Is a Lean Economy Turning Mean?

News Type: Event — Seeded on Sat Mar 1, 2008 5:24 PM EST

Article Source: The New York Times

us-news, unemployment, us-economy, oakland, college-graduates, jobless-recovery, lower-wage-jobs

NICOLE FLENNAUGH has a college degree, office experience and the modest expectation that, somewhere in this city on the eastern lip of San Francisco Bay, someone will want to hire her.

But Ms. Flennaugh, 36, a widow, cannot secure steady, decent-paying work to support herself and her two daughters. Nearly two years after she was laid off as a customer service representative at the Educational Testing Service, and even after applying for dozens of full-time jobs, she has been getting by with occasional stints as an office temp.

"You're used to making $17 an hour with benefits, and now you have to take any job for $8 an hour," Ms. Flennaugh says.

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Dr. Diane Wakat, PhD's Column, All of Newsvine
Groups: The Big 2008 Election
Regions: New York

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8.7

{"commentId":1528574,"authorDomain":"drdianewakat"}

Dr. Diane Wakat, PhD

Across the nation, the labor market has been deteriorating. Many companies, long reluctant to add workers, are hunkered down and waiting for improved prospects, engaged in what Ed McKelvey, a senior economist at Goldman Sachs, calls "a hiring strike." Americans with jobs are taking cuts to their work hours; those without jobs are staying out of work longer, or accepting positions that pay far less than they earned previously.

This is just the beginning of the cycle, given that so many people have either no job or one that pays less/hr with no benefits. How are these people going to buy the goods that the companies with high-paying CEO's are making? They're not.

{"commentId":1528574,"threadId":"227766","contentId":"1337393","authorDomain":"drdianewakat"}

2 votes

#1 - Sat Mar 1, 2008 5:26 PM EST

{"commentId":1529118,"authorDomain":"seward"}

Sandie Seward

Reading that article about the current situation was depressing. It's the same here in the U.K. It just makes me grateful that I am now retired and therefore, permanently out of the Job Market.

{"commentId":1529118,"threadId":"227766","contentId":"1337393","authorDomain":"seward"}

2 votes

#2 - Sat Mar 1, 2008 8:09 PM EST

{"commentId":1529349,"authorDomain":"drdianewakat"}

Dr. Diane Wakat, PhD

Hopefully, you'll be able to stay retired - and that the UK stays above the economic fray.

{"commentId":1529349,"threadId":"227766","contentId":"1337393","authorDomain":"drdianewakat"}

2 votes

#2.1 - Sat Mar 1, 2008 9:21 PM EST

{"commentId":1529560,"authorDomain":"seward"}

Sandie Seward

People over 50 in the U.K. have enough problems finding jobs now, without all of us "Golden Oldies" joining them.

{"commentId":1529560,"threadId":"227766","contentId":"1337393","authorDomain":"seward"}

1 vote

#2.2 - Sat Mar 1, 2008 10:29 PM EST

{"commentId":1530395,"authorDomain":"drdianewakat"}

Dr. Diane Wakat, PhD

That's an issue here in the US - and will become even more of one as the 'baby boomers' retire and realize they need to move back into the job market to earn more money than they have put away in their retirement funds.

{"commentId":1530395,"threadId":"227766","contentId":"1337393","authorDomain":"drdianewakat"}

2 votes

#2.3 - Sun Mar 2, 2008 7:25 AM EST

{"commentId":1530100,"authorDomain":"gwenny"}

Gwenny

I suspect we have tough times ahead. I hope it will stimulate the sort of changes we need to be a better society.

{"commentId":1530100,"threadId":"227766","contentId":"1337393","authorDomain":"gwenny"}

3 votes

#3 - Sun Mar 2, 2008 2:38 AM EST

{"commentId":1530397,"authorDomain":"drdianewakat"}

Dr. Diane Wakat, PhD

Not just a better society, but also one that is more rational in matching income and outgo - and one where the country's president doesn't just tell everyone to 'go shopping' after a major terrorist incident.

{"commentId":1530397,"threadId":"227766","contentId":"1337393","authorDomain":"drdianewakat"}

3 votes

#4 - Sun Mar 2, 2008 7:27 AM EST

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DR. DIANE WAKAT, PHD

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Is a Lean Economy Turning Mean?

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