After watching newsnight last night there seems to be an enormous contradiction between what the Bank of Englands figures are saying about an economic recovery, and what anyone I know in the real world is feeling.

I can't see any sign of things getting better out there. Far from it. Its getting worse.

My own personal feeling is that the figures are/will be skewed by the enormous profits again being generated by the banks etc, while in the 'real' world we'll be coping with massive job losses and economic stagnation, at best. It all seems to be pointing towards yet further division between the haves and have-not in society. Those at the top being essentially insulated from the misery. Probably accelerating at a scary rate as the cuts really start to bite.

Be interested to hear everyone else's experiences/opinions

Fire away

From my perspective, it looks like 'dirty hands' work [electricians, joiners etc.] are flat out whilst the softer supply industries are suffering

i'm a joiner.. and i'm out of work again.. it's hard times..

i'm a joiner.. and i'm out of work again.. it's hard times..

Trying to get some shop-fitting done at a site at the moment
8 weeks wait, minimum
& that the best estimate from the 3 firms we use

Well, the private sector is probably picking up, but the public sector is going to contract by what, 20%? So if you know private sector workers they are probably upbeat, yes.

The public sector is sh*tting itself, and this is significant. Won't take long before big companies that have govt contracts have to start laying people off…

As you know Binners, being in similar line of work to you, it's quiet. False dawn I think.

Talking to a plumber recently, he's had enough and is off to live in Berlin and busk it. It seems that the collapse of the construction industry flooded the private work market with people who would normally never have touched that work.

My previous "industry" (private practice law firms) was hit very hard, with my last employer having four rounds of redundancy in 12 months.

Current industry seems to be OK (telecoms), but i suspect that it is more stagnant than retracting.

Everywhere else seems, at best, to be trundlign along with no real sense of growth, and quite often continued contraction. People remain fearful of their jobs, but also seem resigned that this is going to happen to them and there is little they can do about it.

as a a sciientist and indirectly supported by government and charity grants things are grim, when yhe cuts come in later in the year weve been told to brace for up to 40% we are already on a pay freeze for the 2nd year in a row and on a hiring freeze too

i suspect that a lot of private firms will be hit hard by the public sector cuts, eg all the people who would have been building those schools and playgrounds etc

we're no longer at risk of redundancy, company has been profitable since the start of the last decade (now has $1billion cash reserves), but still no news of a pay rise, someone up top is taking the piss.

With gideon at the financial helm and a shrinking public sector I feel nothing but optomistic abut the futire. Both the Big Society and emerging and expanding free enterprise culture will burst from the ashes of the crumbling socialist state to smother us all in a fantastic and unhearlded amount of wealth ….. trickling down to enrichen all our lives spiritually and financially.
Daves has said I believe his dream …what could possibly go wrong?

i suspect that a lot of private firms will be hit hard by the public sector cuts, eg all the people who would have been building those

friend is a structural engineer. His practice is 50% BSF. Well, it was. Now he and his team, already pared to the bone, are facing the axe. Not nice at all.

i'm glad to be working outside the UK economy, though still living in it

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I think there's some slack in the system – firms are trying to make their staff work harder rather than take on new people.

And of course slight economic growth doesn't cancel out shrinkage. If the economy shrank by 5% say, it needs to grow by around 5 and 1/4% in order to be back where it started.

I've been a pessimist all my life, so the future is always bleak.

Avoids the inevitable disappointments. Works for me.

Super busy here but it may all suddenly end… Making hay while the sun shines.

Know lots who are very quiet though.

Have 2 small businesses both seeing an upturn, both quoting a lot of work and some converting. Recruited to one company and looking to recruit in the other. So for us things are on the up.

Please state your industry sector when replying.

I'm an IT contractor, and I know for a fact that there's going to be a fair few more of us (not me tho touch wood) on the market in a month's time.

Any growth/stagnation/decline is likely to be geographically specific, particularly when the public sector cuts get worse. Regions like the North East with relatively high % of people paid by govt will probably see the economy shrink, but the South East will probably grow.

I'd rate to be working in the retail sector in any place where public sector jobs are going to be cut as the first thing people will do is cut back on their consumption. Lets hope that doesn't start a domino effect.

Get your spades out and plant veg in the grass verges

the South East will probably grow

Apparently London, if it were looked at apart from the rest of the UK, hasn't entered recession proper at all during the credit crunch.

banks still seem to be doing fine

wasn't it the bankers that got us here in the first place?

my cousin has been offered a £85000 a year job at Barclays, I'm seeing jobs in my field drop to wages that are lower than what I was on at 18 with no training

takes the piss

HR consultancy in London (reward, exec comp advice, etc. rather than recruitment or organisational development)
companies are cutting back on how much they spend on our services, but are still spending
both private and public sector

Well judging by the luncheoneristas sitting eating nice luncheons (average price of £60 a head without wine) yesterday in leafy W4 the recession hasn't touched many round here.
However, inside here it's less rosy. Fees have dropped through the floor – lots of other consultants are buying turnover. That'd be in construction related design type industry.