Nope. The economy is doing great. It must be. The economists say so.
HP is supposed to meet a milestone of reducing its workforce by 10,000 by October 31, 2002. That's 2 weeks away. And with Sun and EMC laying off too, it adds to the indicators that this is NOT a good time to be in the tech job market.
This is definitely not the boom time of the 90's. Is this what it was like during the tough economic times of the 70's? Though this is in no comparison to the U.S. Depression in the 1920's, it's still a very tight time for many.
Have you been affected by this 'new' economy? Have you changed your spending habits? Is this affecting you more than the events of 9/11?
For me, that's a definite yes. 9/11 seemed to be too far away from me to change me. Though I felt sorrow for the deep losses, those events truly did not change how I live from day to day.
It wasn't until I felt the fear of losing my job did I really sit up and take notice. I'm not being narcisstic or parochial. I care about others but don't have an overwhelming sense of carrying the burdens of the world on my shoulders. It's hard enough being present and congruent with those in my direct line of concern. Seeing my coworkers, neighbors and family have their lives up-ended by the downturn touched me very deeply.
It won't matter to me what the economists say about the economy. Unless I can actually see it improve, I won't believe it.
