I just fancied taking a little cross section of you lot. So since everything went tits up with the banks, how have things changed for you?

I know most people are suffering to some degree. Pay cuts, job losses, general insecurity. Or are you one of the few who are doing ok? If so, how are you managing it?

I'm just being nosy really. Shall we have a scale of 1 to 10? 1 being good. 10 being catastrophic.

I'd have to say I'm presently clocking about 9.5. Not that I'm that bothered. I'm being philosophical about it all

Your tales of woe please

No tale of woe.

I escaped the rounds of culling at my last place, and we only suffered pay freezes, rather than cuts (though colleagues went onto enforced part-time working).

But, the place became so sh*te to work at, I had to get out. Not easy to do when the labour market was so fecked. But, I managed it, and swung a payrise to boot.

3.

Didn't touch my personal circumstances – kept my job.
But ended up walking out of my job cos my boss, a very insecure and scared man at the best of times lost the plot. The company I worked for wasn't doing too well either so management have been off the ball with regards to day to day running

We run a PR business that's never been busier – most odd.

A combination of pretty recession proof (in fact booming) private sector and public sector clients have helped. Some have cut budgets in other areas but not PR.

I'm always convinced that it won't last though…

No tale of woe here either, got a new job that is more secure than the last one, we have a pay freeze for the coming year but are getting extra holidays in lieu. I also do some cycle repair work and that is getting busier. Alos managed to buy some property to rent fairly cheap as well so doing pretty good all in.

Don't mean to rub anyones nose in it, just telling it like it is.

On your scale probably 2 but I have had times in my life nearer a 9.5.

Really it's had no appreciable effect whatsoever, i'm a student. I should be job hunting in the new year though so i'm sure it'll be a different story then.

Been fortunate to not notice it at all.

pay freeze but kept the job and mortgage has dropped significantly. Also companies cutting back on giving English classes has meant more people wanting personal classes. so probably a pretty low number.

I was contracting at HBOS at the time the wave broke, so took it smack on the chin. Was up there at about 9.5 for several months over Christmas/New Year 08–09.

09 started very badly, thought we would lose the house. Luckily decent work started coming in at the last possible minute.

Just about on an even keel again now — but still not feeling overconfident. Still, I have managed to stay afloat and complete (most of) an MA part–time during the recession, so I think on balance I should feel pleased.

Haven't really noticed it TBH, the missus is getting a bit twitchy though as she works in the NHS 🙁

3 for me

made redundant in Feb 2009: Bad times. 🙁

Got a job a week later for lots more ££, better pension, better people, better hours: Good times. 😀

new job is only temporary contract and ends this December: bad times. 🙁

About 18 months ago, pretty catastrophic.
Made redundant a few days before Christmas 2009, no work at all (bar a bit of freelancing photo stuff), no pay-off from my old job.

On the other hand good things came out of it – I met my girlfriend and living with her part time helped a bit with the money situation. I was just starting to get into more photo jobs.

The the place which had made me redundant hired me back which actually made things worse – same job but lower pay, no benefits like pension etc and it knocked on the head all the riding and photography I'd been doing. I lasted about 4 months of it before quitting for a complete career change.

Things now are OK actually. 🙂

Pay freeze, but I was seriously overpaid in the boom anyway. Mortgage interest rate plummeted, so I was better off really.

Market has now loosened up again and I've got a nicer job hopefully.

My wife was very, very worried about one of us losing our job, which certainly contributed to the collapse of our marriage I think.

I'm a 3 on balance I reckon.

Good – my mortgage payments went down quite a lot.

i noticed massively in my old line of work (marketing), and friends are also struggling to find work, esp in london. thankfully i'm working within the Brazilian economy and it's doing just fine. but then they didn't have Gordon.

Just as the Crisis was hitting hard we had bought our first home at a real top end price. the market then went into free-fall and I worried a bit.
I had made the decision before it hit to leave my job and return back to study, so glad I did as as soon as it got tough for businesses my old company laid everyone off!!! Lucky escape, the house is now back up to past what we paid for it so luckily I have escaped completely problem free 🙂

If I had not gone back to Uni I would have been screwed!!!

Not really made any difference to us. No pay rises, but that's it really

2/10?

awful.

