One Recession, Many Voices | The downturn hits everyone in a different way
With perhaps a few exceptions for bankruptcy lawyers and masochists, people tend to find daily work life in a drooping economy a lot less fun than it was when things were booming.
But talking with people eating lunch at various Shrewsbury Street establishments on a recent Friday, it was obvious that the economy hits different people in radically different ways.
One server from a local restaurant said that the most obvious effect of the current rough times is less money in her pockets.
“I’ve just noticed that people aren’t spending what they used to be,” she said. And, she added, some aren’t as generous with their tips as they once were: “They’ll order a bottle of wine, but they won’t tip on it.”
Another food service worker, “Johnny Y.,” who tends bar at Ralph’s Tavern and delivers bread to restaurants and grocery stores, agreed that there’s a downturn in spending. But, he said, if any products are recession-proof it’s probably bread and liquor.
“If they want to drink they’ll find a place to drink,” he said.
Same Work, Less Money
For some, recession means scrounging for work and making less money for it. While many in the building industry simply are not working, one self-employed construction worker said he still feels fine about how he’s doing.
“I have plenty of work,” he said. “You have to work for less money than you used to. At least you’re still working.”
Then, there are others who find themselves with more work than they’d like but no extra money.
One human services manager said his agency has been forced into a hiring freeze.
“You stay longer hours,” he said. “You pick up the slack for positions that you didn’t hire for.”
Then again, he said, most everyone he works with says they’re simply glad to be working at all.
Besides workloads, tension levels are rising in some industries. One man who works in asset management for a life insurance company said he’s seen some coworkers laid off but isn’t worried about his own job.
“When things get bad, ironically, you want more eyes on the portfolio,” he said.
That means he doesn’t expect his job to disappear unless things get a lot worse, but it also means he needs to stay extra sharp because it’s much easier than before to make costly mistakes.
And, he said, no one at his office is getting raises this year.
Nervous Times
Perhaps most obviously, the recession means layoffs for many.
Brian Burke, a laid-off union operating engineer, said work usually gets scarce in the winter but appears again in March. This year, with the state putting a stop to some utility projects for budget reasons, he said he doesn’t know if he’ll be called back.
“I’m nervous,” he said. “Ten years I’ve been in the union and never been nervous.”
One somewhat dubious advantage of the recession may be that those who are out of work can blame larger forces than either themselves or their bosses.
“There just wasn’t enough work to support my position,” said Matthew Riley, who said he was laid off from contract manufacturer Columbia Tech in Worcester just before Christmas but doesn’t hold a grudge. “It was a business decision… If they called me back today, I’d be back there Monday.”
Then again, maybe those who are less serene about their situations just aren’t talking.
One man I approached had just finished lunch and was heading toward the door when I asked him how things are at work. As he walked out, without turning, he said, “Not good.”
Got news for our Labor Pool column? E-mail Livia Gershon at lgershon@wbjournal.com.
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