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Jobs In the Recession

AIR DATE: Tuesday, December 16th 2008

POSTED BY: SARAH JANE ROTHENFLUCH

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Have you lost your job or had to lay people off?

More than 6000 Oregonians lost their jobs in November, according to the latest report from the Oregon Employment Department, increasing unemployment from 7.2 percent in October to 8.1 percent in November. This is the fourth consecutive month where over 4,000 jobs were lost. The industries hardest hit include leisure, hospitality, trade, transportation and utilities. How are you affected?

One person I spoke with the other day explained that unemployment is difficult for him because he gets so bored. There is so little to do, and so few jobs to apply for. He's trying to be proactive in his job search but finds that people are wary about doing informational interviews; they're afraid their own jobs may be next on the chopping block. So what is a person to do when he loses his job in this bad economy?

And what about employers? How quickly should they make a decision to let staff go? As soon as profits drop, in fear that times are just going to get worse, or as a last resort when other cost-cutting measures have been exhausted? Should firing people be the first -- or last -- step in maintaining your business in this recession?

Are you one of the thousands of people who have lost your job in Oregon this year? Or one of the many employers who had to give the bad news? How is the recession affecting your livelihood?

Tagged as: jobs · recession

I have had many information interviews and networked everywhere.  I know people who have good jobs and are trying to help me find work.  But nothing has come of this.  I have looked for a full time job in Oregon for 7 years, and recently started looking outside of Oregon.  I have education, possibly too much education, a decent track record, but I can't get a permanent position.  My husband works as a cashier, and that's ok, but we cannot move into a better situation.  We are on food stamps, I'm on FHIAP, and elegible for WIC.  And now it is even harder to find what little work there is.  I have written to my representatives and senators, but was told to look into Americorps, but that is unrealistic . We need another, better stimulus package to help those whos skills are not in construction, nursing, or teaching.

Michelle — Thu Feb. 12th 1:33p.m.

Does Oregon rely on a "birth/death" model in computing the unemployment rate (as the feds do)? It seems that the "birth/death" (that's birth and death of companies) model tends to underestimate unemployment in a downturn.

Also, the wider measure of unemployment called U6 includes people who are under-employed or working part time but wanting fulltime work. U6 is now close to 12% in the US, any idea what the equivalent measure is in Oregon?

skeptictank — Tue Dec. 16th 12:19p.m.

Hello,
Could we hear on the air again the address of the site mentioned around 9:15:
www.workinoregon.org?
I just tried the one above and I got "No address found".
Thanks,
Monique

bessettem — Tue Dec. 16th 12:24p.m.

Hi Monique,

It's www.workinginoregon.org. Look for the Imatch link on the lower right hand side of the webpage. It's a blue, green, and white logo.

working4change — Tue Dec. 16th 12:29p.m.

We'll confirm it with Art Ayre and post it here as soon as we know. Check back!

Sarah Jane Rothenfluch — Tue Dec. 16th 12:29p.m.

http://www.workinginoregon.org/ or http://www.employment.oregon.gov/

jaikenone — Tue Dec. 16th 12:29p.m.

Thanks Jaikenone!

Sarah Jane Rothenfluch — Tue Dec. 16th 12:33p.m.

I was laid off in May 2008 and have been unemployed ever since. The biggest challenge with continuing layoffs across the board has meant tremendous competition for any advertised position. For instance, I took an editing test for a job a couple weeks ago and later learned 50+ people took the test. In a decent economy that number would have been 10-15. Finding a job today means battling it out with many, many others.

Mister Richard — Tue Dec. 16th 12:28p.m.

I was laid off from my job as a consultant at a geotechnical engineering firm last Monday. The industry is tied directly to construction and development, and as such, had been very lucrative for many many years in the fast growing Portland Metro area. I was given two weeks severence. Unfortunately, I bought a house in August. Washington's unemployment benefits are generous, but amount to a little less than 1/2 of my salary. I will have to turn to family for help after about two months just to keep making my mortgage payments on time. This is clearly unsustainable. I have an advanced degree and recently received my professional license, and am looking every day, but the jobs are not here. I can't leave the area because I wouldn't be able to sell my house, so I feel really squeezed and VERY uncertain about the future.

carrieb — Tue Dec. 16th 12:33p.m.

I work in software and our company is still interviewing, but I don't think it should be. Why? Well, let's just say I've seen this movie before back in 2000/2001 where we hired much more than we should have and it led to layoffs later. Our sales are slumping and I fear the same mistakes are being made again.

skeptictank — Tue Dec. 16th 12:34p.m.

Like Michael, I HAD a very high paying, high tech job, but was laid off 2 months before retirement eligibility and with over 30 yrs experience. No pension, no healthcare.
The house has to go, as property taxes and health care are 10 times my food budget.

I am back in school for retraining, but have little hope the US job market will improve and offer many jobs with wages above $50k. It is more likely additional pressure will raise unemployment stats.

jwswamp — Tue Dec. 16th 12:55p.m.

We're a local small business which is keeping on eye on the economy everyday. We noticed that the recession was starting late last year. Many of our employees were oblivious to the change in revenue to our small business during this time. They continued ask for time off for things like rock concerts, parties, etc. In the past we might allow this, because of the redundancy in staffing. Many employers may have a birds eye view of what is happening locally in the economy. We haven't purposely cut back on our staff; however, we have raised our expectations on the quality of service, since we can't afford to loose any of our customers, we have laid off individuals that can't see fit to raise the quality of their work. After they have been laid off, we have shied away from replacing them with another new hire.

pdxbusinessowner — Tue Dec. 16th 1:06p.m.

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