I have several friends who have been laid off/out of work for months...

[TroglodyteScholar]

...and, I kid you not, five of them have found work within the past 2 weeks. I'd like to know if anyone else has noticed this trend (or a continuation of the opposite trend) among their friends and acquaintances. Maybe my people are just exceptional, but things seem to be looking up for many of them...

Anyone?

[Christa]

1. My husband is a member of a several meetup groups

and many have found employment the past couple of weeks.

[lunatica]

2. What kind of work?

My entire department received our layoff letters on September 14.

[TroglodyteScholar]

10. Different kinds...

One friend is a magazine editor, one is a retail floor manager, one is a factory worker...etc.

I'm so sorry to hear about your layoff. I was laid off twice in 3 years (and before age 25), so I definitely empathize. All I can say is keep your chin up and never let your current situation impact your sense of self worth.

[quiller4]

3. The delivery company where my borther-in-law works has hired

ten additional drivers since the end of August. These are fulltime Teamster jobs with benefits. On September 1st our port called back 120 of the 200 employees laid off in March. My neighbor who works for Loomis just had her hours increased (not something she is happy about but Loomis is advertising for somebody to assist her.)

[Skittles]

4. yes, but for much less money

[TroglodyteScholar]

12. Yea, that's true of most of my friends, too...

All of them were out of work for so long, though, they they really don't care about that aspect of it. Kinda sad, but just about anything is better than living and dying by a govt check.

[appamado amata padam]

5. Laid off for 2.5 months,

after working in a "niche" industry that has been especially hard-hit by the recession. Contacted the few other companies that did the same thing, and about 25 other companies that did similar things, with barely a nibble, then nothing.

I pretty much feel like my 25 years of working are down the drain and I have to start over. Most employers can't really understand what I did, much less how my skills translate to what they do.

My plan for now, at least, is to work at Starbuck's at night, so I can at least have insurance, and try to find something else during the day. I did speak to a lady there today who was very nice, and said she would try to find me something at one of the stores.

So, I guess things are looking up just a little bit...

[vadawg]

16. you might have to totally reinvent yourself, which can be hard, it can also be a revelation

i see a lot of people who are not prepared to work outside of what they believe their education and experience dictates, but in todays job climate it may be the only thing to do is reinvent who you are. Good luck

[appamado amata padam]

17. Thank you - have been taking night classes for a certificate -

was planning to spend several more months at job while preparing, and then to make a switch.

Am still planning on the switch; just going to be more rocky in-between.

[Earth_First]

6. I follow the employment section daily...

The listings have gone from half a page over the past winter to well over two pages front and back.

I hope that this means well, however as it was pointed out above: the hiring may be coming around, but the wage/salaries and benefits that are being offered are drastically different than we've seen before...

Good luck folks!

[virgogal]

7. I sure as hell hope my daughter will get a job soon.Very discouraging.

[pitohui]

8. um, that would be a "no"

not noticed anything of the kind, quite the contrary, many folks i know now unemployed seem resigned to the fact that they'll never work again and must therefore develop some kind of hustle (be it respectable like getting an education and getting student loans they could never repay at their age or be it not so respectable like poker)

the older you are, i think it the more likely you have to acknowledge that you'll never again have a "real" job at least not until something is done about health insurance, who wants a middle aged person on the company plan?

[TroglodyteScholar]

14. There's definitely something to the age thing...

...but I'm not sure the current economy is entirely responsible for that. My father was an executive (and a very effective one) at a pager company around the same time that cell phones really took off. Overnight he went from being very wealthy to barely scraping by, and then had to deal with age discrimination and the fact that nobody was willing to pay him commensurate with his experience and achievements. He ended up starting his own business after nearly three years of unsuccessful job hunting. He's still getting off the ground. :(

[sandnsea]

9. Son and step-son got jobs the last 3 weeks

All 4 of my kids are now employed. Whew. Now two of them get to dig out of the disaster the housing collapse caused them.

[TheDebbieDee]

11. A friend of mine got laid-off (fired) at the end of January........

And she found work about 3 weeks ago, shortly after the start of the school year. She's working some youth drug diversion program of some sorts.

[Ruby the Liberal]

13. I was recently laid off, and have not seen this yet - but

I appreciate the positive news.

:toast:

[TroglodyteScholar]

15. Hang in there... n/t

:hug:

[FarLeftRage]

18. Nothing has changed for me...

I have been unemployed since 23rd October of 2008. I have applied for different jobs as they have been advertised, taken civil service exams and nothing has happened. There are so few jobs and lots of people applying for them.