Unemployed Freepers?

self | April 14, 2002 | self

[SpyderTim]

Lucent to Cut 5,000 More Jobs - Source Reuters | April 11, 2002 | Ben Klayman

Posted on 4/12/02 11:59 PM Pacific by SpyderTim

Lucent to Cut 5,000 More Jobs - Source Thu Apr 11, 4:28 PM ET By Ben Klayman CHICAGO (Reuters) - Telecommunications equipment maker Lucent Technologies Inc. plans to cut about 5,000 more jobs than previously expected by the end of June because of the slowdown in the telecom sector, a source close to the company said on Thursday.

See the link for the rest of the article.

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Just got to thinking, with the economy supposedly recovering, and layoffs continuing all around us, how many Freepers are currently out of work? How are they finding the job market?

1 posted on 4/12/02 11:59 PM Pacific by SpyderTim [ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: SpyderTim

Luckily the coapany I worked for Did Good and accelerated my options when I was voluntarily laid off. Job market is pretty bad out there in high tech (programming). At one time or another 10 friends of mine were laid off this past year.

2 posted on 4/13/02 8:31 AM Pacific by lelio [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: SpyderTim

Just got to thinking, with the economy supposedly recovering, and layoffs continuing all around us, how many Freepers are currently out of work? How are they finding the job market?

Agreed. I know more people in the last year that have gotten laid off, and have remained laid off, than I do those who had no work and found it. This "recovery" is pure fabrication and spin pushed by the WH. The facts are that over half the new jobs created are being done by the government! GDP has increased primarily because of government spending!

Smoke and mirrors.

3 posted on 4/13/02 8:35 AM Pacific by Kobyashi1942 [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: Kobyashi1942

My company announced its office relocation way back in April of 2001. My last day was November 30. I've been networking and interviewing since then but haven't found quite what I'm looking for yet. It's not a bad job market if you know what you are doing, but it isn't as good as when I first graduate from college in 2000 either.

4 posted on 4/14/02 1:53 PM Pacific by SpyderTim [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

[Dave S]

This "recovery" is pure fabrication and spin pushed by the WH. The facts are that over half the new jobs created are being done by the government! GDP has increased primarily because of government spending!

I think the robustness of the recovery depends on what area of the country you are in and what industry. Home construction never slowed down. Defense manufacturing is booming, especially things like smart bombs. Things related to homeland defense (although primarily government) are booming. Consumer products in general are doing well. High tech (especially broadband and other telecommunications) are in the tank.

[witnesstothefall]

Yeah I hear ya. I'm on my 3rd telecom startup in 2 years. I have seen dozens of friends come and go. Telecom has lost .5 million jobs in the last 18 months. One of the largest reversals in American business history...

[VOA]

SpyderTim,
If you are in the telecom sector, it's been (and probably will continue to be)
a tough situation.

I have a cousin in Dallas (aka "Telecom Gulch"), who is a prosperous electrical engineer
doing web/database setups...but he has lots of friends/fellow engineers
that have been put on the street with the telecom meltdown.

Me, I'm in a sector of molecular biology.....stable work, only middling compensation
(partly due to the influx of every biochemist/molecular biologist from the former
USSR, Mainland China, and the British Commonwealth that can afford a plane ticket).
I'm not xenophobic, but the influx over the past 10 years probably has depressed wages for
at least the short-haul; probably will help the USA stay strong in the sector for
the long haul.

Good luck with the hunt!

[snopercod]

Construction of $2 million vacation homes is booming in Cashiers, NC.

Too bad the money doesn't trickle down to us construction workers, who mostly make less than $10 per hour.

[Drew68]

I've been out of work here in Denver since the first of the year. It really sucks. I never thought I'd be unemployed this long. My severence pay is gone and I can't get unemployment (in the face of cutbacks, I resigned voluntarily after being promised a generous severence package which I now regret doing). My credit cards are maxed and I've had to ask for a loan from my folks. I've lost count of how many resumes I've sent out.

I thought I would be working long before my severence pay ran out. That turned out not to be the case. It's tough out there. It is starting to take it's toll on my self-esteem. I am not used to not having any money. I am not used to not working. I've never been unemployed this long since I started working at 16. It is depressing to not be able to go out with friends to a resturaunt because I am broke. Or be able to go see a movie or enjoy a night on the town. I always had money in my bank account and now I can barely remember my ATM pin number.

Every Sunday I tell myself that something will pan out this week. Today I say the same thing. I hope this is the week. Please wish me luck!

[Da_Shrimp]

Good luck to you, mate and I hope you find something soon.

I'm just about to lose my job (next few days) and I'm not sure what to do next. I've got a mortgage and a wife to support and my car just broke down and needs £1900 worth of repairs. Bugger.

I work(ed) in the internet industry and have ASP, HTML, JavaScript, SQL Server, IIS etc and thought I was OK, but there's been a real downturn in such jobs in the last year. Things ain't looking good, to be honest.