Last job went t1ts up, so quickly started job hunting, found another job and took fairly large pay cut, 1 year later, getting made redundant again.

feel really fed up. Lots of friends seem unaffected and are buying houses, having kids, going on holiday etc.. and i feel like i've just gone back 10 years in my career and everythings on hold. Don't know if i'll get a job, nor where it will be, got some savings, but no pension or house (maybe a good thing?)

getting job updates from the usual sites, cwjobs.co.uk etc.. but very little in them.

We had to close our 25yr old family printing business in Jan last year, subsequently went personally bankrupt.

I was helped to re-start by a long standing customer (I'm now employed by him), and the last year or so of trading has been OK, nothing stellar but we've not made a loss.

So Jan last year = 10
Current = 6

1

During the banking crisis and recesion I started a family, got a new job paying a lot more money and my mortgage interest has more than halved…

Its been a pretty damn good time for me, but someone had to have some luck..!

I'm in recruitment and haven't been this busy for years.

No pay rise last year which effects my forthcoming pension. Working my redundancy notice due to cut backs but I was within a month of resigning anyway so that is a result! Finish on 5th October so hoping stock market has got over the BP issues – but mostly final salary related so all is fairly rosy.

2/10

2/10. I'm sure globally it's had some impact on me but personally, I've spent the last couple of months fending off people offering me jobs with increasingly tempting levels of pay attached to them.

To begin with, not much difference – kept my job as the organisation went for voluntary redundancies (and I didn't volunteer!). Was more concerned about my partner who worked in the private sector.

Now it's beginning to bite – total external recruitment freeze means I can't bring in the trained specialist staff that are needed to do essential work, desperate rush to try to get work contracts out before a total budget freeze on programme money, working longer hours to cover for lack of experienced staff. But there is much worse to come, knowing that the 'best' outcome would be to be given the choice of personally taking a percentage paycut in order to try to protect the jobs of people in my team (and no, I'm not well paid so this would hit hard).

But overall, the worse effect at the moment is the increased stress and anxiety that this has brought. It's been combined with my partner ending our relationship, and having to sell the house and move. Knowing that I have to bear all the financial costs of living now on one income, makes the stress of potential redundancy and pay cuts seem pretty terrifying.

So, I guess, it started with a 2, currently at about a 5, heading rapidly towards the upper figures 🙁

But hey, according to general opinion us layabouts / wasters in the public sector deserve it don't we ….

Sue – work with lots of public sector clients and most work damn hard.

Muffin Man – that sounds pretty tough.

Could not be better for me. I'm a lgv driver with way too much work on. As a result of the recesion there is a lot less trafic on the roads. Bonus.!

Made redundant just prior to recession. Then made redundant during recession. Had a hard time getting past the interview stage to a job offer. At the time, about 9.
Relocated to the Highlands for work, where the hills are large and access to the land is open. And where no-one seems overly concerned about the R-word. Currently cruising along at about 4.

1 here. Wont elaborate as to why as I'll only come across as a smug ****t.

Or are you one of the few who are doing ok? If so, how are you managing it?

We manufacture some fairly unique equipment with very little competition. We also export 99.9% so the weak pound is very helpful. Last two years have seen record growth; 30%+ YoY

Wierd times for me. Became unwell, paid off mortgage, got a lump sum insurance payment, interest rates fall, so waiting for the bounce maybe!

NHS employed but been off sick for 8 months in the last 12, just trying to get onto a return to work programme via occupational health, but they don't want me back yet! Prepared for pay freeze, relocation of job, maybe even talk of redundancy on my return to work.

So all in all a really wierd recession for me, due to illness & insurance etc never been financially so secure on the one had, but can forsee NHS job cuts sooner rather than later.

Got deleted along with the majority of the people on my level at the front end of 2009. Then got hired back for a bit as a temp by the same firm for a while. To be honest, I'd had enough of the job so I was relieved to be out of it.

Went back to uni for to do a master's, sold some bits and pieces to fund it and met a load of really sound people at uni. The job market is still a bit flat (big firms are still cancelling entire grad intakes!), but I'll find something.

I've got all my limbs, a good set of mates and my bird, so I'm pretty happy.

That said, I hope I never see the inside of a dole office again. And that I'd not bought any bonds!

Muffin Man – that sounds pretty tough.

It was at the time, but a family business can be pretty oppressive – I've had more laughs at work working with my new colleagues in the last year than I have in the last ten in the family business!

Gotta pay cut and have become severely unmotivated as the company seems to view us as numbers rather than pople now, so teh atmospeher is a bit crap….

