[B4Ranch]

Don't look here for help

[fuente]

Whaaa. The job markets a little tough. We've been living with the parents after grad school, but things will turn up.

[ServesURight]

Fricking move then!! Malene Comes and her husband lives in CA - That tells you all you need to know.

As Gray-out gets reelected things will only get worse.

[wideawake]

They made 120K in one year, apparently have no children, their rent is only 12K a year and they're taking food from charity?

How infantile are these overgrown children? What exactly did they blow their money on? Food, clothes and trips? Are they sorority girls fresh out of college?

I really have no sympathy.

[jiggyboy]

Boo hoo! They can't go out for dinner every night any more! These crybabies (including the writer) have no idea how well they have it compared to the 1982 recession and the 1990 recession. When they find a headhunter they've worked with who won't even shop their resumes around because "it just isn't worth my time now", then they're approaching the depths of 1990-1991.

[SoDak]

I have a lot of friends who spent 10k on things like MCSE certifications looking to change careers that are now scratching their heads and wondering why they did it. I have a friend who was a $70,000 a year "Technology Consultant" who recently took a job as a help-desk worker for $12 an hour. I'd say the worm has turned just a bit for tech workers.

[SamAdams76]

At the height of the boom in early 2000, 88% of all men in the U.S. from the ages of 20 to 44, excluding those in the military, jail and other institutions, had jobs. By September 2002, only 85% had jobs. For women 20 to 44, the employed share fell from a peak of 73.5% in early 2000 to 70.6% in September 2002.

This doesn't sound like a disaster to me. What we have is effectively a 3% drop in employment. Yeah, it sucks to be one of the three percent, but the vast majority of people are still working. (Why wouldn't they count those in the military as working?)

[El Sordo]

Businesses not whizzing money away at the latest hiring fad and instead looking to people who know what they are doing.

What a novel idea.

[Maceman]

Nobody Loves You When You're Down and Out

Once I lived the life of a millionaire
Spent all my money, didn't have a care
Takin' my friends out for a mighty good time
Champagne and whiskey, gin and wine

Who'd ever think I could fall so low
Ain't got no friends and no place to go
If i ever lay my hand on a dollar again
I'm gonna squeeze it till the eagle grins

'Cause nobody loves you
When you're down and out
In your pocket not one penny
And your friends, you haven't any

But if I ever get back on my feet again
Everybody's gonna be my long lost friends

It's mighty strange but without a doubt
Nobody wants you,
I got to tell ya
Nobody needs you
Nobody loves you when you're down and out.
When you're down and out

[waterstraat]

It is cheaper to hire an H1-B visa immigrant, since there is no social security employer contribution costs, they are exempt. That means that american workers cost $8000.00 more to hire, and that could make the difference between profit or not. If all amerians were replaced by foreigners with visas, it would add up to a substantial savings.

[Trajan88]

The magic formula: spend less than one makes.

Trajan88; TAMU Class of '88; Law Hall (may it R.I.P.) Ramp 9 Mule; f.u.p.

[300winmag]

The 20-to-44 group has other woes to contend with, too. Age-discrimination rules, by shielding older workers, may end up disproportionately exposing younger ones to layoffs.

I stopped reading right there. Age-discrimination laws are ignored with impunity. The government won't side with you unless you're an official minority, and companies know that even with losing a class-action suit, their expenses are less than keeping the old farts on board.

This is based on the widely-held belief that only management means anything, and there are always younger folks, or overseas outsourcing, to do the dirty work, and still be disposable. Who wants a twnety-something fast-track VP to have to deal with a 55-year-old worker who has lived and breathed his job for 35 years?

[tm22721]

One word for you : deflation

And if it continues much longer, The Grapes of Wrath may again hit the bestseller list after 70 years.

BUMP

[AppyPappy]

A year and a half ago, Malene Comes of San Jose, Calif., and her husband, Craig, were raking in $120,000 a year and living la dolce vita. The two computer technicians indulged in lavish trips, hired a cleaning lady, and ate out almost every night. Then, both were laid off. Today, they get bags of groceries from a San Jose food bank, have joined the ranks of the uninsured, and beg their parents for $1,045 in rent for their 600-square-foot apartment.

Should have gotten a doggie bag.

I worked with a lot of "computer technicians" and "IT specialists" who didn't know meat from gravy. They were just riding the boom. When the boom ended, they whined like babies because they had acquired no skills while living la dolce vita. If you make that bed, you'll have to lie in it.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

I'm glad they specifically mentioned Wall Street in this piece, as it certainly bears little resemblance to my area. What little it does resemble is that there were once alot of jobs held by young pukes who lived it up but are now out of work or doing menial crap work.

However, it is not the older workers who are benefitting, rather, it is they who are the ones being sacrificed as hordes of former highly overpaid web junkies are now forced to work any job for any pittance of money just to avoid the dread of cancelling their cellphone service...or the horror of horrors (gasp!), actually have to move out of town to a less trendy area.