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Happy New Year! Jobs will be harder to get
Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal ^ | December 30, 2002

Posted on 12/30/2002 10:06:52 AM PST by Willie Green

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.

What are the odds of the nation's unemployed getting back on the payroll in 2003?

Not very good, according to job-seekers who, by 2 to 1, told counselors during a holiday job search advice call-in that it would be harder to find a job in the coming year.

Survey results released Monday by international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., show that 67 percent of callers to its 17th annual call-in felt it would be more difficult to find a job in 2003, compared to 33 percent who said it would be easier.

The grim outlook was coupled with an equally pessimistic view of the overall economy. Two out of three callers believed the economy would be the same or worse next year.

"This may be the most discouraged we have seen callers in the 17 year history of the call-in. We have only conducted surveys of callers in recent years, but counselors do not remember confidence or the overall mood of callers ever being this low -- not even during the last recession and jobless recovery of the early 1990s," says Rick Cobb, executive vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

The overwhelming majority (68 percent) of callers this year were unemployed, a change from years past when there was more balance between working and non-working callers. Among the jobless callers, the average duration of unemployment was 8.3 months.

While salary was the most important factor in a new job, nearly as many callers said having a job with a good future is equally important.

Apparently most callers feel they can find this future in small- to medium-sized firms. Eighty percent of job-seekers said they prefer to work for a company with fewer than 500 employees.

"Large public companies may have more resources, but some people feel that these employers are concerned first and foremost with the bottom line and will not hesitate to make payroll reductions in order to meet earnings expectations and to appease Wall Street analysts," Mr. Cobb says. "Smaller companies, which are more likely to be privately held, often have a more family-oriented view of their workforce and will make sacrifices in all other areas before resorting to layoffs."

Approximately 1,600 job-seekers called during the two-day event. They were split nearly evenly between men (54 percent) and women (46 percent).


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government
KEYWORDS: employment; globalism; maglev; recession; thebusheconomy
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To: Boatlawyer
" but simply because I'm a lawyer doesn't mean I'm not a conservative."

More like you're a vampire. But don't take it personal...we still love lawyers, LOL. Happy New Year!
81 posted on 12/31/2002 5:50:06 PM PST by Nuke'm Glowing
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To: Nuke'm Glowing
I really don't see, at least on this thread, a whole lot of people running around blaming others.
There may be facts you choose to ignore, but that does not make them any less of a fact.
Happy New Years and may your glasses always be colored rose.
82 posted on 12/31/2002 6:03:00 PM PST by dtel
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To: Willie Green
We need to get this Iraqi war on & over.
The uncertainty is driving the markets crazy.
One way or another . . . "let's roll."
83 posted on 12/31/2002 6:19:55 PM PST by RightWinger
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To: blueriver
Would you say that if you could not find work for over a year? There is no way, and I don't mean to sound self-righteous about this, that I would not be able to find work for over a year. If, for some reason, I could not practice law, I would start a bookeeping or secretarial service, or a delivery service, something to keep money coming in. I'd have to in order to survive!

This country was founded on competition and innovation. I'm not ignoring the fact that things are tough for a lot of people right now, and it's tempting to blame cheap foreign competition, or greedy corporate policies. But those things have always been with us.

My grandfather came here from Italy to Birmingham, Alabama, where he was considered the "cheap foreign labor." He worked his butt off doing jobs that the Americans wouldn't do, bought crummy houses, moved his wife and 5 kids into them and fixed them up and sold them.

It's the same story for millions of Irish, Italian, German, English, Norwegian Americans. And it's why we Should be the heartiest breed in the world, because our ancestors were of stock that was not afraid to leave home to make a better life.

All of that drive is still somewhere in our collective gene pool. We have just been spoiled by the inflated prosperity of the last few years. Now it's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

84 posted on 12/31/2002 6:45:44 PM PST by Boatlawyer
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To: Boatlawyer
Your Honor, I object.
The boatlawyer has taken my client's comments out of context.
My client simply meant he/she has been unable to find a salary situation that had previously matched their level of achievement, this was not meant to imply that my client was disinclined to accept a position that was benaeath his/her previous level of compensation, but that once said client reached the age of 40, there were no such offers.
I plead with the court to at least grant those reaching this plateau in life, where the white picket fence has met the wheels of globalism, to at least gather their splinters and shattered dreams and rebuild them into more than a fire to keep warm.
85 posted on 12/31/2002 7:19:33 PM PST by dtel
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To: dtel
but that once said client reached the age of 40, there were no such offers.