Made redundant as the recession took hold.
Took 6 months to find another job & it's 60 miles each way commute.
No pay rise this year.
Mortgage halved.
2 new bikes.
Other half is in a job she loves, but shift work does mess up 'our time' together.

All in all; a 3.
Until,

Cat has some mystery illness – went loopy on Tuesday evening & still at vets; they aren't sure what is wrong. Went to see her last night & is looking a mess, but better than when we took her in. Didn't think I'd be too bothered, but missing the little ball of fur…..doesn't seem right without her about the place.

Now, currently feeling a 4, as she's playing on my mind…..

I sit surrounded by empty desks at work after two redundancy culls.
Kept my job as I'm self funding so basically protected from public sector chop bar physicaly losing my office & fixtures.

I bought my (first) house at start of the dip so got a good house for less than it was worth, but could only get a fixed rate mortgage with a monthly payment of just under a grand leaving just enough to pay bills.

wife voluntarily changed from good paid but horrid job to lower paid but job she liked, this is now threatened by higher education cut backs- old company downsized dramatically a few months after she left.

Cost of living has risen to a level where we have no choice but to spread bill payments over months so we're always paying everything constantly and I eat last nights tea for my dinner at work every day etc.

Have no disposable income at all- can't even put in for office wiprounds.

Basically I'm treading water, but I'm not drowning and confident that I'll be able to remain ok but not brilliant for the future. So for me its a four.

Not really affected me personally – some cutbacks of hours etc at work but not mine – I have had to reduce hours at work but that's due to post viral fatigue.

Probably a 1 for me, but the illness has been a 6 or 7 at times.

It was at the time, but a family business can be pretty oppressive – I've had more laughs at work working with my new colleagues in the last year than I have in the last ten in the family business!

Been there too – we worked in the inlaws fresh produce trading business for a year with a view to taking it over. It was hell for my wife (her dad spent most of the time abroad – the other directors treated her like sh1t) and although we made good money through genuine success (nothing was handed to us), we were actually relieved when FIL decided to sell it in an MBO to the other directors. We got a bit of the payout (we'd increased the value of the business by a fair chunk) and got the hell out of there. I have yet to meet a person (my FIL) who has NEVER been wrong in his whole life…!

Laid off not long after Lehman, only bits of temp work since, wife's contract ended and her next was +1 hour commute – probably cost us in excess of £8k net pcm since…

But, we manage fine, kids still in school, mortgage on +.35% over base and I'm fitter than ever 😉

Say 9 on money, 3-4 on life

Funny isn't it – not meaning to make light of anyone's financial situations, but it seems the recession has allowed a few people to take a step back and realise that working lots of hours and earning lots of money is not necessarily essential or desirable.

When the banking crisis started we (as a construction company) were doing ok. Enough work to keep everyone going but no increases in rates, to be expected really.
As time goes on I am getting more concerned. We have let people go due to not enough work. Rates have been going down and cash flow problems have been a serious issue. Not being paid on time by customers means you can't procure the materials to complete your ongoing work which means you don't get paid and that is an endless cycle. Waiting to see what the budget has to offer and take it from there.
Low mortgage rates mean that I have a bit of flexibility on a personal level, so I would rate that at about 3. Low rates also mean that in business you can also be financially flexible so I would rate that at about 7. If rates start going up significantly I believe you could add 2.5 points to both totals.
I have to remember that I have my health,friends and family etc and so if the worst does happen, I will be able to pick myself up and have another go at it. 😀

August 2008 my manager used the impending recession to get rid of me (Personal differences). Unbeknown to him 30mins earlier i had accepted a job elsewhere with their biggest competitors. I got 4weeks paid holiday using their company car to go out biking. Suprising how dirty a car gets after 4 weeks. I handed it back with a 1" layer of mud on it.

1st year in my new job i doubled my predicessors sales figures and i was having to do two peoples jobs. I got a pay cut but because i had hit target they gave me it back PLUS my sales bonus for the year. I got my biggest every pay packet in december 2009.

This year has been much the same. I am currently ahead of target up to about end August so looks like i will get my bonus again.

Because of the nature of the setup i kind of run things for myself in the two offices and it has proven successfull enough for me to have authority to employ and assistant when i find someone suitable.

Compared to the pre recession i would have to say a 2. Before the recession i was at about 7-8