How is the credit crunch affecting you?

[taB]

Won't change the quantity I drink but I'll sure as hell be visiting Spoons more. The one in Cambridge is pretty nice anyways.

 

[Mey]

Return of the 99p pint?! Bring it!

BBC NEWS | UK | Health group angered by 99p pint

Been like that for ages for us students

 

[old.user4556]

Oh that's very true, and it's still that way, but I don't fancy spending the whole night in the QMU in Glasgow; as good as it is .

 

[Ormorof]

doesnt matter what the price of booze is people will still end up drinking the same amount will just spend more (or less in this case )

 

[Chilly]

not really ormorof. price will impact comsumption, perhaps not to your or your friends but in the general case it will go down a bit. Think of all the nagging WAGs saying "you cant spend £80 down the pub again Dave" or whatever.

 

[Aoami]

cheaper than the union, get in!

 

[old.user4556]

BBC NEWS | Business | JJB firms set for administration

As predicted.

 

[old.user4556]

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Glasgow, Lanarkshire and West | Jessops to cut 12 Scottish stores

As predicted part 2.

 

[Furr]

I'm surprised more hasn't been made of this

Bank of England gives full support to printing money | Business | guardian.co.uk

Next step.. printing money! How ****ed are we.... I think there was something about how the law had recently been changed so that money could be printed in "secret", not sure if it went through or not though.

GB - "Britain is best placed to weather the global crisis"

What a c*nt, the Tories are going to win the next election, that's a given. But! I almost don't want them to, why? Because I'm starting to seriously think that the only thing that can be done to get our finances back in shape is a mass policy of slash and burn across the board, which will mean Cameron will have to lead a Tories gov into power only to be booted out again for being the "nasty party".

 

[SawTooTH]

I'm pretty much unaffected so far. My company is expanding next year so things are looking up at the moment and pay / bonuses have been paid as usual....and I'm not a banker


Its retailer Briton that suffers now thanks to Maggie wiping out what industry we once had.

 

[Furr]

Its retailer Briton that suffers now thanks to Maggie wiping out what industry we once had.

Wait? what! Soooo It's Thatchers fault the retailers are suffering, lol, explain please! I can't wait to hear it.

 

[SawTooTH]

:kissit:

 

[Raven]

It would be a damn site worse if she hadn't. I am still amazed people still believe we could have competed with the east in manufacturing.

 

[old.user4556]

Blockbuster 'is close to collapse' as shares plunge | Mail Online

As predicted part 3.

 

[DaGaffer]

Blockbuster 'is close to collapse' as shares plunge | Mail Online

As predicted part 3.

Pfft, I predicted that during the boom. They've been for sale since 2003...

 

[old.user4556]

I think the writing that was on the wall has been plastered over and re-written in big massive black capital letters.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Pfft, I predicted that during the boom. They've been for sale since 2003...

Not hard to predict given the success of Lovefilm. Blockbuster's current best deal is something like 3 movies over 3 nights for a tenner... A tenner at lovefilm will get you a month, no late fees and several more rentals for that money.

 

[DaGaffer]

My whole company has just been asked to take a "voluntary" 10% pay cut...

 

[rynnor]

I finally found some benefits to the crunch - my Gas central heating broke down and a guy quoted £78 + vat to fix it (a company I used before and they werent cheap last time).

Also had a quote to chop down and cart away the overgrown tree in my garden that was 1/3 of the quote I had last year so its now history.

 

[Chilly]

My whole company has just been asked to take a "voluntary" 10% pay cut...

so say no?

 

[rynnor]

so say no?

Yeah - I find these hard to envisage - I mean what if some say yes and some say no - is it to be secret or what?

What if all the managers quietly say no without telling anyone?

I guess the alternative to this is voluntary redundancies - seems like they are trying to save staff costs without any hassles.

Edit - oh and is the company actually in trouble or just using the credit crunch as an excuse to cut its staff bill.

And finally and most evil - dont forget agreeing to reduced wages would also lower your redundancy package if they still decide they need to save more money.

