Hotel Honda; financial crises impact on an IT worker

I really hope this is is a rare exception. Is it really this bad for bank workers I wonder?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7681978.stm

My best wishes to this guy. I admire him for coming out and telling us his plight, but at the same time try to find a job by keeping his dress in his car for potential interviews. God Bless him soon

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SRTMCSE

That sucks, is extremely sad and is really scary. I find myself in a position where I too fear in the back of my mind for my job. Not so much that there are any whispers, but that I (1) work for a financial firm (*shiver*) and (2) my position would be the first one cut in lay offs in the IT dept as I work the night shift and I'm the only guy overnight and even I feel there isn't a real need for me here, I mean I literally have to ask daily for tasks or find something to do.

These parts right here really got to me.

What galls me the most is that about one third of my income is taxed. I'm taxed on what I earn and taxed on what I spend.

Yet our leaders have found a way to bail out the very institutions that have put myself, and others, at risk.

mamono

binarysoul wrote:

I really hope this is is a rare exception. Is it really this bad for bank workers I wonder?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7681978.stm

My best wishes to this guy. I admire him for coming out and telling us his plight, but at the same time try to find a job by keeping his dress in his car for potential interviews. God Bless him soon

My cousin only just got married early this year. She and her husband bought a house and a new car. Life was grand. He worked IT. She worked at a bank loan services. They were very happy.

She was laid off last month. The entire loan services division was shut down. I do not believe this is rare.

gorebrush

No, this is going to go on everywhere...

I'm not concerned at the moment, however it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

mamono

gorebrush wrote:

No, this is going to go on everywhere...

I'm not concerned at the moment, however it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Agreed. Try not to think too far forward and stay rooted in the present.

Silentsoul

mamono wrote:

gorebrush wrote:

No, this is going to go on everywhere...

I'm not concerned at the moment, however it is going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

Agreed. Try not to think too far forward and stay rooted in the present.

I disagree, i think you should keep the future well in mind. I would much rather prepare for the worst and be ready for it should a lay-off or something worse occur. Than to stick my head in the sand.

Not to sound like a doom bringer but, gentlemen hard times have come to stay. As they say it will get worse, far before it gets better. you have to prepare for what might happen and that means keeping your resume well update and a little money stashed away for a rainy day.

Kaminsky

Silentsoul wrote:

... you have to prepare for what might happen and that means keeping your resume well update ...

I don't think that will help much with the way things are heading. I would recommend staying where you are and keeping your head down unless you have a cast iron offer that is not likely to be cancelled and the last one in becomes the first one out.

Some of the first casualties of IT were the contractors. They are being given very short notice and now there are loads of them all competing for work and the callibur of job applicants right now is really very high making the situation even more difficult.

YES being laid off at short notice for a contractor goes with the territory, I agree. I was a contractor myself for four years until 18 months ago when I decided it was time to go permanent again. So glad I made that decision now but I still don't feel that safe.

Hotel Honda should act as a warning to all of just how quickly a nice rosey future can turn into a really awful situation. Imagine if this guy had a young family he was looking after. My heart goes out to the guy but I doubt very much it is unique or is going to be the last.

I am taking the line of reasonably cut as many unnecesary overheads as I can, keep my head down and study, study, study and prepare for when we emerge from this cloud.

Sticking your head in the sand will get you bitten in the a$$ with very little warning. Time to find shelter and ride the storm out.

jbaello

This is a very tough situation, I feel bad for this guy, let me put it simply this way, study as hard as Dynamik or Ilcram and I'm sure you'll have plan B. we owe it to ourselves to be prepared in the worst case scenario and be ready to make bold moves or sacrifices, investing on ourselves is a smart move, that's why some of us is in this site.

Now be ready to get out of IT and flip burgers if you can no longer find jobs in this field, be ready to relocate, be ready to be devisive, at some point we need to compromise, it's not always going to be sunny and we are equipped to discern those bad sign and know when to convert, the .com bubble is a lesson one should never forget.

I have a confession one of my very first job was selling computers/parts at a private store, while I was selling computer I offer the customer for me to setup their network or fix their PC, given that I was a part time working 10 - 20 hours and one paycheck away from being homeless, and ex. wife was unemployed I had to devise ways to earn that extra money so my daughter is not without a home.

rubberToe

Yet our leaders have found a way to bail out the very institutions that have put myself, and others, at risk.

I just don't understand how CEO's get paid incentives and bonuses regardless of the financial situation of the company they work for. None of the bail out should gone to executives.

supertechCETma

It might make for good press but I question the veracity of this account. Why is there a picture of a car dealership in the article? A Toyota dealership at that. Nobody in the US graduates from university. We graduate from college. I suspect it is a veiled pommy attempt at creative journalism.

eMeS

supertechCETma wrote:

It might make for good press but I question the veracity of this account. Why is there a picture of a car dealership in the article? A Toyota dealership at that. Nobody in the US graduates from university. We graduate from college. I suspect it is a veiled pommy attempt at creative journalism.

I too have my doubts.

BTW, I found him on LinkedIn. If this guy is doing everything he can to find a job, as the article leads us to believe, I certainly hope his resume offers more than what he has on LinkedIn. I see nothing there that would lead me to hire (or even talk to) him...there's just not much there and there's definitely not a focus on results or accomplishments.

We're all responsible for and in control of our skills and capabilities development. We're all also responsible for being the best marketers of ourselves and our abilities.

MS

jbaello

eMeS wrote:

supertechCETma wrote:

It might make for good press but I question the veracity of this account. Why is there a picture of a car dealership in the article? A Toyota dealership at that. Nobody in the US graduates from university. We graduate from college. I suspect it is a veiled pommy attempt at creative journalism.

I too have my doubts.

BTW, I found him on LinkedIn. If this guy is doing everything he can to find a job, as the article leads us to believe, I certainly hope his resume offers more than what he has on LinkedIn. I see nothing there that would lead me to hire (or even talk to) him...there's just not much there and there's definitely not a focus on results or accomplishments.

We're all responsible for and in control of our skills and capabilities development. We're all also responsible for being the best marketers of ourselves and our abilities.

MS

+1

It pretty much sums it all up, it should be a motivating factor for everyone, no matter what state we're in down, bruised, beaten up, heartbroken, we owe it to ourselves to improve and develop our skills for marketability to stay afloat when things start sinking.

It looks like the journalist is trying to find news without really analyzing the whole background on why it has lead to this if your finding is indeed correct EMES, ofcourse I feel bad for this person, he might not be like some of you guys who is motivated in developing his skills.

Perhaps we should invite him here and maybe influence him, like some of you guys gave me that constructive criticism

Pash

One of our companies directors quoted last week, that as an IT infrastructure engineering and consultancy firm that we have become more a utility than a resource department. We do support financial firms as well (quiet a few actually), but can they ever really do without IT in today's world? Sure the IT budget will be one of the first to be looked at, do we really need this upgrade blah blah blah. One of our biggest customers is planning a vista and windows 2008 rollout over the next two years, and this doesnt look like it will be put on hold.

It's interesting.

KGhaleon

I'm saddened for him, but to be honest I know what it's like to be without any income and having an empty bank account. I almost became homeless too.

Luckily there are plenty of ways to earn money outside of IT, so he shouldn't be homeless unless he didn't try to save himself.