"The economy is getting better." REALLY??

Who said this?

"Unless you are willing to drench yourself in your work beyond the capacity of the average man, you are just not cut out for positions at the top."

My local paper called me over the weekend to offer me a deal. 52 weeks of 3 days a week delivery for $13. That works out to be $.08 a paper. What? Are you kidding me? This was the paper with which I grew up, where I read the Dodgers' scores and the funnies I loved so well. My brothers delivered this paper on their Schwinns: their first jobs. I love walking out to the driveway and picking up the paper, reading a catchy headline, returning to my cozy kitchen to catch up on the news and whether or not the local High School made it to the playoffs. Small town papers are disappearing and so are big town papers. Recent stories abound of stalwart newspapers closing down or minimizing services and increasing rates.

I was recently told, "The economy is getting better." Really? Are you sure? My neighborhood has six foreclosed homes in it, how many more do I not know about? My local newspaper is selling for $.08 an issue. People are stealing dogs and children. Families are breaking apart. More programs are being cut from public schools. Layoffs are continuing. Nike just cut 500 jobs in Oregon, just the first of 1,750 scheduled layoffs in a worldwide restructuring.

Recent conversations circle around media's input to the woes of the economy. Does the media help or hinder? Record-breaking numbers of voters texted in for American Idol. Standard text messaging rates apply. We can't buy milk but can spend a buck or two to vote for our favorite idol. Viewership of the recent Survivor Finale was incredibly high. Not only do we love to hate the antagonists but we crave the simplicity of the isolation represented. Getting back to the roots of humanness. Primordal networking. Strategy in its most primitive form. Absorbed in fantasy, the new Star Trek, a return to Land of the Lost or a midnight tour at the Museum. Take me away.

We haven't quite reached the dust bowls of The Grapes of Wrath or four block-long bread lines but we may be close. Ghost towns are being created. I know people who are walking away from their houses not because they have to but because they can. 67% of all mortgages in Las Vegas are upside down - homes are worth considerably less then the money owed on them.

What can we do? Keep working. Diversify: your portfolio, your skill set, your life. Step outside of your comfort zone and recognize that what used to be no longer is. Work harder.

"Unless you are willing to drench yourself in your work beyond the capacity of the average man, you are just not cut out for positions at the top. "
~James Cash Penney, aka J.C. Penney in 1928

by rayannethorn

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on May 19, 2009 at 5:28am

"What can we do? Keep working. Diversify: your portfolio, your skill set, your life. Step outside of your comfort zone and recognize that what used to be no longer is. Work harder."

Best advice I've heard. I have a question - "stealing children and dogs" - what for?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Steve Levy on May 19, 2009 at 8:03am

RayRay, simplify your life (even more here); it will be very painful but in the long term you'll be less beholden to the masses.

What is the benefit of keeping up with the Jones and the Schwartzes?

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on May 19, 2009 at 8:35am

Interesting article on one person's finances (and mistakes in life).
Real numbers. Something you don't see too often.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by pam claughton on May 19, 2009 at 10:55am

Is your glass half empty or half full? We have a choice. We can focus on what's going wrong, all the bad things and whine about how terrible the economy is, and sit back and do nothing....and watch it get worse.

Or, we can focus on the positive things, keep moving forward and make things happen. Instead of highlighting more layoffs, why not instead point out things like IBM adding 700 new technical people for a mid west location? Or all the exciting new start-ups that are getting funding, every day....in this economy.

As you can guess, I choose to focus on what's good and positive and seek out more of the same. Interestingly, we are seeing a pick up. Over the past few weeks we've had clients either give us new openings, or give us the heads up that multiple hires are on the horizon.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Maureen Sharib on May 19, 2009 at 11:07am

Pam, I'm hearing from customers who have lain dormant the past 6 months - they're calling to check on my bandwidth and to let me know I'm on stand-by! It's just fine with me.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kendall Messner on May 19, 2009 at 4:54pm

http://recruitingblogs.ning.com/profiles/blogs/market-bouncing-back...

Funny, I wrote the blog listed here today, and then my sourcing director said there was a nice counterpoint up. I am keeping my chin up as we forage ahead.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Peter Ceccarelli on May 20, 2009 at 2:05pm

It really depends on the region of the country you live in. If you're in Pheonix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, or anywhere in Florida..........forget it. It's really bad there. But there are regions that are doing quite well and struggling along like the rest of us. There's destitute and then there's just plain tough. No one is living on easy street right now, and those who can afford to spend, aren't. They are keeping their pennies close to the vest and can you blame them? And of course, this affects the job market. But at the end of the day, the "hot" candidate that I'm after, so is everyone else. It's like pricing a house right. If it's clean, has good bones, in the right location, priced well, it will sell regardless. So if the candidate has been careful about not moving around a lot, had the pedigree that my industry gets excited about (the right former employer names on their resume), they stuck at most of their jobs at least 3+ years, and they have a personality and interview well.............and of course the skill set we're looking for......then they are considered "HOT"......and we all want them.

My company added 13 new jobs in January and although they are now all filled, I never once thought to myself, "oh this will be easy because the job market sucks right now....they'll be flooding in the door". That was never my expectation because I knew the A players that we only want to attract are the same A player that only you too want to attract and regardless of the market conditions, there is going to be competition for the best. My company is never interested in the "average" market, unless the price point (salary) is reasonable enough to consider the B player (we all need those too, right!). But it's like the right house in the right neighborhood that has been taken care of. If the deal looks good enough it will get snapped up.

Too much emotion is spent on worrying about the "economy" when the only real thing any of us can do to help it is by spending money. Therefore, look forward, focus on the success traits that have always worked in the past and keep moving by staying in the present. Worry about past events or future events (when will the economy truly recover e.g.), gets us nowhere. And.......the economy will NEVER be the same as it has been in the past. Never again will we see irresponsibility like that.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Craig Silverman on May 20, 2009 at 2:13pm

Albin Engineering is seeing an increase in our number of new job orders and in-person interviews. We closed 3 deals yesterday with one client, have 10 jobs open with antoher client that will be interviewing next week, working on splits with several new partners, plus we are trying to hire a new sales/account manager, two perm (full-desk) contingency recruiters, and a internet sourcer. I'm smiling today. Will keep you posted on updates.

Craig Silverman
craig@aesi.com

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jim Durbin on May 25, 2009 at 3:50pm

I'm not sure how much koolaid you have to drink to think the economy is strictly the fault of Republicans wanting to capture Senate seats, but for those of us who don't get our news from .08 papers, the truth is the economy is a very large system, and it's possible we can work our way out of the mess - though it's going to take time. There were a lot of bad bets made in the last several years, and the sooner we face up to them, the better.

We face dangers of hyperinflation, national bankruptcy (yes, even Obama admitted yesterday we were out of money - it's what deficit spending means), increased belligerent actions around the globe from people seeking to test the new administration, and of course, our own profligacy.

Time to put on sackcloth and ashes? Of course not. The economy turning a corner? Don't make those plans for expansion on credit lines just yet.