My hubby just got laid-off...

[Eurobabe]

yesterday, not that we weren't kind of expecting it, the company is in the sh*tter. But we are both still bummed out because the tech industry is so decimated. I guess this is good time for a change in career path for him.

Yeah, the Bu$h economy is improving -- riggggggggggght.

Harumpf.

[Marvelous_Smarty]

1. It must go by sectors then,

Here in west Texas, were are at the beginning of a major drilling and production boom. One company put in an order for 12 new drilling rigs. Those rigs are going to need crews and support companies are going to have to buy new equipment to service them so they are going to have to hire more people. Just in this county alone over 1000 new drilling sites have been surveyed to be drilled next year. There are still Geo-siemic companies out here exploring for even more sites.

There is a lot of opportunity here and who ever jumps in right now at the beginning is going to get the lions share.

I am already looking to buy a small company that is up for sale. There is a great opportunity for that business to expand, but the present unambitious owner lacks the vision and ambition to see it.

There are a lot of tech jobs in the oil production field, so if thing get rough you should give that some thought.

[bahrbearian]

6. Is that small company your looking at named, Harken or Albustro

[Marvelous_Smarty]

10. Honestly,

the company is named Reddi Ice. It makes all these bags of ice you see outside of convenience stores and supermarkets. The company owns most of the boxes in a three county area, plus they have ice makers rented to several restarants, contracters, hospitals and office buildings.

With the current boom just in it's infancy, there are going to be a lot of drilling rig crews, gang trucks, pumpers, casing crews and such. All of them are going to need ice for their water cans and ice chests. Some locations where the boxes are at could easily handle a second or a bigger box. The current owner just does not want to expand.

It is about as turnkey as you can get. He moves out. I move in. Everything else stays the same.

[amazona]

18. hey, reddi ice, i've seen them

Good Luck with them, I think they should do well. Is that the Houston area? Not sure where I've seen it but I know I have.

Oilfield can be extremely cyclical and boom and bust but it makes sense that with these higher prices there would be more drilling.

In my area, the 1990-92 crisis was much worse than the current economic crisis. The S&L collapse and the low oil prices of that time hit us hard. Supposedly there were 50,000 boarded-up homes in the greater New Orleans area at that time, and I do believe it. In fact, I bought one of those homes.

The current collapse is horrible but admittedly in my area not anything like the early 90s. Homes are still being built instead of abandoned. I know it's very challenging elsewhere though.

[Marvelous_Smarty]

21. Reddi Ice is just a name

licensed out to individual owners. All Reddi Ice does is provide the bags and the stickers for the machines. They also provide most of the office products like invoices and such. I doubt they have sold a bag of ice in years. It just works to have a common "known" name out there to make it seem like a bigger company.

[gpandas]

23. that's marvelous, smarty n/t

[candy]

2. What does the general economy have to do with this?

Companies go down the tubes all the time.

The bubble burst in 2000!

[liberalmuse]

5. Please...

Find a new talking point. The last time 'the bubble burst' like this was, oh...during The Great Depression.

My company has been in business for over 20 years. It was doing quite well, but folded last week, no small part of it due to Bush cronyism and his mismanagment of the Federal budget. This seems to be happening more and more lately. Perhaps the economy is on an upswing. I'll believe it when I see it, but I'm just not seeing it.

And YES, it does have something to do with the economy and the policy's of our country's leadership.

[candy]

9. No comparison to The Great Depression. None !!!!!!!

[Marvelous_Smarty]

12. You say you'll believe it when you see it, right?

Well I say the same thing. I hear all of this stuff about the economy going down the tubes and it is the second coming of the Great Depression, well around here I have yet to see anything like that.
Companies can't hire enough people to keep up with the ever increasing business. Service companies are expanding and buying new equipment.

My own sales have been steady increasing and things are looking even better.

Yeah, I'll believe the economy is tanking when I see it. To play on your own words.

[Union Thug]

13. You must be living in anecdotal wonderland..

Most of the people I know that were blown out of the water by the tech industry meltdown are either still out of work or alternately working for significantly LESS money than they were making before.

