Visit KeepMyTennesseeHome.com

Not in Tennessee? You’re likely to see a variant for your state under a program called “The Hardest Hit” . That page reflects allocations made to help homeowners facing eviction.

CNN issued this report. They discovered that companies who are hiring and “head hunters” who are hunting for heads are telling people up front that they will not be considered if they are unemployed!

One employment agency representative said that 75% of his most recent job orders from companies made it mandatory that unemployed people would not be considered.

When contacted by the media, some of these “requirements” mysteriously disappeared, so if you see that on a job listing, contact the local TV station!

Here’s something else to consider:

But even if companies don’t spell out in a job listing that they won’t consider someone who currently doesn’t have a job, experts said that unemployed applicants are typically ruled out right off the bat.

I’m now reminded of another old saying… “‘Consultant’ is what you call yourself until you get a real job!” Now we know why!

After American Home Mortgage laid of 1500 workers on August 3, 2007 many have been scrambling for new positions in the Long Island NY area. Many of them are still unemployed, their unemployment checks are about to end soon and though they are willing to take pay cuts and change industries, they’re having no success finding jobs.  That’s what’s happening right now and they’re in the pinch.

The journalist interviews two economists who are employed and based on historical data act as if there’s really not much of a problem. Historically, the Long Island area has a 3.6% unemployment rate which is well below average and signals a labor shortage.

It’s a bit like saying “if you put one foot in ice water and your other foot in boiling water, on average your feet should feel comfortable.”

I understand where the economists are coming from if, long term, the historical trend continues.  In the real world on the street it’s about Christmas, people are getting behind on their bills, and not a little bit desperate. Hopefully Long Island’s historic low unemployment levels and “labor shortages” will get these people back to work soon.

Here’s what he started looking for:

1. A Franchise

2. Brand name in the market

3. Good business owner support

4. No expensive retail location

5. Maximum @$60,000 (£30,000) investment

They ended up being involved with Chem Dry.

Read more at  Starting Out at the Telegraph 

Image courtesy Telegraph UK

Shilson rose rapidly, working 60-hour weeks and becoming general manager at the W. 7th Street store and, later, at the Richfield Taco Bell. She was robbed at gunpoint twice, including the time she was shot while opening the W. 7th restaurant one morning in 1998.

[Despite "Superior" ratings t]his summer, company supervisors put her on notice, criticizing her performance. She says company cost-cutting and the loss of experienced staff left her without resources to fix the problems.

From the Wadena Pioneer Journal

Today, she teaches classes ranging from using photo retouching programs in scrapbooking to getting familiar with a computer. She also designs Web pages, travels the country, and loves to see the proverbial little light bulb above her students’ heads light up when they “get it,” and learn a new skill, she said.

It wasn’t exactly the “shot heard ’round the world” but it signals publicly what everyone has long known in their “gut”… that the days when you could “start at the bottom and work to the top” are long dead.

But even worse is the cynical revelation that while that noble aspiration was ingrained in a generation or more of American workers, today’s employers simply manipulate it to their own ends – wagering that their workers still believe the myth themselves and will keep on slaving away, hoping for a “raise” that will never come.

It was one thing to keep slaving away for a raise that would never come.

Now the raises that did come are being taken away because there is no real reward for loyalty.

These employees who are “paid too much” got that way because their bosses at Circuit City approved their pay levels… but that was yesterday.

If the pay cuts were starting at the top and inflicted evenly that would be one thing. That would signal that Circult City had some class, but these are people being fired for the crime of “earning too much”, felonious “showing up for work” and nobody at the top is having to be accountable for their failures in creating the messed up system.

Here’s what the best companies do to remedy situations like this… 

Got Plan B?

Stockholders demanded better performance for the stock.

Hopefully they will have another stragegy in place – like working from home – in the event of this layoff materializing.

Sometimes I wonder how accurate they are.

One of the most devastating things about a lay off is the financial impact.

What lead me to make this post is that the “Thrify Scot” website was soliciting comments about money from bloggers. 

The site offers Debt Advice and it reminded me of some very real people whose lives were overwhelmed by the impact of debt and a lay off. Thrifty Scot is a UK site… but I assume folks in the UK have debt problems too and have to deal with the issues related to Credit Cards, Remortgages, etc.

As I said, the most destructive effect of a lay off are financial ones. We all tend to spend as much money as we make. So when we’re maxed out on debt, have been lazy about refinancing and saving money on interest, when we haven’t paid down our debt, etc… a layoff basically ruins us.

It’s really hard when a family all works at the same industry and all the jobs are lost the same time. When at least one person is able to continue working, at least there’s a chance to maintain a relatively normal life. But when everyone is laid off simultaneously… things can get grim fast.

The last lay off I’m familiar with found families being asked to pay $1800 per month for health insurance. They were only getting about $1,000 for “unemployment insurance”.

The most fortunate ones had paid down their mortgages, paid off car loans, restructured their debt when times were good. Some even had some extra cash flow streams created.

Before a layoff hits you, are you getting your finances in order? Even paying off a few dbets will free up cash flow that could make the difference if you lost your job.

Think ahead. Plan now! Get the Debt Advice you need while you have time to react. 

Note: Thanks for Thrify Scot for sponsoring this blog post.

I started coming down with something that I noticed Sunday PM.

I had an appointment with my physician for Monday anyway. I went there, got some prescriptions for this bug I have and am hopefully on the mend.

But while I was there, I asked if he thought I needed any blood work… the routine kind I kept hearing about.

He said they didn’t really do “preventative” blood work any more, at least that’s how I took it. Everything had to be accompanied by a “diagnosis”.

But depending on what is “diagnosed” if you ever need to buy private health insurance, these records can come back to haunt you. Some people at a local plant found that out during a layoff when they were told they’d need to pay $1800 per month for private health insurance. Their unemployment was slightly over $1000 per month!

Maybe that’s good. Another M.D. told me something similar. He said that all the statin drugs they prescribe are just liver poison and he suggested people take niacin instead. It doesn’t show up on your record if you need to buy health insurance and it worked as well without poisoning your liver.

Bottom line: If you want self employment, you not only have to look at the viability of the business, but how or if you’ll be able to get health insurance.

Given the price consciousness of the insurance companies, I really don’t see how nationalizing the system is going to help at all. Big Insurance and Big Government are two peas in the same pod.