Funny you should mention the magic age! I am going to place an ad for a law clerk at my old law school, but wasn't sure whether they'd let me have place a "40 or older" age requirement on it.

In my book you're just a larva until you're 40!

86 posted on 12/31/2002 7:28:06 PM PST by Boatlawyer
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To: Boatlawyer
40+ plus seems to be the age of no return.
I am 44, impeccable resume, and I can't even get the $10 an hour entry level position. I certainly do whatever contract work is available, but it isn't much.
To go from 90K to zero is quite an adjustment in life, there are many that are finding this out the hard way.
New business will spring up, but a lot of buying power has been removed from the economy.
87 posted on 12/31/2002 7:38:49 PM PST by dtel
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To: Boatlawyer
There is no way, and I don't mean to sound self-righteous about this, that I would not be able to find work for over a year. If, for some reason, I could not practice law, I would start a bookeeping or secretarial service, or a delivery service, something to keep money coming in. I'd have to in order to survive!

Nice of you to want to give your job and your career to some foreigner in another country. Good for you if you would be happy being a secretary while your government gives all the lawyer jobs to foreigners. The fact is that because you are a lawyer you will never have to worry about this because the government bureaucrats will watch out for their own. It is easy for someone like you to talk about how you would just "do something else". Some Engineers in this country are Engineers and can not just flip a switch and be a secretary or a business person. Also, why should our government give American jobs to foreigners? Exactly who is representing who?

88 posted on 12/31/2002 8:17:24 PM PST by blueriver
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To: Boatlawyer
It's the same story for millions of Irish, Italian, German, English, Norwegian Americans. And it's why we Should be the heartiest breed in the world, because our ancestors were of stock that was not afraid to leave home to make a better life.

This is a far cry from the current H-1B visa policy. Corporations are bringing people over here. There is no risk.

All of that drive is still somewhere in our collective gene pool. We have just been spoiled by the inflated prosperity of the last few years. Now it's time to roll up our sleeves and get to work.

Oh yes, let's just give away all of our "good" jobs and start putting on our WalMart uniforms. And please lets smile while we watch all the foreigners buy our homes.

89 posted on 12/31/2002 8:35:45 PM PST by blueriver
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To: dead
I'm not exactly sure why you're lumping me in with Willie on this particular response(?)
90 posted on 12/31/2002 8:40:07 PM PST by The Duke
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To: blueriver; Boatlawyer
Times are tough for software engineers and other hi-tech workers that have lost jobs. I suspect that boatlawyer has little understanding of their situation.
91 posted on 12/31/2002 9:09:06 PM PST by UnBlinkingEye
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To: dtel; Boatlawyer
"I really don't see, at least on this thread, a whole lot of people running around blaming others. There may be facts you choose to ignore, but that does not make them any less of a fact. Happy New Years and may your glasses always be colored rose."

Having been in an executive position, then watching a company cut salary at my level to insure the bonus level for higher execs, I know alot about the bitter feelings of the unemployed. But I learned my lesson. I had two choices. Go back to the headhunting route or do my own thing. I chose the latter. It's much harder than washing cars or opening a lawn service because you will fail 99% of the time initially. But if someone is whining because they can't find a job at the same pay scale they were at before, then perhaps they should get off their butts and create a job for themselves and work hard enough to get to the level of income they desire. I do still believe that that is legal in the good old U.S. of A. I'm doing it. It sucked at first, big time. But my glasses were not "colored rose", more like tinted and bloodshot. Now, even in these tough times, I'm muddling through, as I watch my former co-workers go to slaughter in the industry I was in.

May you have happy new year, and think about what really needs to be done in this nation. No corporation can export "your job", if you are the only employee and the boss.
92 posted on 12/31/2002 11:46:58 PM PST by Nuke'm Glowing
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To: UnBlinkingEye
" Times are tough for software engineers and other hi-tech workers that have lost jobs. I suspect that boatlawyer has little understanding of their situation."