[bandlength]

my contract job with xerox as a tech support rep ended on 2/22 of this year (with no advanced warning). i don't even have an associates degree (although every job i've had, i always ran rings around those with even a bachelor's or master's right from the "git go"). so basically, i'm screwed. i'm taking a networking, A+ course. i've heard that A+ people are a dime a dozen, but, i figure, while i'm unemployed, i'll sign up to finish up an associates in computer science and move on to a bachelor's, since this is the ONLY thing employers look at nowadays. upstate NY sucks! even contract and temp agencies have nothing.

[gcruse]

I do wish you luck. If you are over 40, you will need it. If you are over 50, welcome to Bleak Horizons.

[RightOnGOP]

Question for you: What are you willing to do? Are you willing to work only in your particular field? Have you thought about working in any other industry? If you have considered other fields, what are they? Did you work in the public or private sector? The purpose of my questions is simply to gauge what willingness there is to pursue different fields....among some of my friends and acquaintances, there is an irrational attitude that "they will find something in their field." Don't mean to get personal. On a positive note, there is more to life than money. Having your health, having good family relationships, having good friends (who understand your current situation) are all more important than whether you can go out to dinner with them, $$$, etc. I hope that you have all of these good fortunes, during this time of upheaval and later!!!

[Dutch Boy]

There are several things you can and should do to protect your future employment.

1. Always look for a job, even if you are happy with the one you have. No one plans to get layed off. If you already know where you can go you are way ahead of the rest.

2. Never let your resume sit for more than a few weeks with out at least a review. It's much easier to work on a resume when you are not freaked out over having just lost your job. It also makes it easier to move to a position within the same company. While others prepare you can apply.

3. Keep in touch with past co-worker and never, ever burn bridges. You never know who you will meet at you next job.

In addition, always live below your means. Save what you can. Don't charge things you can't afford. Minimize your debt.

[bandlength]

i hear ya. i've been in the same boat. some advice: check to make sure your old job is not giving bad references or sounding suspicious when potential employers call in for a reference. this happened to me during the so called "good economy." i voluntarily resigned from a lucrative gov't. job in 10/98 because of the horrific fraud going on. what i didn't know is that the HR people for almost TWO YEARS were violently hanging up/sounding "suspicious" on any and all potential employers that were calling in for a reference.

needless to say, i was getting mighty discouraged as EVERY job interview i went to (probably about 60 of them that i thought were going extremely well) just dropped off the face of the earth after they started checking references!

until this day (and i am once again unemployed from a temp job), i have not had a "real job" but just sporadic temp jobs.

i had to take my last $89 and get an "agency" to investigate and eventually find out the games my old job was playing.

the post above was correct about continual education! since today's bachelor's is equivalent to the late 70's 10th grade education, you need to get a degree.

keep your chin up!

[bandlength]

amen on that one. i am 41 years old, although i'm told by many that i look 30; that didn't help anyways at my job because, even though i was making employee of the month (as a temp) for the past 8 months, once the people who extend the contracts found out my birthdate, it was all over. i noticed that my co-workers who came in around the same time as i did (18 month contract) and were over 35 got the boot. my mgr was 25 with a bachelor's degree and knew nothing about management. BTW they extended my 20 year old daughter's contract! (LOL! we were doing the same job together)

[gcruse]

You left out "Get younger." ;)

[Stentor]

i hear ya. i've been in the same boat. some advice: check to make sure your old job is not giving bad references or sounding suspicious when potential employers call in for a reference. this happened to me during the so called "good economy." i voluntarily resigned from a lucrative gov't. job in 10/98 because of the horrific fraud going on. what i didn't know is that the HR people for almost TWO YEARS were violently hanging up/sounding "suspicious" on any and all potential employers that were calling in for a reference.

Did unemployment in the 70's. I was out for three years after the free markets determined that we did not need a steel industry. On the job disputes were settled with yelling and fists. There is a certain clean quality to that.

I hate to say this but I enjoyed it. ( Had a working wife ) At least now, Jimmy f'n Carter is not in the WH. I finally took a government job. Yes, it is as pathetic as everyone suspects. If you have balls, move somewhere warm and hustle. If not, get something "secure" and learn to swallow your own vomit.

[Dave S]

My severence pay is gone and I can't get unemployment (in the face of cutbacks, I resigned voluntarily after being promised a generous severence package which I now regret doing).

I wouldnt be so sure about that. I got the ax back in 75 and I was given the opportunity to make it voluntary. I had to wait four weeks or so but they did pay unemployment. Check it out to make sure.

[fellowpatriot]

Is it your age or income? My brother-in-law lost his job before Christmas last year. He was with the company for nine years and was one of their senior people. He is convinced that it was because his income was almost double the income of the lower seniority (and much younger) workers that the company kept. He still hasn't found a full-time job, but is going to school to get his bachelors degree.

Hopefully, the economy will pick up. I wish you the best of luck!

[FITZ]

I think the robustness of the recovery depends on what area of the country you are in and what industry.

I think that's always true. This part of the country was in economic free-fall in the 90s and it's getting worse ---but in some ways because it's always bad it's easier than living where things were good and now are getting bad.