[Rabbit]

Today I found out that my job was eliminated. I was handed a check for 2 weeks pay and asked to clear my stuff out. I tried to hang in there as long as I could but the signs were clear that my time was short. I had several months to sell my motor home and off road toys. Payed off our credit card bills. The only dept we have is the house. With the money we saved and my and my wife's income we can continue paying our bills while I start building up my Wedding Photography business.

Just another economic casualty I guess.

[Quinny]

Sorry to hear it - gives you more time to start digging the garden over!

[bratticus]

http://community.livejournal.com/so_ver ... 5#t1380585

[lawnchair]

Anecdotal, but I've heard more "laid off today"s today (Jan 9th) than I can ever remember. It makes sense. Friday, and clear of the 'holiday season' (as much as that matters). I'll be very curious to see numbers reflect this.

Oh, and good luck.

[Blacksmith]

I am sorry to here that anyone has lost their job. I know how the recession in the 1980's affected me.

I got a second chance and will retire this time.

[Concerned]

Which industry were you in?

Oil? Retail? IT?

Depending on how your photography business goes you might want to consider a security or bar work job. These appear to be in reasonable demand but the pay might be way down on what you were able to get.

[Leanan]

You aren't the only one. Seems like everyone and their sister is being laid off these days. Almost every day, someone here or at TOD announces they've been given a pink slip. Just from that admittedly very small sample size, layoffs have really picked up in the new year.

I wish you luck with your wedding photography business, but I suspect wedding photography won't be a growth industry. People tend to put off marriage during recessions. And if they do marry, they may not spend money on frills like a photographer.

You might consider stock photography for an Internet company like Shutterstock.com as a supplement to your wedding photography. The price you get for your photos will be very low, but you can make it up in volume. (Some people do make a living this way, though you need to have hundreds of photos accepted before you'll get significant income.) I think Internet-based stock photography companies might do well in a recession.

Old school photographers hate Shutterstock and its ilk, because they allow people to pay a few cents for photos they're used to selling for thousands of dollars. But that's precisely why I think they may do well. Businesses looking to cut expenses will love the subscription model of Shutterstock vs. paying hundreds or thousands of dollars to buy a photo from a traditional stock photography company, or hire a photographer to send on location.

[chakra]

I work for the Steel Industry and I was just laid off yesterday. So now I file for unemployment and cross my finger and hope to get called back. Best of luck to all of us.

[Eli]

We are looking at 1,000,000 jobs lost in January, this recession is now turning into a depression.

[pedalling_faster]

With the money we saved and my and my wife's income we can continue paying our bills while I start building up my Wedding Photography business.

you might try contacting the principals at

http://www.weddingbeautiful.com/

in Massachusetts. They hire wedding photogs & probably have friends in the business on the West Coast.

[Nefarious]

I am Fortunate. I work in the offshore oilfield industry in services. We are projecting our best year ever. We are wondering on how we will furnish all the personel for the upcoming projects we have coming up for 2009. Plenty of people looking for work none with experince. We have started to work with state services outside of our own state in trying to find people.
The coming depression hasn't made it to our neck of the woods yet. You can drive from the smaller outlying towns and see about 12 billboards of offshore oilfield companies that are hiring. Alot of places have now hiring signs posted in front. Problem is lack of skills and experince.

[Byron100]

I am Fortunate. I work in the offshore oilfield industry in services. We are projecting our best year ever. We are wondering on how we will furnish all the personel for the upcoming projects we have coming up for 2009. Plenty of people looking for work none with experince. We have started to work with state services outside of our own state in trying to find people.
The coming depression hasn't made it to our neck of the woods yet. You can drive from the smaller outlying towns and see about 12 billboards of offshore oilfield companies that are hiring. Alot of places have now hiring signs posted in front. Problem is lack of skills and experince.

Whatever happened to "on the job training"?

In the old days, you didn't need experience to get a job like that - just a good attitude and a couple of references was enough to get you in the door. If you could hack the work, you got to keep the job, if not, you took a walk down washout lane...lol. But the point is, you really didn't need "skills and experience" to get into the workforce. These days, you do, even in fields that have chronic labor shortages.

No wonder why we're doomed 7 ways to Sunday...

[bratticus]

UPDATE: I fully admit this is a spoof from the onion.

Apple Employee Fired For Thinking Different

CUPERTINO, CA—Brent Barlow, 27, a software analyst and beta-tester at Apple Computer headquarters in Cupertino, was fired Monday for "thinking a little too different."

Apple spokespersons said the firing was necessary because Barlow "consistently failed to adhere to the normal standards of conduct and daily routines expected of employees of Apple Computer."

Among the floutings of convention cited in Barlow's Apple employee file: developing a pulley system to store his mountain bike above his workstation, listening to Bob Dylan on his headphones while testing software, and taking barefoot walks around the Apple campus to "feel more connected to the creative energy of others."

"It's okay to think outside the box," said Avie Tevanian, Apple senior vice-president of software engineering. "In fact, we very much encourage that sort of thing here at Apple. But in Mr. Barlow's case, he went just a bit too far."

Barlow was first written up in September 1996, when he was cited for "unprofessional and inappropriate personal modifications to his workspace." In addition to taped-up pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein and R. Buckminster Fuller, Barlow painted a large red question mark on the side of his monitor, scanned and displayed a non-approved desktop screen image of Jim Henson, and replaced his computer's trademarked Apple system beep with a snippet of the John Lennon song "Imagine."

