Post #104,807
6/4/03 11:12:02 AM
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Number of tech, telecom jobs lost in May drops
[link|http://www.computerworld.com/careertopics/careers/labor/story/0,10801,81775,00.html|job cuts slowing]
Overall job cuts for the month were down as well
There have been 54,278 technology and telecommunications job cuts worldwide so far this year, down significantly from 165,391 tech job cuts during the first five months of 2002.
The figures, from the latest job report from international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas Inc., also show that overall job cuts for May hit a 30-month low of 68,623. That compares to 146,399 cuts in April and could be a signal of an end to the job-cutting spree that has hit American workers since 2001.
Chicago-based Challenger said the May figure is the lowest since November 2000, when 44,152 job cuts were announced, according to the monthly report released today.
Last month's cuts were 19% lower than the 84,978 cuts announced in May 2002 and bring the total number of lost jobs this year to 570,817, 11% lower than the 640,761 job cuts announced through the first five months of 2002.
"The missing-in-action kick-start that will propel the economy out of the doldrums may be close at hand," Challenger CEO John Challenger said in a statement. "Small and medium businesses, traditionally responsible for most new job creation in recoveries, may begin to expand investment and hiring due to the new tax cuts."
"However, while there may be some improvement in the job-creation numbers this week, it probably will not be due to any real improvement in the economy," he said. "The character of the economy in the last year has been start-and-stop. Right now, the overall job-cut trend is downward. It is highly likely that companies will now take a breather, with the job-cutting frenzy of the last three months abating."
After announcing 57,927 job cuts in April, the government/nonprofit sector announced just 9,180 in May, a decline of 84%. The hardest-hit industry in May was transportation, which announced 9,226 job cuts.
Some good news, though, can be found in the improved job loss figures for tech and telecommunications workers, who have been hit hard in the last two years, Challenger said.
"A life sciences and biotech revolution and an aging baby boomer population with growing health and leisure/avocation needs are at hand," Challenger said. "Defense and security requirements will persist and lead to job creation throughout the coming decade."
But the bottom line is that more people are still being thrown out of work, adding to the ever growing number of unemployed. lincoln
"Four score and seven years ago, I had a better sig"
[link|http://users3.ev1.net/~bconnors/resume.htm|VB/SQL resume]
[link|http://users3.ev1.net/~bconnors/tandem_resume.htm|Tandem resume]
[link|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net|contact me]
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Post #104,812
6/4/03 11:26:17 AM
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And...
I have been getting feedback from my "representatives" that the job market is slightly growing.
We aren't talking about 300 job openings in Grand Rapids a month... maybe 0-3% a month more for permanent work and about a 10% increase in "short term" contract work and a 5-7% increase in long-term contract work.
Budget's haven't gone up, it just that mission Critical projects put on hold 3 years ago are going to nuclear meltdown... and companies cannot afford to NOT do them now... infrastructure is the biggest gainer of all so far (by infrastructure I mean Networking and so on) more bandwidth/capacity and more redundancies are becoming critical in this forever ON world now.
Hope this trickles down pretty damn quick.
| [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg] - IT Grand-Master for Anti-President | | [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry/|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] |
THEY ARE WATCHING YOU. The time has come for you to take the last step. You must love THEM. It is not enough to obey THEM. You must love THEM. PEACE BEGETS WAR, SLAVERY IS FREEDOM, STRENGTH IN IGNORANCE.
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Post #104,815
6/4/03 11:29:40 AM
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happening in the Tampa Area as well
Top bean counters are starting to realize that revenue is being lost due to inefficiencies in under represented technical folks. Not enough people to keep stuff running, and knowing where the stuff even is.
thanx,
bill
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
"I hit him so hard in the head his dog shat a turd in the shape of Jesus" Leonard Pine
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Post #104,821
6/4/03 11:50:55 AM
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Tampa Area
Had a recruiter call me Monday afternoon, wanting to know if I was interested in a 6 month contract in Tampa area, at $35/hr ALL INCLUSIVE.
There's no way I can support 2 households for 6 months, let alone visit the family once a month or pay taxes and health insurance, on that kind of a number. Sad, isn't it, that there still are too many places willing to take advantage of us IT professionals in this weak economy.