Case in point: Our TS support agents at Mindspring made 24k coming in the door with good benefits and even stock options back in '98/'99. Since outsourcing, the pay for TS agents have dropped to between 8.50 and 9.00/hour (with substandard IF ANY benefits). Meanwhile, prices have continued to rise, accentuating that punch in the face with a brass knuckle chaser.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

17. I think he is

a little town is West Texas hardly reflects the economic health of the rest of the country.

And the insensitivity of cheerleading the economy on a "lay-off" thread demonstrates a typical disregard for the original poster...

[Marvelous_Smarty]

20. I never cheerled for the economy.

I just stated that some sectors are doing well. Even in the worst economy, some sectors do well.
The tech sector has been down since the bubble burst. I have my doubts that any governmental policy put forth by anyone could really do much.

People lost faith in that sector of the economy. No investors, no growth.

Somethings do well INSPITE of bad economic policy and some sectors can't be saved no matter what the government does to resucitate them.

It sucks for tech people right now. I admit it. Sometimes people are going to move on to something else and not work in their niche.

[Marvelous_Smarty]

8. All I am saying is this

even in the most booming economy, not everybody wins. During the Reagan Recovery and Clinton's rising economy, this area would never have even known it was going on. We were suffering lay off out the ass.

[Union Thug]

11. I hate this whole notion of economic 'winners'

Fuck that shit. It's and excuse to justify the gross inequities in an antiquated system that would have fallen apart without FDR liberalism to prop it up for another 60 years. As the country moved away from New Deal ideas, the economic divisiveness that was the hallmark of the gilded age is returning. And YES, with respect to the distribution of wealth, this is the worst period since the great depression.

[Kathy in Cambridge]

16. The Bush Economic Record

First administration since Herbert Hoover to create negative jobs

Administration with the Greatest Average Annual Decline in Household Income

Administration with Second Largest Average Annual Rise in the Poverty Rate (Hoover is #1)

Long-Term Unemployment Tripled

Only Administration in 70 Years with Decline in Private Sector Jobs

Typical Worker's Earnings Barely Keeping up with Inflation

One of Just Two Administrations since Hoover with a Decline in the Stock Market

Bush Tax Cuts Are Nearly 90 Times Larger for Millionaires Than for Middle Income Households


http://jec.senate.gov/democrats/charts/ber_talkingpoints.pdf

[supernova]

3. Sorry to hear that

Welcome to the club. :hug: :hi: I'm sure things will work out.

I've been laid off from technical writing for 22 months. But things look more promising than they did.

[liberalmuse]

4. I'm so sorry to hear that!

I wish him much success in finding another job. It seems to me that the only way some tech workers can get back into their field is if they go into business for themselves. Hopefully your husband will just find another position within the same wage range.

Prices are high and wages are low. The last time the economy doing this poorly, Bush I was President. On top of that, the stock market was kind of scary yesterday.

[AlCzervik]

7. That sucks

i'm sorry to hear that. My husband is also in high tech and so is my sister and she is expecting the lay off notice any day now. My husband and i have twice already because of his job and will propably have to do so again.

[sherrem]

14. My husband lost his tech job too...

in 2001. In the last 3 1/2 years he's been laid off 2. He was steadily employed through the Clinton years... You can draw your own conclusion.

He's now a machine operator for a company working in plastics.

Sorry to hear your husband was laid off. It's hard :(

[UrbScotty]

15. Thank you, Duh-bya.

:grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr::grr:

[amazona]

19. that stinks!

I hope he finds something better soon. It's really tough in tech.

[flamingyouth]

22. I'm sorry

That totally sucks. One of my friends lost her job this week too. She pretty much hated her job, so she's looking to make a career change too. Best of luck to you guys!:hi:

[NightTrain]

24. I lost my job three weeks ago.

Haven't even started looking for a new one yet, though. After busting my ass for that company since 1999, I'm living off the four weeks' severance pay they're giving me and am enjoying the summer!

[area51]

25. your husband

I'm sorry to hear that your husband was laid off. It's really hard to make a living in tech now, with all the offshoring and cos. going bankrupt in this economy.

[Eurobabe]

26. thanks everybody, was surprised to see so many responses

looks like there are many here in the same boat. I know things run in cycles, at least he is getting some severance.

here's to a new administration -- and the hopes that things improve!!

[bushwakker]

27. Another satisfied customer of Bush-o-nomics

sorry about your loss - chin up.