... snip ...

[bratticus]

I am Fortunate. I work in the offshore oilfield industry in services. We are projecting our best year ever. We are wondering on how we will furnish all the personel for the upcoming projects we have coming up for 2009. Plenty of people looking for work none with experince. We have started to work with state services outside of our own state in trying to find people.
The coming depression hasn't made it to our neck of the woods yet. You can drive from the smaller outlying towns and see about 12 billboards of offshore oilfield companies that are hiring. Alot of places have now hiring signs posted in front. Problem is lack of skills and experince.

Hasn't the collapsing price of oil caused issues?

[Nefarious]

I am Fortunate. I work in the offshore oilfield industry in services. We are projecting our best year ever. We are wondering on how we will furnish all the personel for the upcoming projects we have coming up for 2009. Plenty of people looking for work none with experince. We have started to work with state services outside of our own state in trying to find people.
The coming depression hasn't made it to our neck of the woods yet. You can drive from the smaller outlying towns and see about 12 billboards of offshore oilfield companies that are hiring. Alot of places have now hiring signs posted in front. Problem is lack of skills and experince.

Whatever happened to "on the job training"?
In the old days, you didn't need experience to get a job like that - just a good attitude and a couple of references was enough to get you in the door. If you could hack the work, you got to keep the job, if not, you took a walk down washout lane...lol. But the point is, you really didn't need "skills and experience" to get into the workforce. These days, you do, even in fields that have chronic labor shortages.
No wonder why we're doomed 7 ways to Sunday...

We have on the job training. Those slots are always filled. You can't hire a full team of people to go build a house when 3/4 of them have never held a hammer. You need experinced carpenters to go with the helpers.
Also alot of offshore production companies have an SSE policy for safety factors. SSE= Short Service Employee. It is dangerous offshore and it is very easy to get hurt or killed. So what alot of companies have done is put a limit on the number of inexperinced personnel you are allowed to have on a crew at a certain time. For instance on a six man crew you can only have one person with no experince. After six months he is removed from the SSE policy. For a 10 man crew you are allowed to have 2 SSEs.
Also when an offshore company hires you we have to pay for alot of training classes before you ever get to go offshore. This can run from 1500 to 3000 dollars per new hire. So you want to try and hire someone that you don't think will wash out and understands what life is like working offshore and what is expected.

[Nefarious]

Hasn't the collapsing price of oil caused issues?

Not in the slightest ........(for us anyways)

[Leanan]

Maybe you can hire some of these guys:

Schlumberger Begins Laying Off Hundreds of US Workers

Oilfield services giant Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) has begun laying off hundreds of workers in the U.S. and around the world in the first of what experts say will likely be a wave of job cuts in the energy industry.

Halliburton Co. (HAL), Schlumberger's largest rival, said Thursday that it also will be cutting jobs, but provided no details.

Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services firm by market capitalization, said Thursday that it plans to lay off about 1,000 workers in North America, about 5% of its workforce there. The company also is cutting some of its 65,000 overseas workers but said it does not yet have exact figures.

[Nefarious]

Maybe you can hire some of these guys: Schlumberger Begins Laying Off Hundreds of US Workers

Oilfield services giant Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB) has begun laying off hundreds of workers in the U.S. and around the world in the first of what experts say will likely be a wave of job cuts in the energy industry.
Halliburton Co. (HAL), Schlumberger's largest rival, said Thursday that it also will be cutting jobs, but provided no details.
Schlumberger, the world's largest oilfield services firm by market capitalization, said Thursday that it plans to lay off about 1,000 workers in North America, about 5% of its workforce there. The company also is cutting some of its 65,000 overseas workers but said it does not yet have exact figures.

Schlumberger and Halliburton cater mostly to the drilling side of the oilfield. Two separate entities between production and drilling. Production is still going strong in spending money but if prices remain low I think production will start cutting back on monies to be allocated for projects. Monies were allocated for 2009 in 2008. If the price doesn't rise 2010 will be a bad year for oilfields services that cater to the production end of the spectrum. I think if the price can hover around 60 a barrel things will be fine on my end. If it drops to 25 to 30 a barrel and remains there I will become extremely worried come the end of the year.

[misterno]

what suprises me is that I still see many people around me working with H1B or H2B visas. These people are foreigners and truly they do not deserve to be employed while American born citizens are out of work. I can not believe the number of illegal immigrants and their kids working all over the gas stations, restaurants and pizza places. They may not pay well but at least it is better than being unemployed for any American citizen.

What the government should immediately do is;

1) Stop granting H1b and H2B and whatever the other working visas given to foreigners immediately

2) Give extra power to local authorities to find out illegal immigrants and deport them right away without sheltering or even giving food. I beleve most departed illegal immigrants cost an airplane ticket to the government and this is really stupid.

3) Stop the work and travel program where million of foreign students can legally work for minimum wage but displacing American workers.

4) Cancel the OPT program granted to foreign student upon their graduation regardless of their background and major.

5) Cancel the already given employment visas under H1B, OPT and other visas given to foreigners.

Americans deserve the jobs in America more than any other nationality.

[Ludi]

1) Stop granting H1b and H2B and whatever the other working visas given to foreigners immediately

100% agree.