The recession hits closer

[connatic]

I still have a job. However, Heidi's job looks increasingly shaky - the city is going to lay off thousands of people (a newspaper headline said 26,000). Yesterday, our good friend Bubbette was fired from her sysadmin job - in a company with two IT staff, both of whom were busy. And it appears my company is going to lay off another 10-15% - my boss assures me I'm fine for this round, but who knows what will come next.

The impact of all the layoffs and lower Wall Street bonuses is visible around us. Restaurants and bars are significantly quieter; not all X-mas themed ads have been replaced; stores appear to have permanent sale signs or have closed. The 2001 recession had a much less visible impact on New York. This one is going to be brutal and it will be interesting (though are from fun) to see its social impact. I expect to see a lot more homeless people on the street once the winter is over.

Comments

[ladykalessia.livejournal.com]

We're seeing a lot more homeless people in San Francisco and San Jose already - it's a good thing it so rarely gets dangerously cold around here. Also, a lot of people are couch surfing among friends and relations rather than live on the streets, though I imagine when the weather warms that may be less and less the case.

Best of luck to the both of you. I've managed to survive the round of layoffs that hit here, mostly by virtue of being associated with a product and not a service. Right now, I'm just pleased to be employed.