Does anyone feel the Recovery?

[flyfishnevada]

Just like any recession, not everybody feels the pinch. Lot's of people didn't get laid off, didn't take pay cuts and didn't lose benefits. Lots of sectors actually grew and people got raises and promotions. I think you also see those of us still working, even if we took a pay cut (me) adjust to the new income. Eventually, the thing that gets us out of a recession is people losing the fear of the unknown and spending again. Millionaires start investing, middle class folks decide they need a new car. On and on.

the government has never, and will never, get us out of a recession or depression. It usually prolongs them.

Still, its really not a recovery until jobs come back. No such thing as a jobless recovery. Even though those of us with money start spending more, there are a lot of people not spending. They don't have jobs. They are a drag on the economy. We pay taxes to pay their ongoing unemployment and welfare costs. That isn't money generated by the private sector, it was taken from it. Jobs will come back incrementally as the economy picks up, but it won't be a recovery until they do.

 

[Alan]

This week my ex-Magacorp just announced the biggest bonus ever, to be paid next month. Everyone on my site gets 8% of 2009 salary, and then management get their relevant bonuses etc. There have been no bonuses or salary raises for 2 years plus 10% lay-offs etc.

This is from a chemical giant where the vast majority of our output goes into the consumer industry including cars, refrigerators, housing construction etc. They are obviously bullish about their markets picking up both domestically and global.

 

[audreyh1]

Sounds like they are interested in employee retention!

Audrey

 

[ziggy29]

This week my ex-Magacorp just announced the biggest bonus ever, to be paid next month. Everyone on my site gets 8% of 2009 salary, and then management get their relevant bonuses etc. There have been no bonuses or salary raises for 2 years plus 10% lay-offs etc.

Wow. Quite a reversal. We had no raises in 2009 and I doubt any are planned this year -- meaning no raises for 3 of the last 5 years if there's none in 2010. Though I do believe my Megacorp had just about its best year ever in 2009.

The CEO was brutally honest in a meeting with employees a few months back when he mentioned that there were no raises NOT because the company was struggling, but simply because the market didn't require any for retention and salary surveys didn't indicate any upward movement against which they needed to respond. And he said he didn't really see that ending any time soon, but they'd re-evaluate if it did.

 

[FIREd]

DW and I work in health care and we didn't see much of a slump. Salaries have steadily increased over the past 3 years (+7% in 2008, +3% in 2009 and +5% in 2010), bonuses have never been larger and except for a small reduction in the 401K match for high earners in 2008, benefits have remained generous. This year, management also offered a number of financial incentives to retain key talents, a first since at least 2005. All of it seems to point to management expecting a better labor market going forward. DW's company will start expanding and hiring again this summer.

 

[Coloradoblonde]

We are in the middle of tourist season so the stores and restaurants are packed . I've noticed more and more of the new Lexus SUVs around . Real Estate is picking up slightly in the under $250 ,000 range but otherwise real estate is still not moving .

We have some friends that have a 2nd home in Sarasota, FL...and we think that it must be some economic indicator there if people are down-sizing from their Ferraris to Lexus SUVs! LOL