Edmonton & The Economic Slowdown

[jim]

There has been a number of threads dedicated to this topic or comments about pricing and the economy in other threads.

There seems to be a belief or a hope that Edmonton is immune however as posted by Markl in a thread where people in his line of work were being laid off as well as other pooners mentioning that they had been laid off Edmonton and the rest of the West is not immune.

I was out today and overheard a conversation where a lady said that a relative of hers was laid off the other day. Ok so shit happens right? Well the company laid off 14 of 17 crews. CREWS not bodies, which means that at a minimum 28 people are out of work if they were only 2 man crews. This was a trade not burger flippers.

This means that 28 guys will stop buying DQ treats, not buy that new puter, etc etc. The loss of these jobs impacts more than those 28 guys/gals. We all hear about the multiplier effect of a new dollar spent in our local economy. The opposite effect is also true when those dollars are no longer being spent.

Guess what? Their food bill is not going down, their rent/mortgage payments are not being forgiven. etc etc etc

The point? Really just a comment on real life in Edmonton and a heads up that fit will indeed hit the shan sooner than we think.

 

[moi]

My "other" job has slowed down alot too. But this happens every year in Edmonton in the service industry, apparently. I took the month off as it was SOOOO slow after New Year's. Lucky for me I have student loans to back me up for the next couple years!!

 

[chris2008]

That is so true, I used to work in the service industry back in uni...and yup jan-feb were slow times. Everyone is broke ass from Christmas!

My "other" job has slowed down alot too. But this happens every year in Edmonton in the service industry, apparently. I took the month off as it was SOOOO slow after New Year's. Lucky for me I have student loans to back me up for the next couple years!!

 

[HB40]

The point? Really just a comment on real life in Edmonton and a heads up that fit will indeed hit the shan sooner than we think.

Good point Jim

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines

 

[DQ Guy]

I for one can vouch for the slow down and lay offs..
Just look at the pile of applications on my desk for people
who would usually never work in my line of work.
I've got everyone from the usuall kids to the mom or dad looking
to make ends meet.
problem is, I don't have the dollars comming in the door to hire them all

but what can you do?.. tighten the belt buckle and stop spendin..

too bad the new big screen looks like crap because joe blow can't afford
cable

 

[praxis]

Time to buy that winning 649 ticket...

...too bad the new big screen looks like crap because joe blow can't afford
cable

Maybe I can afford cable once I win that 33 million clams...oh wait! I didn't even buy that big screen TV last Christmas

 

[Stickey]

Truth is, Edmonton might take less of a hit than most other north American cities. I hope it's no where near the days of the NEP in the early 80s. 30% unemployment! The 80s was a disaster. Today we have a correction.( I think ) ( I hope )
The other profound truth is that it will get exactly as bad as we think it will get. Bad predictions come true like stoopid Genie wishes. So stop worrying!

The most damaging aspect of it all was the local hyper-inflation that occured over the last 19 mos. City taxes for my business doubled! Oil should never have gone above $100 per barrel and Rig rats should never have paid 3 bills for a few minutes of relief......I digress.

In the US there are record numbers of mortgage applications and oil has reached it's bottom. Demand for oil has only declined about 10%. Recovery is coming, but it will be slow and for the unlucky there will be layoffs or worse. Nobody's walking around with 2k-5k in his pocket anymore.

The worst we can do is compare circumstances with this time last year or the year before. It was a boom. Things get broken in a boom. Think 2003 and you have a more realistic set of expectations. Wages across the board have to come down, Economic growth should be modest. Foreign workers will take the worst of it.

Manufacturing will be spared most of the worst effects. The boom harmed manufacturing more than the bust will.
My logic?...Many of the most vulnerable manufacturing jobs are no longer in North America. No Albertans will get hurt when they close the Barbie doll factory. We have "offshored" the worst part of recession.

Low skill and migrant workers will go home rather than stick around here. Our banks are still fat and happy.
King Ralph is long gone-Inflation is staying low.
My opinion? We're better off with the boom over.

 

[namssa]

problem is, I don't have the dollars comming in the door to hire them all

Maybe you could suggest an alternate method some of the ladies (over 18 of course) could earn some extra coin, lol

 

[HB40]

I was out today and overheard a conversation where a lady said that a relative of hers was laid off the other day. Ok so shit happens right? Well the company laid off 14 of 17 crews. CREWS not bodies, which means that at a minimum 28 people are out of work if they were only 2 man crews. This was a trade not burger flippers.

This means that 28 guys will stop buying DQ treats, not buy that new puter, etc etc. The loss of these jobs impacts more than those 28 guys/gals. We all hear about the multiplier effect of a new dollar spent in our local economy. The opposite effect is also true when those dollars are no longer being spent.