 

[mank!]

anyone else unemployed and on the dole?

not having set foot in a jobcentre for years, i'm shocked by just how useless they are - it took them twenty minutes the other day to spell my name correctly having ignored me twice when i told them how to spell it correctly. they just keep telling me "ohhhh, we've had two new jobs advertised in the past week - it's terrible!"

meanwhile, i'm applying for anything between 10-20 jobs online each week using various websites. so far i've had one interview.

having to explain that i left my previous job for health reasons is probably not helping.

so, anyone else in the same boat?

 

[Chilly]

Gambling business is still going strong, naturally.

 

[SheepCow]

Not noticed it that much tbh, mostly because I only got a job (stopped being a student) last November so I don't know any better ....

 

[DaGaffer]

Yeah - I find these hard to envisage - I mean what if some say yes and some say no - is it to be secret or what?

What if all the managers quietly say no without telling anyone?

I guess the alternative to this is voluntary redundancies - seems like they are trying to save staff costs without any hassles.

Edit - oh and is the company actually in trouble or just using the credit crunch as an excuse to cut its staff bill.

And finally and most evil - dont forget agreeing to reduced wages would also lower your redundancy package if they still decide they need to save more money.

The "voluntary" bit amuses me; not sure how I'm going to pitch that to my staff on Monday morning. The company isn't doing that badly at an operational level (slightly down on last year but low single digits), but the problem is we're carrying around a shitload of VC debt. Unfortunately I think the pay cut is probably the right thing to do; we're pretty lean staffwise anyway so redundancies will just hurt our competitiveness.

Even more galling is that I think I'm going to get a paycut one week and a tax hike the next...

 

[Aada]

anyone else unemployed and on the dole?

not having set foot in a jobcentre for years, i'm shocked by just how useless they are - it took them twenty minutes the other day to spell my name correctly having ignored me twice when i told them how to spell it correctly. they just keep telling me "ohhhh, we've had two new jobs advertised in the past week - it's terrible!"

meanwhile, i'm applying for anything between 10-20 jobs online each week using various websites. so far i've had one interview.

having to explain that i left my previous job for health reasons is probably not helping.

so, anyone else in the same boat?

Been there done that, prepare your self for endless applications telling every employer your life story and why they should employ you and filling out their shitty applications.

Prepare yourself for confidence busting declines on applications.

After a month or two it starts to get pretty depressing to be honest and i wouldn't wish job hunting on anyone.

 

[Deebs]

Hmm,

Not really affected me that much yet. My Company is currently doing an integration of two brands into one Head Office (as you will have read in the press). My role within the organisation is going to change, is it what I want? Not sure till I read the job descriptions.

As for Blockbuster going down the pan I read the article and the thing that stood out and made my blood boil was the following quote:

But it was damaged by consumers preferring to download films illegally from the internet.

This is just utter fucking bollox, everyone blames piracy yet it really is not the root cause. Blockbuster are suffering because the world is moving really fast into a digital environment. It is affecting more retailers than just DVD rental companies.

I guess this subject makes my blood boil especially when I think back to the BarrysWorld days and wonder how fucking big we would be today considering what we did and how far ahead we were.

 

[Ch3tan]

anyone else unemployed and on the dole?

not having set foot in a jobcentre for years, i'm shocked by just how useless they are - it took them twenty minutes the other day to spell my name correctly having ignored me twice when i told them how to spell it correctly. they just keep telling me "ohhhh, we've had two new jobs advertised in the past week - it's terrible!"

meanwhile, i'm applying for anything between 10-20 jobs online each week using various websites. so far i've had one interview.

having to explain that i left my previous job for health reasons is probably not helping.

so, anyone else in the same boat?

I'm not on the dole, I'm not eligible as I quit rather than waited for redundancy. I do not think I would claim either, something about claiming dole just narks me. I have however started looking for part time work, and applying online. I feel your pain, it is a bit early for me to expect replies, but there just seems to be a void of any vacancies at all. Add to that the fact that there are so many applicants for any role.

 

[Scouse]

I've not worked since December 2007, lived of savings after fucking my knee up and having ankle surgery in the summer. Have loved every minute of it

However, I signed on this week because I fancied some free beer money. That's all it's worth.

Dug my CV out and decided to start looking for a job! Realised I've not updated it since 2003. Thought it was pretty spiffy then but now it looks like shit. Ah well. Time to get back on the horse

 

[Ch3tan]

Heh, my CV has not been done since 1997