Even worse: over the weekend I saw a job on Dice for a VB, SQL, ASP programmer, with some dot Net, with 3 years experience - and they were willing to pay UP TO $35K. Those people are evil!
lincoln
"Four score and seven years ago, I had a better sig"
[link|http://users3.ev1.net/~bconnors/resume.htm|VB/SQL resume]
[link|http://users3.ev1.net/~bconnors/tandem_resume.htm|Tandem resume]
[link|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net|contact me]
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Post #104,825
6/4/03 11:58:21 AM
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I had a low-baller similar...
Basically the JOB Was a GREAT job for a SENIOR highly skillful Systems/network Analyst. Fit me to the TEE!
Now comes the shocking part: If you added $25K to the offer on the spot... It would STILL have been a 10% pay-cut.
They want upto $120K skills for $20K and Terrible Benefits.
Needless to say, I said I'd get back to them. I did as soon as I got home
My ANSWER: NO. (should have been a "WTF ARE YOU THINKING YOU BASTARDS - NO")
| [link|mailto:greg@gregfolkert.net|greg] - IT Grand-Master for Anti-President | | [link|http://www.iwethey.org/ed_curry/|REMEMBER ED CURRY!] |
THEY ARE WATCHING YOU. The time has come for you to take the last step. You must love THEM. It is not enough to obey THEM. You must love THEM. PEACE BEGETS WAR, SLAVERY IS FREEDOM, STRENGTH IN IGNORANCE.
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Post #104,832
6/4/03 12:17:02 PM
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going local rate is lower
same gig I was doing last year at 42 is now 32. I am currently working at $25 all in. You are right, not enough for 2 households.
thanx,
bill
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
"I hit him so hard in the head his dog shat a turd in the shape of Jesus" Leonard Pine
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Post #104,883
6/4/03 7:02:51 PM
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It could be if
1. I don't go home for the 6 months of the contract
and
2. We share a tent underneath an overpass.
lincoln
"Four score and seven years ago, I had a better sig"
[link|http://users3.ev1.net/~bconnors/resume.htm|VB/SQL resume]
[link|http://users3.ev1.net/~bconnors/tandem_resume.htm|Tandem resume]
[link|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net|contact me]
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Post #104,909
6/4/03 10:00:31 PM
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1 bed studio 400+ utils
depending on gig location 1 person $15 per day eats * 30 $450 if you have 2 vehicles gas and stuff is a wash so approx $1000 per month expense $35 per hr times approx 160 hrs a month $5600 less 1k expense 4600. The 1k expense is fully deductable. I am paying full ride hmo medical out of my pocket pre tax at $730 per month so approx 3k net and no life. Well you could park on my couch until you found an apt (quickly) so you could duck motels. Also call sapphire tech in tampa, ask for Carly Ricchini email me for her number. An outfit I am interviewing for tomorrow has a tandem and is getting to ramp op and the vb combined might be useful. They get a jazzillion resumes a day so call and introduce yourself, they might be bidding on the same gig but might find a better rate.
finally 6 month away gigs are like jail sentences, I could do 6 months time on my head.
thanx,
bill
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
"I hit him so hard in the head his dog shat a turd in the shape of Jesus" Leonard Pine
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Post #104,928
6/5/03 1:27:42 AM
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oxen gored
$35/hr works out to about $72K per annum fulltime. This is likely pretty small beans compared to what you were accustomed to during the heady 1990s. And yet, and yet...most of the North American workforce gets by on smaller household incomes--not that it isn't an existence harsh and miserable by the idealized standards we hold. I suspect that you were not, when gainfully employed at a salary that more nearly satisfied you, given to losing sleep when you considered the situation of a single mother working at WalMart for $23K, just as the migration of American jobs overseas seemed like sound policy just as long as those jobs were in the manufacturing sector, whereas the farming out of programming gigs to India is self-evidently an offense in the eyes of God and man.
I don't want to seem to deprecate your situation, which must seem more dire with every passing month. But the proles have been living with this for quite a bit longer, and the mere fact that IT people are now being squeezed in like fashion does not represent the dawn of a new evil in the world.
cordially,
Die Welt ist alles, was der fall ist.
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Post #104,934
6/5/03 2:22:35 AM
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Some unholy glee despite it being my ox
I remember the randroids on slashdot and kuro5hin, with their constant "well, get a better job" answer to every less than joyfull comment on corporate life or personal economics. The idea that such was not a practical option for most people - and that the impracticality goes beyond lack of imagination, being in a rut, or cowardice - was simply not in their world-view.
The thought of those people struggling through the current IT market is delightful. Even though I've been un/under/mis-employed since a couple weeks after 9/11 and my personal economics are extremely bad.