I heard today that projects are being shut down in Fort McMurray affecting hundreds of jobs. This will definately impact our local economy, and I'm not making a joke here but this will hit Newfoundland pretty hard too.

 

[xxxbrian]

I heard today that projects are being shut down in Fort McMurray affecting hundreds of jobs. This will definately impact our local economy, and I'm not making a joke here but this will hit Newfoundland pretty hard too.

The one's that have $900 truck payments and big mortgages will really feel the pinch.

The NFLD people who are on LOA here could move back home if they are just in camps/renting and don't own in Ft M


I would rather see things booming but iffy times are ahead of us.

 

[chris2008]

On the positive side, good customer service should make a comeback now that people can't just bounce from job to job like it's nothing.

Everytime I travelled outside of Alberta, I was always amazed by the level of customer service from all levels in the service industry. Then I thought to myself, oh yeah that's right I live in Alberta. Shitty service is part of the Alberta Advantage.

 

[chris2008]

Eek. The recession is here. You know it's recession when people are willing to work for DQ guy's dilly bar.


On a serious note, are these older people layed off "professionals" or just people wanting to get back into the workforce?

What is the starting wage for fast food now?

I for one can vouch for the slow down and lay offs..
Just look at the pile of applications on my desk for people
who would usually never work in my line of work.

 

[edmchef]

Let me toss this banana into the monkey pit: How's your investment portfolio?

My RRSPs took a shit kicking... thank gawd I'm not going to need that cash for another 25 years. My investment portfolio has gone into a flatline. Fortunately I took some advice early last year and sold off to free up cash to play around with gold, but the markets' been too damn moody for a guy like me to do anything but watch his investment portfolio grow at less than inflation from pathetic bank interest rates.

I don't think too many Edmontonians will be in a world of hurt during this recession, as far as their jobs go. Maybe the younger, fresher faces in the job market might find difficulty... In my peer circle, anyway, it's what the economy's doing to our investments that has wringing our hands.

 

[69guy]

Let me toss this banana into the monkey pit: How's your investment portfolio?

My RRSPs took a shit kicking... thank gawd I'm not going to need that cash for another 25 years. My investment portfolio has gone into a flatline. Fortunately I took some advice early last year and sold off to free up cash to play around with gold, but the markets' been too damn moody for a guy like me to do anything but watch his investment portfolio grow at less than inflation from pathetic bank interest rates.

I don't think too many Edmontonians will be in a world of hurt during this recession, as far as their jobs go. Maybe the younger, fresher faces in the job market might find difficulty... In my peer circle, anyway, it's what the economy's doing to our investments that has wringing our hands.

i know what you are saying about investments. my RRSP's have been shit kicked as well. and it also doesn't help that i invested some cash into some US companies before the huge collapse. lost a ton of money with that stupid mistake. didnt see it coming at all.

but ithink things will get better. just hopefully sooner than later.

 

[namssa]

Now is the time to buy.

Good new is that stocks, mutual funds etc. are on sale right now at low, low prices!! So, if there ever was a time to buy it is now, not ever going to be this cheap.

5 years from now people are going to be moaning and groaning about how cheap everything was right now and how they should have bought and they would be sitting pretty.

NOW is the time to buy. Hell, I bet even in 2-3 years that statement will be true.

 

[namssa]

Quite true, just got to pick the right ones

Yeah, probably NORTEL would not be a good choice.

 

[Extreme April]

All I can say is that I am not lowering my prices. I already do enough that I dont feel I should have to. Now, being blonde (no insults to blondes here, just myself) I might forget what day of the week it is and happen to forget what special it is that day. But I wont go under my "special" rates.

Just my two cents worth

Love and laughs
April

 

[Mike123]

Good new is that stocks, mutual funds etc. are on sale right now at low, low prices!! So, if there ever was a time to buy it is now, not ever going to be this cheap.

5 years from now people are going to be moaning and groaning about how cheap everything was right now and how they should have bought and they would be sitting pretty.

NOW is the time to buy. Hell, I bet even in 2-3 years that statement will be true.

I wish I was as optimistic about now being the right time to buy... With the impending collapse of the american dollar (trust me you can just keep on printing money for bailouts and not have repercussions), there should be some solid stocks available at cheaper prices...

should being the word in question!

 

[new bopper]

very true mike!!

everybody should down load "zeitgeist addendum" and watch it. scary but true..

 

[Mike123]

ummm... I haven't watched your suggestion yet, but I'm not talking end of the world collapse... But I could truly see a reversal in US/Can positions (i.e. $1US=$0.80Can)