Weekly, What recent changes are going on at your work / local businesses?
Posted by AntiSonOfBitchamajig@reddit | PrepperIntel | View on Reddit | 51 comments
This could be, but not limited to:
- Local business observations.
- Shortages / Surpluses.
- Work slow downs / much overtime.
- Order cancellations / massive orders.
- Economic Rumors within your industry.
- Layoffs and hiring.
- New tools / expansion.
- Wage issues / working conditions.
- Boss changing work strategy.
- Quality changes.
- New rules.
- Personal view of how you see your job in the near future.
- Bonus points if you have some proof or news, we like that around here.
- News from close friends about their work.
DO NOT DOX YOURSELF. Wording is key.
Thank you all, -Mod Anti
HarveyMushman72@reddit
Work is slow to steady, but nowhere near the numbers we were doing last year. Bonuses are almost non-existent now. I am starting a second job a few days to knock down some CC bills.
HappyRyan31@reddit
Good luck. I got out of credit line debt earlier this year and also paid back the back rent post eviction payment due to my eviction last year from my long time studio apartment I had for 14 years and is now debt free. Currently I'm living with roommates but is putting away funds to get my own 1 bed 1 bath apartment so I can have my own place again. I'm working on finishing up a professional coursework to increase my earning income since I'm not making much at my current restaurant job.
HarveyMushman72@reddit
Thanks! I had a good handle on it earlier this year, and life happened. Kid's wedding, had to get a new vehicle, had a sick pet I had to later put down, and general inflation woes. Good work on getting it taken care of! I hardly go out to eat anymore, so I get why your restaurant job is slow.
HappyRyan31@reddit
Yeah I work as a steward, it's a role I did before in the past (this is number six for me), got hearing checked last week and learned that I got moderate to severe hearing loss (was born with hearing loss and used to wear hearing aids when younger but stopped in middle school when I got hearing back) and so I called my audiologist last night to set up appointment to get hearing aid evaluation. Got a voice mail stating that most likely my insrance won't cover cost of aids so I'll have to pay out of pocket and it's not cheat either so I'll call back to them tomorrow to see what's up.
HarveyMushman72@reddit
Yikes! I hope it is covered!
HappyRyan31@reddit
Well I did speak with the hearing aid office about scheduling an hearing aid evaluation today and is going to look into getting my own hearing aids after listening to voicemail and speaking with someone from there today to set up my hearing aid evaluation, I wa told that my insurance wouldn't cover cost of hearing aid since the ear medical office I went to only does out of network hearing aids and they run between $3600 and $6600 so I'm going to Google over the counter hearing aids, Costco hearing aids and the Nano ones Dad told me about.
HappyRyan31@reddit
Yeah when I got my hearing test done, I was told I had to pay for test but didn't have to since I was a new patient so but we'll see.
Banana_Cream_31415@reddit
There are over the counter hearing aids now. Google and see what's happening.
HappyRyan31@reddit
Dad told me about one so I'll ask my audiologist about it
lepainseleve@reddit
I've heard good things about Costco for hearing aids. No personal experience to report.
frozencupcaked@reddit
People used to pay mainly with card, now it’s mainly with cash. I wonder the reason- maybe working under the table type jobs or hiding purchases from family
zfcjr67@reddit
Where I live, cash is still king and any credit/debit card payments are charged the "convenience fee".
When I go to the corporate office in the state capital, it is the opposite. The looks when I pull bills and change to pay is quite amusing.
I think cash is preferred when times are tough because it can be seen and held. You know you have the amount in your hand, unlike when you go to pay for something at the store and you find out your card is declined for whatever reason.
highapplepie@reddit
I work at an entertainment venue and we’re basically no cash at this point. Faster to move people through concessions. Also seeing more promoters enforcing mobile tickets only and ticket/barcode isn’t viewable until 3-10 days before the event.
AntiSonOfBitchamajig@reddit (OP)
Started a job minimum to just show up. A lot of people aren't happy at the minimum when we fix their problem in 10 minutes after our 30 minutes one way of driving.
keithrol@reddit
I used to work in commercial foodservice equipment repair. We always charged a "destination" charge, and if it was overtime/on call it would be x1.5, holidays 2x.Our standard time was around $100/hr, 1 hour minimum.
