Quote:
Originally Posted by Tsar
We have been over this...
(1) I do not believe in the figure they have provided (3million). I heard that menial jobs such as car wash attendant have been included in those estimates. So far NO ONE in this thread has posted anything that would contradict this statement.
(2) Smart people save part of their paycheck, so when they get laid off or fired they have money in the bank to survive from 6 to 12 months of unemployment. Those who have not done so, have do so at their own risk.
(3) With money saved in the bank it's easy to find some menial job and wait out the bad times. Or you can just dedicate 40 hours a week to look for a new job. If you're willing to relocate, have diversified yourself, you will eventually find something decent.
(4) HAVE A BACK UP PLAN FOR GODS SAKE! Personally I have a back up, of a back up, of a back up plan if I do not find a job right after I graduate. First one includes joining the military, with my "skill" I should not have too much problem getting into the field that I want. And then there's a back up plan, and that is followed by another back up plan. Moral of the story - use your brain, and plan for an emergency (they teach that in a flight school but I guess not everybody went there.)
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Well, let me take an example from my real-life experiences. This is a bit extreme, but none-the-less, I saw it happen right before my eyes to one of the nicest, most helpful co-workers at the place I did my freshman co-op with. The guy's name is Jim, worked at Borg-Warner's Cleveland facility, back before it was borg-warner, building carbeurators for holley and others since 1950 (until the late 80's, 1988 or 1989 - around the time I was born) when he started working for Borg-Warner (after the buy-out of his division), then switched to buiding solenoids, wastegate systems, and finally idle air pumps. Back in late 2007, he started suffering from a herniated disc, which hurt pretty bad from what I heard from him (he went on medical leave regularly) and with just months left until he planned to retire, he was fired from the job.
Let's just say that that sucks pretty bad. He has 5 grandkids in college, two of his sons lost their jobs, so yeah.
So, I guess the guy, who is now well into his late-70's, should be diversified and have several backup plans? Or he should pack up everything and move out somewhere else? For me, it was nothing at all ... I'm 20 years old (19 when I left the job), born and raised in NJ with a farm to come back to and work on, meaning I have some food to eat, a little money, and a roof over my head while I work on finishing my studies. But, there are others (like Jim as one example, I could name 20-30 others like him that I know) who are in a similar boat. He now works at Walmart as a greeter, making $9/hr with no benefits, rather than being a senior tech, making $45/hr, with full benefits, and probably will never be able to retire all right and proper - he still has his social security and his savings from paychecks towards his eventual retirement, but that was meant to be in addition to his retirement checks from work, not instead of.
Basically, the higher-up execs were looking for money to save, which meant firing a few workers, and co-ops and older people with health issues came up top of the list. If they didn't need to try and cut costs because business was good, they might have kept Jim and me both, but instead we were both let go.