Uncertainty is the New Black

My friend Elmira Baysali has a job. She earns a living. And she’s sometimes more nervous than I am about the economy. That’s because, as mentioned, she has a job.

Last year was a banner year for her employer, non-profit group Endeavor, which helps entrepreneurs in emerging markets. The Omidyar Network gave a $10 million matching grant, and the annual fund-raising gala produced $2.2 million. The organization planned for staff expansion and new programs. “But we weren’t able to because the reality of the economy set in,” says Elmira, who is vice president of policy and outreach. On the personal side, “I saw friends lose their jobs, travel budgets cut. I thought, what if they decided they didn’t need a communications and policy person?”

There were no layoffs at Endeavor, but cutbacks can make anyone queasy. Fund-raising has been drying up for many, many non-profits; and across industries, the economy has thrown many people’s livelihoods out the window.

“It incentivized me,” she says. “I said to myself that I had to do something so that if I lost my job, I could do something. I’d be okay.”

Lots of laid-off workers have embraced their predicaments and tried new ventures, put new projects together—we’ve profiled some of them in our Lemonade Makers series…

Recession Lexicon: Downturnaround

/n. Describes the period when the economy stops worsening and starts improving. The term, a combination of “downturn” and “turnaround” is specific to this Recession.

Downturnaround was (we think) was first used prominently by the clever people at New York Magazine…

The Truth About Job Sites

I’ve done a lot of professional speaking on resume writing, and over the past eight years have talked to thousands of people. Every time, I ask the following question: “Has anyone gotten a job off of Monster.com?”

Eleven people have raised their hands.

There are hundreds—if not thousands—of job boards online, and they list millions of positions. Yet many of us have had this experience: You’re trolling job listings, clicking on openings in your target field, when you see The Dream Job. Your pulse starts racing. You look more closely. You are a perfect fit. You are such a perfect fit that it was like you had written the job description yourself. So you spend hours editing, proofing, tweaking and finessing your resume and cover letter. You hit “send” confident you’ll be contacted right away. You never hear a peep.

When it comes to job listing sites, there are a lot of things going on behind the scenes…

Screwed: 2,500 at Izhavto

A daily review of the unemployment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s partial total: 3,600

Some good news: Los Angeles Unified School District is rescinding the 505 layoff notices it sent to teachers.

Russian automaker Izhavto will officially lay off half of its workers this month, or about 2,500 people. The company already stopped operations….Exelon Corp, an energy company based in Chicago, is cutting 500 jobs…Carphone Warehouse in the U.K. is cutting 400 positions…

Recession Briefing 6.22

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

More women are turning to sex work in the bad economy. Strip clubs, X-rated Web cam companies and escort managers across the country have reported an increase in job applications in the last several months — ironically, at the same time that business is largely going down. (Salon)

Healthcare without insurance is like construction without power tools. It can be done, but it will take longer and require a lot more effort. And at times you’ll feel like you’re hammering your thumb. (Los Angeles Times)

Some people are handing over vintage toys, sets of dishes, baseball cards, furniture and clothes to auction houses and online auction sites hoping to generate cash. (New York Daily News)

20 Ways to Come Through When Someone You Love (or Even Just Like) Loses a Job

Nice as it is to hear about indications that the economy turning around, the layoffs aren’t over yet. You’ve probably just heard that yet another colleague, friend, neighbor, congregant, teammate got the ax—or you will soon. If you’ve been there, you know how isolating and demoralizing it can be, even now that joblessness is more norm than humiliation, more zeitgeist than badge of shame. (And if you haven’t been there, you’d best watch your karma. Carefully.)

How well you’re acquainted with said laid-off person (and under what circumstances) will inform how you proceed, of course. (Read 6 Things You Shouldn’t Say to the Newly Laid-off.) But some things never change—like the power of a reachout, a simple favor, and a sympathetic ear.

1. Be there. Call. Write. Do not be MIA, do not put off getting in touch, do not submit to the ewww factor, however tempting it may be.
2. Ask what happened—in a way that doesn’t sound like you have a case of schadenfreude. Most people want to share the gory details, and they may need to find their narrative of What Just Happened.
3. Listen.
4. Be present. Stay sensitive to touchy-subject vibes, obviously, but for now it’s probably better to err on the side of active (though not necessarily moist) concern…

Recruiting Retooled

A publishing executive with 25 years’ experience would like to walk your dog. Although she’s still perfectly ensconced in her senior level position, she knows the industry’s still feeling shock waves from the Great Media Meltdown of 2008. Ad spending crashed 14 percent in the first part of the year, hitting record lows, and if advertisers don’t start widening their wallets soon, she may soon be counted among the growing ranks of unemployed expected to hit 10 percent of workers before the end of the year. So she may turn to dog walking.

“She’s exploring,” says her coach, Tonia Mattu at Mercury Group. “She would do anything from dog walking to opening a bed and breakfast.”

Mattu is the newest member of the Mercury Group team and part of the new direction the company was forced to take in the downturn. Earlier this year, founders Jeff Lundwall and JD Rehm saw their recruiting leads dry up…

My Wife is My Boss: An Entrepreneur Couple’s Tale

“Let’s go over this again: you’re going to spend our life savings on dried fruit?” I asked my wife, Noha, in 2004 when she first pitched me the idea of starting Peeled Snacks, a fruit and nut snack company.

Earlier in the year we’d both quit our jobs to go traveling before I started a stint as a public school teacher, but I’d assumed that she’d get back to work with a position lucrative enough to offset the modest teacher’s pay I’d soon receive. Instead, she decided to become her own boss and make negative money.

Though those first days truly did gobble up our savings at a frightening rate, watching a company grow and flourish from the front row is exciting. It was a real kick when people started to actually buy these treats…

Recession Briefing 6.19

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

Pop group New Kids on the Block are citing the global economic recession as a main reason for canceling their reunion tour. (OK!)

No land-lines, “virtual” swim meets and trayless cafeterias. Cost-cutting colleges and universities have come up with some smaller, quirkier economies that add up to big savings. (New York Times)

Could it be that companies will suddenly lose large numbers of their employees when the recession is over? A survey shows the majority of working Americans are planning to launch a job hunt when the economy turns around. (U.S. News & World Report)

Screwed: 2,500 at Izhavto

A daily review of the unemployment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s partial total: 6,315

Russian car manufacturer Izhavto laid off half of its 5,ooo person staff, 2,500 employees…United Kingdom-based engineering group GKN plans to layoff 900 employees…in Sacramento County the board of supervisors authorized the layoff of 800 workers…Synovus Bank plans to lay off 650 workers…Exelon is cutting 500 jobs…Clemson University is set to lay off 450 employees…Oscient Pharmaceuticals is cutting into its sales and marketing team with 180 people laid off…Coggin Automotive Group is closing 2 dealers, taking away 97 jobs in the process…Comair plans to close their maintanence base at Orlando International Airport and lay off 81 workers…Kerr Beverage has been sold, losing 56 people their jobs…Albany Times Union plans to layoff 45 workers…