Any1 in the UK feeling the credit crunch?

Discussion in 'Employment & Jobs' started by fatp, Jun 20, 2008.

  1. fatp

    fatp Byte Poster

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    are there any members of this forum, currently working in the UK IT Market, feeling the credit crunch?

    RECESSION??? JOB LOSSES???

    just askin, as 200 peeps in my town have been laid off but not in the IT market, ... is the sector in trouble?
     
  2. Paul_o

    Paul_o Nibble Poster

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    your not in leicester are you? about 350 were layed off from caterpillar in the week, all of them were temporary workers but having said that many were working there for three years, not good and its still early days.
     
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  3. GiddyG

    GiddyG Terabyte Poster Gold Member

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    I am feeling it anyway, with my food bill rising, fuel prices through the roof, gas and electric rises, and mortgage payments likely to rise.

    However, I seem to recall that in one of the weekly computing mags in the last week or two they said that IT wasn't having or going to have as bad a time as other service industry areas. I'll see if I can dig it out.
     
  4. NightWalker

    NightWalker Gigabyte Poster

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    There are some areas in a business where I think its easier to operate with fewer staff, however computer networks will always need administrators. If the network and servers are having problems, everyone in the company will potentially be sat around twiddling their thumbs, not making best use of the expensive man hours in a time of belt tightening.
     
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  5. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    ...and then you can fire them! BRILLIANT!!!

    Nightwalker has just been promoted to management. Please direct all inquiries to Nightwalker, CEO. :p
     
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  6. drum_dude

    drum_dude Gigabyte Poster

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    You have nothing to fear; that's unless you provide IT Support for estate agents!

    Start sh*tting it when the Polish leave...hang on...they already are!!!!

    Benefit books to the ready guys! Time to get that tax back!

    "things can only get better, can only get better..." funny how you never hear that song anymore???
     
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  7. neutralhills

    neutralhills Kilobyte Poster

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    There's a credit crunch? Really? Could someone please inform Capital One and American Express of this obscure bit of trivia? Because it seems like every time I answer my phone these days it's Capital One pushing a credit card, and my mailbox is jammed so thick with American Express applications that my regular mail barely fits.

    Oi.

    The price of fuel is what's killing us here in my rural chunk of The Great White North. $1.34/litre and climbing fast. I realize this is cheap to most of you living in the U.K., but we're not used to seeing it over $0.80/litre. I'm doing fewer service calls and bluntly telling customers that their machines have to come to me if they live too far out (my service area is VERY large). Most people are quite understanding.

    I've cut back on the amount of driving I'm doing for photo shoots as well these days, despite having better than normal print and image licensing sales as of late. I've got a feeling that things are going to get very ugly in short order so we're banking what we can while we can in anticipation of hard times. These fuel prices are unsustainable (damn speculators) and a lot of supply chains are breaking right now.
     
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  8. supernova

    supernova Gigabyte Poster

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    Down (South, UK) here I would say there are less entry/trainee positions at the moment.
    Companies less willing to take on new staff to train.

    A increase of contractors.

    There's still a huge demand for high end IT jobs.

    Lay-offs cant say i heard about too many this year ...

    Banks and mobile phone companies seem to be cutting back and reorganising.

    I would say for the well experienced and certified the time has never been better.

    Andi
     
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  9. Kitkatninja
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    Kitkatninja aka me, myself & I Moderator

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    It's killing me too, lol. Here where I live it's 129.9p per litre (so a tad under £1.30) for diesel. So as I have a Ford Mondeo, this morning it cost me just under £72 to fill up. At least it's still cheaper for diesel compared to the amount of mile I use to get from petrol.

    Not only that but the Power company sent us a letter to say that we have to increase our direct debit another £40 (this raises it to £124 pm), and with another 40% price increase in the pipelines for the winter, it's going to be one expensive couple of years ahead...

    -Ken
     
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  10. onoski

    onoski Terabyte Poster

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    May I ask which are the high end IT jobs:), no pun intended just that I have come across that one too often.
     
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  11. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    Depends where you look for them. High end jobs aren't really pushed out, IMO. They're either agency filled, word of mouth, or advertised with the BCS :biggrin

    As for the credit crunch... well... bugger, really.

    Me and the other half are looking for a house, and have had an offer accepted, but it seems like most deals where you can put down a 5% deposit for the house are being pulled, so we're having to try to think of scraping together another 5%. It makes a big difference too. On the few 5% deals we've found, the monthly payments are about £150 more than if we can get the extra 5% deposit.

    We're also downsizing the car. We currently have an Alfa 147 2.0TS Lusso. It's a guzzler, and as we have made the decision to commute and n'er again use the train, we need something more economic. He's said he wants an estate for his site work, so I've said we'll get something titchy for the time being that we both pay for, and then when everything calms down he can buy whatever the heck he wants.

