Just felt the ripple of the economy today

kriscamaro68

So I work for a company that designs and hosts websites. We where doing quite well and hadn't seen a huge hit in our company since the fall of the economy. Well today I get called into a managers meeting with the rest of the managers in the company and the CEO tells us that we are all going to take a 15% decrease in pay across the entire company. Granted I still have my job which is awesome but now I am worried about paying my bills. How has the economy effected you as of late?

dynamik

My place is cutting hours. I asked for some time off to wrap up a college class and the response I got was, "Take as much time as you need!"

IT_Admin

The company I work for is one of the rare ones that you are paid on a weekly basis. We had a meeting last week to inform us that next month we are going to bi-weekly paying. Not a big deal, there was talk of potential layoffs in different dept’s but that's not happening anytime soon (hopefully)

I have my yearly review in Jan, I'm guessing I shouldn't expect much of a pay raise.

Bokeh

So far so good here. Business is up, which means I can keep my job and so can everyone else. We just hired one new person for a new office, and are looking to hire a new manager shortly to oversee the call center, etc.

blargoe

We let go a sysadmin and an network admin last month. Now we're working on consolidating the workload of sysadmin and netadmin betweek three of us sharing responsibilities instead of completely separating the roles. Big hassle, but I still have a job.

NetAdmin2436

I feel for anyone that have been hurt by this economy. It can be tough to deal with.

I work for a small company and luckily no lay offs or pay cuts Yet. Our owner said no new equipment (computers, printer, ect...) until further notice. We definitely won't be hiring anytime soon either. In the past our owner has treated us employees well with hefty Christmas bonuses, but this year I don't think anyone at our company is expecting one. I'm just thankful for what I have right now.

blargoe

BTW, congrats on keeping your job... pay cut is much better than not getting paid at all, which is the option many companies have been taking

the_Grinch

No job is how it has hit me, but I'm not too worried as something will come up. Have an interview on Wednesday for a software implementation and training position. Not exactly what I am looking for, but since I have nothing else I will take it if offered. Plus the company has weekly paychecks and will pay for all education regardless of what you pursue.

undomiel

Currently unemployed but I have a feeling that it wasn't the economy that did in my job. I'll be feeling the effects though while searching for the next one.

kriscamaro68

Well best of luck to everyone out there at this time. It sucks. I just put my apartment contract up on craigslist to have it taken over. Time to move in with the g/f. Hopefully you guys will find jobs soon.

NetAdmin2436

undomiel wrote:

Currently unemployed but I have a feeling that it wasn't the economy that did in my job. I'll be feeling the effects though while searching for the next one.

What happened? Didn't you just get a government job a couple months ago? Sorry to hear that though.

bertieb

Good luck to those looking for work at the moment. I agree, it sucks. We had a hefty staffing cut early this year and I wouldn't be surprised if more were to go after the New Year. 'Techies' are a bit thin on the ground and everyone is having to pick up extra tasks/projects as a result so hopefully we'll be ok and scrape by.

I work in a hosting environment, it's pretty quiet at the moment though I have noticed a lot of the smaller companies outsourcing their systems which seems to tie in with them laying off internal staff. Rubbiiishhhhhhh.

Once again, good luck folks and to the OP - at least you managed to keep a job for the time being - pay cuts hurt but the easier option would have been to lay off people.

Keep your chins up people

blargoe

This is a big reason why I'm cramming as much training and certs as I can over the next 6-12 months. Part of the trade off for letting two of our admins go was them sliding some more training $$$ our way to help us fill the gaps. I'm not under any illusion that it won't be pulled out from under us though. I'll be valuable to someone, somewhere, if not here.

AmpdChaos

haven't really felt the economical hardships yet.. I work for a university and i know they have stopped hiring people to the campus anymore.. And they said we dont have funds to do major upgrades but we still are able to get items.. Although we arent able to have any of our students work in the winter which kinda is a bummer because we have a long list to things to take care of.

EricO

No raises this year. No travel money. I hope I can weather this....

aidan80

Luckily I still have a job... although it's not quite in IT but it's getting there.. sort of? I work for the government luckily in one of those departments that they don't cut unless it's critical. Other departments have let people go, they've stopped hiring, restricted raises and increases, frozen spending and doing everything possible to save cash and cut corners.