----
Whatever
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Post #104,939
6/5/03 8:13:30 AM
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Things have to change, and not just for IT
I've been a lifelong conservative and Republican, but I'm just about to vote for the Democrats (or someone else) this election.
I'm still employed, just changed jobs. However, I've noticed that things have changed dramatically since about the mid-1990s.
You're right, Ray, the blue collar bunch got gored, with flat or declining nominal wages since the late 1970's. So for close to 25 years, they haven't been able to "get a raise" at the same job.
I fear the same will be true with "professional" jobs, without a change in administration, and the "bringing down" of some large corporations and leaders (Enron and MCI/WC just being the beginning).
The bottom line, the so-called "leadership" doesn't want to invest in America anymore. The wages are lower, the opportunities to exploit workers are simply greater somewhere else.
I'm sorry, but this is pure and simple greed, and my take on it is that we need to vote the bastards (probably BOTH Democrats and Republicans) out, and now.
We need to force divestiture of huge multi-national companies like IBM, MCI, AT&T (again), SBC into smaller companies.
The greed and avarice of the wealthiest and most powerful people in America is destroying our country.
Tax the rich, send Martha to jail! Hold the people at the top accountable. If they can't manage their own affairs honestly, then maybe they're trying to do too much (and need to let someone else get a chance). If the rich want to exploit someone else, then they need to sell their assets here, to someone who will invest in the country.
The poverty of the Great Depression taught us all compassion and how to care for each other and work together. World War II brought us together in a common purpose to fight an enemy. The post war boom brought us all riches and prosperity in the 50's, 60's, and 70's.
Then we got to the greed decade of the 80's, as we watched lots of blue collar workers laid off. IT got a reprieve in the 1990's, as Y2K and the Internet allowed us to prosper.
Then, we got to 2001.
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Post #104,957
6/5/03 10:46:32 AM
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Being one of those who ekes out a living...
If you added Susan and my hourly rate together, adjusting for quarterly bonuses from my company - it works out to $35/hour.
Most of it comes from me. I don't have a degree.
Susan's got a Masters degree in Psychology, and a crapload of student loans.
You get used to it after a while, but sometimes, in the middle of the night, you wake up in a cold sweat wondering, "what the FUCK am I going to do?"
They say a city in the desert lies/ The vanity of an ancient king/ But the city lies in broken pieces/ Where the wind howls and the vultures sing/ These are the works of man/ This is the sum of our ambition...
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Post #104,959
6/5/03 10:47:58 AM
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start drinking heavily and watch a lot of sports on TV :)
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
"I hit him so hard in the head his dog shat a turd in the shape of Jesus" Leonard Pine
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Post #104,979
6/5/03 12:15:08 PM
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I'm not going to belittle the hourly rate
but it's only for 6 months, with no guarantee that it will go the full 6 months. After all, an employer can cancel the contract at any time, and in today's economy, no shop is going to pay you while you're not producing income for them. Box is right on about the expenses, but being deductible next year doesn't mean much when I have to pay them upfront this year.
It appears that I've fallen into "the yuppie trap" where I'm living on the edge, at the maximum of what my previous salary allowed, versus living below my means and banking some away every month. The property taxes on my house for this year will be almost $9800. Do I need a house that big? No. Do I like having a house that big? No. I have to cool it, and my wife has to clean it. But it had the room count we wanted and a place to put all of our stuff. I'm finally trying to figure out how to enjoy life without having to store all of my stuff somewhere for the rest of my life.
And I still can't buy even a telephone interview here in town to date. On the plus side, there's a potential for an onsite in a small city SW of Atlanta next week; I'll hear today or tomorrow whether I passed the second cut.
lincoln
"Four score and seven years ago, I had a better sig"
[link|http://users3.ev1.net/~bconnors/resume.htm|VB/SQL resume]
[link|http://users3.ev1.net/~bconnors/tandem_resume.htm|Tandem resume]
[link|mailto:bconnors@ev1.net|contact me]
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Post #104,982
6/5/03 12:18:52 PM
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know that stuff feeling
moving from a house to an apartment. Got rid of over half my stuff. Still dont have enough room although the square footage is the same, Apts dont have the nooks and crannies a house has.
thanx,
bill
will work for cash and other incentives [link|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html|skill set]
questions, help? [link|mailto:pappas@catholic.org|email pappas at catholic.org]
"I hit him so hard in the head his dog shat a turd in the shape of Jesus" Leonard Pine
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Post #105,054
6/5/03 6:43:03 PM
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Banking it.... Or rather paying off some bills...
