice vistas as a backdrop.

"I'm sure this qualifies me as a person without class, but I'd take Los Angeles any day over the self-important atmosphere of San Francisco."

I totally agree with your sentiment. SF is the most stuck-up city in U.S. There is an incredible sense of entitlement from the bum on the street to the big-shot driving the BMW 7-series.

LA is much more laid back. People in LA are more friendly. I was in LA visiting friends during the Northridge earthquake in 1994, and rode with them up PCH from Redondo Beach to Santa Monica as my friend took his wife to work. All of the traffic lights were out, but everybody simply treated the intersections as 4-way stops. There were no accidents.

[vikingchick]

Lots of for rent and for sale signs here in the East Bay.

[The FRugitive]

I can totally relate. I'm a computer programmer and have been unemployed since April.

I sold my house and am leaving at my sister's. My mortgage was about $1000, I'm paying my sister $300 including utilities and everything.

She wouldn't charge, but I insisted I'd pay something.

I've still got a $750 BMW payment though (I was young and stupid and makeing too much money when I bought it). Uh, this economy is so depressing.

[tallhappy]

Live with or sponge off of? I mean, holy cats, the guy is thirty-five years old and he's gonna travel across country to move in with grandma and grandpa?? Boy, I'd love to hear their side of this!

I think this is the best thing for him in terms of growing up!

Ironic.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

What a whiner get a job and stop whining

[Publius6961]

There will be a point where the remaining taxpayers will be unable to support the welfare state

No problem.
They will just raise taxes on cigarettes!

LOL

[palmer]

Hah! I only took a 19% cut. I see the unrelatedness of my new job as a plus, it's motivating to learn something new. But on the mortgage side I sold the expensive house, moved to a much cheaper area and am toughing out the commute (75 miles each way). I'll save my money and move closer someday.

[Publius6961]

Live with or sponge off of? I mean, holy cats, the guy is thirty-five years old and he's gonna travel across country to move in with grandma and grandpa?? Boy, I'd love to hear their side of this!

Yeah...
All these whiners who made good money for years, were geniuses in their own mind, but could not plan ahead more than 2 weeks, really keep me awake nights sympathizing...

NOT!!!

[Hemlock]

misses the Bay Area's tolerance, openness and liberal political climate.

Poofta barf alert!

I think this recession may be a blessing in disguise. Maybe now all the queers, fruits and liberals will go back to the inbred, child-molesting, insect-infested, malarial cesspool states that they came from. Ha! Ha! Ha!

[BuddhaBoy]

I think this recession may be a blessing in disguise. Maybe now all the queers, fruits and liberals will go back to the inbred, child-molesting, insect-infested, malarial cesspool states that they came from. Ha! Ha! Ha!

No they wont.

The Bay Area has the most liberal welfare policies in America. I read somewhere that San Francisco could pay each homeless person $80K per year if they just handed over what they are spending on homeless programs.

Liberals will just shack up with one another in tighter and tighter spaces, form communal living agreements, and eat grass and dirt before they ever part with one another.