    As for the jobs market, I haven't really looked. I'm also young to have experienced a recession in this country before. But if you've got the skills and the motivation, if you do find yourself out of work, it shouldn't be too long before you find yourself more employment. Whereas some industries can solely be driven by the economy, computing is a skill transferrable into every industry; there will never be a 'shortage' of jobs for the right people. I work in the Legal sector, and we are seeing the highest rentention of trainee staff for years and years; everyone seems quite optimistic still, and my company has posted increase in turnover and profits every year for the last decade. Long may it last.
     
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  12. supernova

    supernova Gigabyte Poster

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    MCSE, CCNA and greater .. with years of experiance

    Andi
     
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  13. supernova

    supernova Gigabyte Poster

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    the ones in the south seem to be are advertised everywhere, yes they are all mainly through agencies.

    PS: I have memories of the recession and experianced the dot com burst (the later i saw a lot of friends loose their jobs and businesses).. i hope we don't have a full blown recession because it will effect every industry

    Andi
     
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  14. Phoenix
    Honorary Member

    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    You didn't just put MCSE and CCNA next to the term 'high end IT job did you'?
    you will know a high end IT job when you see it, because your certs won't mean a damn thing when you get offered it
     
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  15. Mitzs
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    Mitzs Ducktape Goddess

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    Well apparently my grasp of the britsh language is really starting to slip!:ohmy

    Ok, first off, isn't your car tiny now? I thought it was only a 2 person car? Are you going to switch to a one seater and make M ride in the trunk?

    Is an estate a car? Where I come from it is a big piece of land with several acres with a very nice house.

    3rd, what the hell is titchy?

    As for this thread, I really don't think it matters what country you are in. I think everyone is starting to feel the pinch. I know Ford and GMC I belive it is have made some major cuts in workers here in the states. If the bean counters say it time to trim back I think everyone is at risk in a company. That why it pays to study and work hard so you can best at whatever you are doing so you have a better chance of surving the cut backs.
     
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  16. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    ...because American cars suck. :p
     
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  17. craigie

    craigie Terabyte Poster

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    Have to say I have started to feel the Credit Crunch when it comes to putting petrol in my car.

    I have an Audi A4 and filled her up yesterday it cost just a tad under £79.00, with the price being 119.9 per litre.

    The only good thing is that my first IT job is only 1.5 miles away :)
     
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  18. BosonMichael
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    BosonMichael Yottabyte Poster

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    I'll have to echo what a previous poster mentioned... what does the "credit crunch" have to do with the price of gas? Unless you rely on credit to buy your gas, there's not really a problem...
     
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  19. VantageIsle

    VantageIsle Kilobyte Poster

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    There is a massive doom and gloom thing going on in the uk at the moment. You can't watch the news without credit crunch this and world going-to-hell-in-a-hand basket featuring in one way or another. Yes, things are starting get more expensive I have noticed food, fuel and utility bills have risen sharply, we have had to be very careful in our house with money at present. Even so I can't help feeling the media are laying it on a bit thick at the moment
     
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  20. Arroryn

    Arroryn we're all dooooooomed Moderator

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    That's because they have nothing better to talk about.

    I believe the cost of food is going up so sharply due to the knock-on effect of Britain's (pathetic) food export policy. We re-import a lot of staple produce, and the ongoing drought in Australia is (I believe) having an effect on this.

    Fuel prices... well... if they weren't taxed so much, they wouldn't appear as gross, but the tax would have to be paid elsewhere if the government lost that revenue. We may be switching to a smaller-engined car, but that is not an emergency procedure because we can't afford to run this car - it's just stupid to continue doing so when the car isn't a practical long-term prospect for either of us.

    There's a doom and gloom thing going on everywhere at the moment. Mortgage rates are mind-bendingly awful, and it's virtually impossible to get a deal without 10% equity (or more) in your property. With that in mind, rental rates have been quite low, but as people are pushed away from the buyers market they will look for rentals which will swamp the market. That change in demand, coupled with the fact that mortgage rates have ballooned, is going to make the rental market take off too. That's the only reason me and Martin are still considering buying at this current time. Of all the people I know that work in 'the market' (hedgefunds et al) there is 100% consensus, that there is no way there can't be a crash.

    The fact that Gordon Brown 'resided' over such a strong economy as Chancellor and it's all gone to pot now he's PM is laughable. The economy doesn't crumble this quickly; it's residual, and the cracks would have been in the foundations long before he became PM. But it's not just down to the individuals, as smaller-economy nations such as the UK are always hit by what's happening in the global market.

    Batten down the hatches kiddos. It's going to be a rough couple of years. That being said, I'm still getting myself the 2TB storage as soon as my next pay rise rocks in... :biggrin
     
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