Recession.

[J.R.]

Jan and I spent a very pleasant Wednesday afternoon in Horsham, shopping, (and partaking of an excellent lunch and Merlot wine in the Wetherspoons), and enjoying the sun-shine.

Strolling through the Swan Walk, we noticed even more shops closed since our last visit a month ago.

St Martins Walk in Dorking seems to be dying on its feet with nearly as many empty shops as shops still trading.

Where and when will it all end, I ask myself ?

[dinahcat]

I don't know. My brother has been made redundant from The Independent, his wife from he NHS, next door neighbour from insurance and and endless stream of parents from the school where I work.Lots of empty shops in my town.

[midget]

Several of the larger employers are making workers redundant. The shops seem to be fairly busy, but that may be people just browsing. I can't speak for the other charity shops in town (at the last count there were 13), but we were run off our
feet for most of Friday, and took loads of money (including £40 each for 2 wedding dresses, and a bridesmaid dress as well) People are spending on things they fancy eg an old Bible in a very poor state went for the asking price of £25.

[blondie95]

I was made redundant a couple of weeks ago from the charity i have worked since leaving uni 4 years ago! Only 4 of use went from one area but it was a real shock. Been applying for jobs and luckily in market research especially agency side there are plenty of jobs but its just very competitive, people of higher levels going for lower jobs!

[englishangel]

Good luck Amy, I do hope you get a job soon.

[ben ashton]

on the plus side, i've just had my contract at Saga extended for a further 3 months :D

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

This is a very sad time - one of the difficulties is being "Overqualified".
When I decided to retire from the "Rat Race" I looked for a job, to pay me "Beer Money".
I therefore didn't mention some of my qualifications, and I was challenged on this, by the Personnel Director.
I pointed out that it would be illegal to claim, falsely, Qualifications, but not to omit them --- he actually agreed !
( I was a T & G Shop Steward, with a Diploma in Industrial Management --- which he considered unfair ! )
We got on fine !

[Misterbee]

This recession whilst possibly the worst since the great crash of 1929, is showing the same signs as all the other recessions within the last 40 years, companies are using it as an excuse to dump staff and impose unreasonable working consditions on those who remain employed. The company I work for has just arbitrarily imposed a pay freeze on all staff, in spite of reporting record profits for the past year and being in the enviable position of having a very healthy order book. In fact it is the only "major player" within the industry to go down this route. All other companies are awarding between 1 and 3% wage increases this year. Meanwhile senior managers, whilst forgoing their salary increases will be paid performance bonuses. In a lot of cases between five and six figure sums each! What hurts is the blatant greed exhibited by these people who are dipping their snouts in a trough which only exists as a result of the labours of an unrewarded majority. The profits earned were delivered not as a result of management activity, but in spite of it! I recognise that in these times we have to be as efficient as possible and its in all employees interests to take this fully on board, after all the fact that their company provides their lively-hood makes them a serious stake-holder. It's the implied threat of people losing their jobs / lively-hood that the more unscrupulous employers are now using to intimidate their workforce. I certainly do not wish to return to confrontational days of the 1970's / 1980's, but actions as illustrated here are bound to ferment a new militancy, which in itself is as destructive as management greed.

[icomefromalanddownunder]

Latest marketing idea from Tourism Australia;

'Come to Australia. A great place to be poor'.

xx

[englishangel]

I always think it must be better being poor where the sun shines, but then we don't have droughts, and forest fires, typhoons and tsunami.

[CHAZ]

I always think it must be better being poor where the sun shines, but then we don't have droughts, and forest fires, typhoons and tsunami.

and Australian beer!!!

[blondie95]

I always think it must be better being poor where the sun shines, but then we don't have droughts, and forest fires, typhoons and tsunami.

Me too, frequently when on holiday in the sunshine I think i could just live here and get along on next to nothing quite contently because the sun is out!!! I think i may be just a tad deluded over that one!

[CHAZ]

I always think it must be better being poor where the sun shines, but then we don't have droughts, and forest fires, typhoons and tsunami.

Me too, frequently when on holiday in the sunshine I think i could just live here and get along on next to nothing quite contently because the sun is out!!! I think i may be just a tad deluded over that one!

The sun is certainly a morale booster but mor eoften than not the idyllic setting of a holiday rarely becomes a future way of life....but then it's much more fun to have a holiday to look forward to when sitting in the offcie and under grey clouds.

PS Good job hunting Amy. I'm sure you will pull something soon.

[NEILL THE NOTORIOUS]

Would the singular of Tsunami be Tsunamo (Pedants' current revolt !)
I lived for five years in South Africa, but I wouldn't have wanted to spend the rest of my days there.
There are many other pleasures besides Sunshine, It is an amazing fact, that, when we are in hot Countries (Libya, Sudan, S Africa) we dream of a soft misty April morning with dew on the GREEN grass and fluffy clouds.
When we are Here -----we dream of temperatures in the 30s, clear, coral studded water, predictable rainfall ------

[Fjgrogan]

Regarding sunshine as a necessary requisite for happiness is a curiously British thing, presumably because it is so unpredictable here. In the mid-1960s I travelled from a particularly cold winter here to the tail end of a West Australian summer, where for the first six weeks the temperature was described as 105 (fahrenheit) in the shade, only there wasn't any shade! I very soon found myself desperately wishing for rain. Then once the rains began they didn't stop for the whole winter (Miss Wilson's warm wet westerly winds in winter!) and we lived in a house with a corrugated tin roof, so the noise was deafening too. I soon began to appreciate why so many countries of the world regard heat as a curse and rain as a blessing. The Bible always refers to rain as a blessing for the same reason. Presumably if the recession reaches the stage where we all need to grow our own food (from necessity rather than enjoyment) then we shall learn again to value rain as much as we currently enjoy the sunshine. I actually got quite excited on Monday when we had a short shower here, after returning from Finland where there has been no rain yet since the snow melted in late March - and I was only there for six weeks - imagine how it must feel to have nothing but sunshine for years - not quite the blessing we all wish for in our more flippant moments!