Dodged the bullet today....

[Iron Ranger]

I work at L&M Radiator Inc. which has been able to maintain our workforce until now. The bossman laid off 30% of the workforce at all of our plants. I'm a welder here and had to say goodbye to 6 co-welders on my shift, around 90 people total let go.

The economy better pickup soon, I don't know how much more the nations can handle. I love my job, I enjoy my job, I can't wait to go to work because welding is my lifeline, to sever it would be horrible, I don't know what I would do with myself.

Anyone here dodge that bullet or got hit by it?

 

[Mechanickid]

My dad got hit by one. He worked for Quad graphics for aver 5 years and got cut about 2 months ago.

 

[Mark_88]

Good to hear you're still OTJ...I got shot over a year ago by a US based company that saw the writing on the wall and outsourced our jobs to Manilla...

I think everyone is feeling it right about now...even though there are still jobs available in my field (IT)...

 

[MrE_Powers]

what sucks is i just finished tech college just in time for a hiring slump for welders in my area i know how to stick weld, pipe all the way up to 6g. stick,tig and mig the rest of the field. but i am stuck as a baker, oh well could be worse at least i have a job and my company is doing great.

 

[inuyasha2875]

i work for a publishing company we went from 135 staff to 25 staff it sucks watching coworkers leave the up side is i've got a ton of overtime

 

[bobbywalter]

yeah the 450 a week paycut since our drilling operations ceased in nov is sucking ass for me and stopped a few or seriously delayed my plans for the forseeable future.

but, we really needed to rebuild alot of items, and i been able to begin to learn the production end. better then unemployment.

 

[rusty133]

i got laid off last jan and worked for 3 other differ electrical companys and they all are also slow and laid me off though out the year and hasn't reallly worked since about the end of November, my year to date is about 300.00. haha i'm screwed...i hope it picks up this summer in idaho, or i'll be looking for a different career. oh yeah i'm a 3rd year apprentice electrician.

 

[Nipplechops]

I'm bucking the trend. I actually landed a new job that gives me a pay raise of 30,000 per year over my current job, double time overtime, wicked benefits and is non-union to boot!

There are lots of jobs out there, even in todays market. You just have to know when and where to look. I happened upon this one by total fluke. Then again, I was sending out over 50 resumes a month for three months in a row. I start on the 9th of March.

Welding has taken a hit here in Alberta too. Guys with their own trucks are making out okay, but shop work is down. The good thing in all of that is the backlog of pressure vessel construction is keeping many working through into 2010, so the layoffs have been minimal so far and mostly localized to non-specialty fabrication.

One thing the world will always need are good welders. You may have to move, but there will always be work out there if the axe does fall. Then again, it may not.

 

[fordxranger]

I work at L&M Radiator Inc. which has been able to maintain our workforce until now. The bossman laid off 30% of the workforce at all of our plants. I'm a welder here and had to say goodbye to 6 co-welders on my shift, around 90 people total let go.

The economy better pickup soon, I don't know how much more the nations can handle. I love my job, I enjoy my job, I can't wait to go to work because welding is my lifeline, to sever it would be horrible, I don't know what I would do with myself.

Anyone here dodge that bullet or got hit by it?

I feel the exact way you do about work, but i'm a machinist (former welder though) and I got hit by the layoff bullet. Now, A lot of the time I sit around feeling like crap, like I have no self worth. I Loved my job, worked hard, hardly took a sick day and they gave me the axe. I'm looking for work, but there is NOTHING. there aren't many places hiring in either machining or welding in my area unless your journeyman, which i'm not. Even if I was, there are so many unemployed journeyman guys out there laid off too so i'd still be stuck in my current rut. Not to mention my unemployment is about to run out. Hopefully they'll grant me an extension.

 

[MagnaV30]

I got laid off a while ago, and im a trucker...
But im getting hired out through my union hall now, so im hoping its going uphill.

 

[mjonesjr]

My business is still going strong. I am a fire protection engineer and salesman. We are still going strong and looking to hire a couple guys probably soon.

 

[myranger26105]

got laid off from Dupont in December its was really crapy and me and my wife just bought a house in August

 

[Mark_88]

My parents went through the Great Depression when they were kids and they lived their lives based on what they learned...squeezing tea bags to make one more cuppa...never borrowing (too much) and all those other things that are almost unheard of today...but there was an old axiom that I kept hearing..."there are two jobs that are always in demand during these times...Cooking (baking whatever to do with food) and Entertainment"...

So, why don't we get together in each state/province in NA and form "The Ranger Station Restaurant and Chorus Line"?

We can feed em and make em laugh...all the way to the bank...

But, seriously, it's going to get better soon for everyone...just hang in there...it's always darkest just after the lights go out...

 

[snake]

Good to hear you're still OTJ...I got shot over a year ago by a US based company that saw the writing on the wall and outsourced our jobs to Manilla...

I think everyone is feeling it right about now...even though there are still jobs available in my field (IT)...

You can't say you blame them either- open a business in this country and you have to deal with the tax office, including unemployment ins, the EPA, IRS, OSHA, dealing with the family medical leave act, health ins costs, etc, etc, etc. They are also forced to hire someone based on RACE but NOT neccesarily the best qualified applicant to try and stay out of court. Then the cost of drug testing, finding someone who will actually show up for work (on time even) and then work when they get there... There is no way in hell I would open a business and paint a target on my back.

Add to this, 52% of the morons who live here elect this porkulus president who just spend a few TRILLION dollars the first few weeks on the job on useless crap trying to "stimulate" the economy, most of it going to government programs that will never die and he isn't through yet. He's going to raise taxes on the "rich" though and make it all better. The "rich" is who owns the company I work for, so I ask- have you ever gotten a job from a poor guy? I'd be gone too. Long gone.

 

[The Jester Race]

what sucks is i just finished tech college just in time for a hiring slump for welders in my area i know how to stick weld, pipe all the way up to 6g. stick,tig and mig the rest of the field. but i am stuck as a baker, oh well could be worse at least i have a job and my company is doing great.

Lucky, everything out here right now is stick and flux (I'm a TIG welder)and they want at least 2 years of in field experience. I can do both but don't have the 2 years they want, I only graduated high school 7 months ago.

I was hit about 4 months ago and haven't been able to find anything since. I am a full time college student, so that makes it that much harder to find anything, because I have to work around my school schedule. I was a machinist in a welding shop less then a mile from my house.

-Jester