Boatlawyer may not. I do. And quite honestly, I have little sympathy. Unqualified individuals were making over $60,000 a year in some corporations to run a bleeping help desk. That's almost as bad as paying someone $27 an hour to screw bolts on an assembly line at Ford. But the advantage a "software engineer" has, is that he has a tool and if used correctly, can create his or her own enterprise. Thanks to the internet, that enterprise can be sold anywhere in the world. I don't have those skills as I was one of the schmucks in management. I envy those guys as I do not have the time to learn those skills. But I will tell you, that if you think that the I.T. people have it bad now, wait until the end of this year. The ones who do not create their own products, or demand for their services, will be the next burger flippers. And that will keep the ripple effect of some very poor decisions made by all in the last 10 years continuing.
93 posted on 12/31/2002 11:51:42 PM PST by Nuke'm Glowing
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To: lelio
"Why go over to South Africa and poach off their top nurses and give them $20/hr to work here in the states."

I've been an RN for approx. 11 yrs. My wife has been an LPN and an RN a total of 28 yrs. The patient load is currently horrendous nation wide as well as the stress and the high acuity of patients leads to high burn-out ratios in a short time. It doesn't appear to be getting any better with importing nurses. More and more leaving the profession all the time.

I make close to $33.00/hr. with NO benefits. I receive my benefits paying for them via my wife's employer at great cost. The shocking thing about our hourly wage for what all we have to know and tasks we have to accomplish with a large number of very sick patients we take care of, massive amount of paper work, constant seminars, and re-certifications, WE IMO ARE STILL SIGNIFICANTLY underpaid still!!!

I do thank God I have a job, have my health, and am able to be a blessing to others.

The nurses I work with and myself included believe with all the workload, responsiblity, and working conditions that $45.00 to $60.00/hr. is NOT unreasonable. I would gladly accept a paycut if they would reduce the workload> I am at times ashamed of myself because I wish I could have helped all my patients so much more.

There's my .02 worth. God bless.

94 posted on 01/01/2003 12:12:37 AM PST by savd_rn7
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To: The Duke
Because you said the article was propaganda and Willie argued with the point.

I was just stating my opinion as to why you were right.

95 posted on 01/01/2003 12:18:22 AM PST by dead
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To: Boatlawyer
Lawyers haven't done what physicians shamelessly do - hold down the numbers to hold up the income. If you're smart enough and want to do it, you can become a lawyer. One reason thee's a lot of lawyers and a lot of lawsuits is, there's a lot of malefeasing. FReegards
96 posted on 01/01/2003 12:20:19 AM PST by 185JHP
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To: blueriver
The fact is that because you are a lawyer you will never have to worry about this because the government bureaucrats will watch out for their own

No, the fact is that I am a lawyer in a practice area with a lot of variation, I have practiced my skills in various cases and transactions over ten years, I'm relatively smart, and, this is important, I know and get along with people on a variety of income and educational level. For these reasons, I have the flexibility to respond to the markets legal needs, whatever the state of the economy.

I also keep my living expenses low, regardless of my income, just in case. As long as I get my daily swim in, and a couple of meals, and my daughter's tuition paid, I'm a pretty happy camper. Don't need a new car, fancy clothes or vacations, etc.

97 posted on 01/01/2003 6:57:22 AM PST by Boatlawyer
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To: Black Birch
It's really REALLY difficult to find any current college graduate with maturity, technical skills, and a willingness to work hard. REALLY REALLY hard.
98 posted on 01/01/2003 11:00:54 AM PST by warchild9
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To: warchild9
It's really REALLY difficult to find any current college graduate with maturity, technical skills, and a willingness to work hard. REALLY REALLY hard.

You didn't say what type of positions you were looking for, but you might consider ex military types. You will have to pay them a decent wage for them to stick around..

99 posted on 01/01/2003 1:03:27 PM PST by EVO X
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To: Boatlawyer
Second your opinion on college degrees here. Companies seem not to respect them.
100 posted on 01/05/2003 6:18:28 PM PST by Freedom of Speech Wins
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