I was hoping this job would be temporary maybe a year or two at most. I thought it'd look good on my CV/Resume as a first job in the US. I shouldn't complain my employer has allowed me to move closer to my skills and towards IT and give me a raise as well. I think in part to keep me where I'm at.. not that I'm going anywhere the way things are now!

I'm am giving some thought to working on the side or setting up a small company to work after hours and during the weekends doing the usual tech type stuff onsite and in home. Be nice to get back on the horse and make a bit of extra cash here and there. I was last a tech back home in 2005!

HeroPsycho

Had I not won my company the staff augmentation position I'm in right now, I wonder how much longer I'd have a job where I'm at. But the work I won should keep me employed for at least another 12 to 18 months.

zen master

Did they also offer you a 15% reduction in hours. I figure, if they're taking a hit in the amount of work they're getting, they should be able to reduce staff hours. I mean, fair is fair.

networker050184

zen master wrote:

Did they also offer you a 15% reduction in hours. I figure, if they're taking a hit in the amount of work they're getting, they should be able to reduce staff hours. I mean, fair is fair.

Fair is fair, but business isn't fair. It is all about profits.

/usr

I'm not sure if it has to do with the economy or not, but I haven't received a raise yet at my current job, period. I've been there for around a year and 4 months now.

luckybob

Luckily I work in the public sector, utilities to be exact. We are in the process of building our 3rd power generator.

Pre-economy crisis I was looking to relocate and get a better paying job, but I was just given a 10% raise and will be getting a promotion as soon as I finish my MCSE (70-298 left) and my VCP (took course, test in Jan.).

I think I might stick this job out for now, or at least until the economy starts to get a little better.

unclerico

I work in the Ethanol industry (yeah yeah, boo hiss boo hiss lol) and we're actually going to be buying up quite a few of the failed ethanol companies that didn't manage themselves correctly. The only real effect we've felt is before we had 100% paid medical/dental/vision benefits where now our premiums are about $240 per month. I won't argue with that. Of course all of the CXO's and the board wanted to make sure that all business units are being fiscally responsible so since we've (meaning the IT dept.) shown even in the best of times to make sound business decisions the money is still flowing for us. Don't get me wrong here I'm not bragging in the least bit, I consider myself very lucky to be where I'm at and also understand that it can be taken at any time. Hang in there guys/gals, it'll turn around soon.

Kasor

Look for you 2nd part time job....

I have three jobs right now. Money is not everything, but without it. It can be a big problem and specially you have family, house loan, student loan, car payment and alll other misc....

Good Luck

steve_f

I've seen a few effects.

- No bonus this year
- All training cancelled next year (Bye Bye MCITP:SA and possible MCITP:EA courses, back to self study again)
- Planned server upgrades put off indefinitely.
- Minimal or no pay rise in April
- A promise to TRY and not cut any jobs.

Not the end of the world, but I am the newest member of the IT dept (just over a year) so I would be the first to go.
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blargoe

We just found out that our yearly merit evaluations are being moved from July to January, so as to avoid divvying out the normal increases mid-year. We've been told not to expect anything. Also our year-end bonus is postponed until they have a chance to look at the performance of the company through December, which will put off a decision until probably February.

Even still, small bonus and small raise is a possibility. Better than the alternative I guess.

nel

dynamik wrote:

My place is cutting hours. I asked for some time off to wrap up a college class and the response I got was, "Take as much time as you need!"

Ouch!!!

our place has had many rounds of redundancies and we've just been told our annual payrise for next year has been frozen. Im just glad i have a job!

dales

What is this "pay rise" and "bonus" that you speak of!? Must be something to do with me working in public sector because I've never had either!

nel

dales wrote:

What is this "pay rise" and "bonus" that you speak of!? Must be something to do with me working in public sector because I've never had either!

i was referring to the annual inflation. Like i say im just glad to have a job.

Daniel333

Had I stayed at my previous job, I would be jobless now. So far things seem fine here, but time will tell.

Still a good move to get a few more certs on my resume

vsmith3rd

steve_f wrote:

Not the end of the world, but I am the newest member of the IT dept (just over a year) so I would be the first to go.
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Not so fast young Skywalker. I've seem companies in similar situations that look to trim the high fat first. A high salaried Architect should feel no safer than the wet behind the ears noob. Some companies just look at the financial bottom line, which means cutting the lowest salaries brings about the least relief.

bmcghee

I'm looking for the above for a 6 month right to hire in Ofallon Il. 25- 30 an hour.