I have a unique opportunity while my new job is ramping up and my old job is ramping down to have "two jobs" for a while...
Guess what we're doing? Paying off debt as fast as we can. The goal is to have our credit card/fridge/computer/dryer stuff paid off on the extra money.
I told my wife last night that I think this (lower pay environment) is a long term thing and that we need to be prepared to live on about 50-60K a year (combined) in future years. Much less than that, and I've got to move to a smaller house (or a trailer) with 3 kids to feed and clothe. The wife and I fuss quite often about "entertainment" for the kids, because I don't believe in it, but she does.
I've wondered about getting rid of the cell phone and other extras to save the money.
Gym, swimming lessons, baseball camp. It all adds up. However, if I can get my son a copy of JBuilder Personal or Delphi, then maybe he can start helping the family earn a living in a year or two. A couple more years, and I'll recruit my daughter, too. Besides, once I'm 45 or 50, noone will hire me (because I'm too old).
I guess I'm a stick in the mud, but for centuries, kids worked alongside their parents in the fields, in stores, in blacksmith shops, etc. I think a lot of what is wrong with kids today is that they have to be "entertained". Unfortunately, the U.S. is rapidly going from being a "rich" country to a 3rd world country. Mainly because of the greedy rich bastards running the place, who don't believe in letting anyone make an honest day's wage.
Unfortunately, I think we're entering a period of prolonged "hard times", where it may take all four of us to keep our house and get us out of debt. Japan isn't as far away as you think.
Glen Austin
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Post #105,061
6/5/03 7:40:09 PM
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Hard times?
I believe you are correct. Also near-enough re the (now Huge) greed-swing which I place as beginning ~ the time Ronnie R first uttered that piece of doggerel about greed being OK. Floodgates opened because: they Knew Ronnie'd make it So. (There seem to be several variants in how he phrased it, but that it gave carte blanche for the already wealthy to become Obscenely So - appears unarguable). Then there's always QED.. in a pinch.
Personally, I know of no litmus test I trust re divining the depth of corruption in any given org. Today I merely presume the ancient Truth expressed re metaphysical matters, as above, so below.
Our corruption is manifest most clearly at The Top (biz or politics), but it's present in almost every 'transaction' -- incl. the singing ads to get you to get your 'doctor' [your insurance co. actually..If you Have Either One] to Buy This New Drug! for this Attractive New Disease. (We also have stuff to drug your kid, for her not wishing to sit at a desk for 4 hours straight without moving)
Hard times then? Yes - what is anyone else's projection of the amount of "suffering energy" required to counter the kinetic energy of Full Greed?
- to first slow the decline; then turn-around, then gradual acceleration towards a decent, honorable society wherein The Mandatory Corporate lie: is no longer a mantra you must mouth, merely in order to feed self.
I (merely) suppose that there is a kind of 'conservation of energy' principle applicable here: that the screwing of the actual working people, the manic excesses of the Yuppie-clan and its millions of wannabes -- all this entrenched and intentional 'class' distinction has created {whatever you like, if you don't like} karma which must be erased by good(er) deeds. The Hum-Vee is the perfect symbol for the Fuck You, I Don't Care if it Crushes Your Car crowd.
I hope that enough? Muricans shall have grokked this soon and thoroughly, before the present end-game destruction is completed by this renegade cabal, now racing forward, heedless of all 'debt' - financial and the Other Kind.
As to decency: the Christian variants on that aren't a bad start. No monopoly there, but at least even the non-Christians will have little to grouse about in the definitions, IMhO.
Ashton
If we don't revolt pretty soon - we shall continue to be / be seen by most others as, revolting.
Revulsion: that's what {ugh} means.
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Post #105,022
6/5/03 2:56:47 PM
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that is the going rate
VB, SQL, ASP programmer, with some dot Net, with 3 years experience - and they were willing to pay UP TO $35K. Those people are evil!
That *is* the going rate. I missed that one. However, I don't have any paid .NET experience, which is hurting me.
Hmmmm. I wonder what will happen when the going rate drops below the legally mandated rate of $32K/yr for H-1B programmers?
________________
oop.ismad.com
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Post #105,055
6/5/03 6:44:12 PM
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Re: that is the going rate
The gov't will probably lower the rate.
But, it SHOULD MEAN that we send them home. To work in their own countries.
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