I one got a call on a saturday (so, x1.5 destination and hourly rate) for a fryer won't work, this place was like 100 miles away. I explained to the manager are you sure it couldn't wait till monday, as it would be a lot cheaper. Nope, gotta have it. OK then, I'm in my truck and on my way!
I show up, yep, fryers completely dead. Peek behind said fryer, power cord laying on the floor, unplugged. They had pulled it out for cleaning and forgotten to plug it back in. :) It cost them many hundreds of dollars for me to plug it back in. I did stay and test it out fully.
We used to get folks so upset by jobs like this, with "I'm not paying this for you to just plug it in", that we finally went to having a credit card on file for every restaurant that didn't have a net30 account with us.
CarAdministrative907@reddit
They should have to pay for just being dumb. The dummy tax
keithrol@reddit
We used to joke about the extra "stupid" charge. Like, say, your nursing home kitchen, in the cold winter in New England, calling because the flames in your tiny kitchen's gas stove not burning right. I get there, walk into the kitchen, and I can't breathe. Or, rather, what I'm breathing is not oxygen and I feel like I'm going to pass out. I find the hood exhuast fans and makeup air fans are turned off at the breaker box. I ask around and, you guessed it, it got too cold in the kitchen with those on, so we shut them off. Lunch ladies FTW. JFC, stupid charge for you! :)
RevolutionMaster5537@reddit
Commercial real estate. Managing companies are cutting back on all services and maintenance to save money. I’m a contractor and I speak with friends at other construction companies and we always share who’s a dead beat and does not pay and the list is getting longer.
These are Fortune 100 companies and it’s just unreal. We are net30 and most are stretching that out to 90 days now. When I speak with the people in charge they are told to cut $300k from their budgets or some other unreal number. This involves layoffs and cutbacks on services. It’s getting nuts. We are in a full blown recession I don’t care what the “experts” say.
CarAdministrative907@reddit
Great insight. Yes this is a great example of the canary in the coal mine
peacemomma@reddit
A much greater focus on long term sustainability and cybersecurity.
AntiSonOfBitchamajig@reddit (OP)
Someone thinking of cybersecurity? AHEAD OF TIME??? GASP!
Cellophanejane@reddit
My company says they pay 100s of thousands for cybersecurity but our system just got hacked and held for ransom.. they are opting to rebuild the system. No phones or computers right now, it is hell.
peacemomma@reddit
We actually have some quite thorough cybersecurity training that everyone is required to attend in order to maintain their computer access. I’ve found it informative and useful.
actualsysadmin@reddit
There is more available online from the government STEPP program if you’re interested
Shake0nBelay@reddit
Laying off 7k in Sept due to AI.
StuartShlongbottom@reddit
7,000 headcount!? In what field/specialty?
emeraldfancy@reddit
Some phone companies and customer service are almost entirely ai now..
ducationalfall@reddit
I have been working on AI projects for few months. AI currently available are bullshit generator. Nice enough to impress C-suits. Can’t rely them to do anything mission critical.
EmBCrazyCatLady@reddit
Iowa: endless layoffs at local manufacturers. John Deere started it, but seeing many others now. It's really taking a toll on our communities.
irish3goon304@reddit
The army base near me is hiring 40 new employees, they make bombs!!!
thr0wnb0ne@reddit
would you say that business is
booming?
Eagle_Eyed_Minstrel@reddit
Purchase orders for monthly services have been cut 60%. New hires are unskilled and paid 30% less than previous employees.
rolling_steel@reddit
I’m in the security industry- ever look at the security gates & doors that cover entryways, windows & doors keeping out intruders at retail stores, banks & pharmacies? My company is one of few that does this. We’re seeing a huge increase in the use of these products all over North America both commercially and for residential applications. Crime is increased everywhere and it’s no longer about preparing but rather immediate protection even in what used to be quiet, suburban areas.
kingofthesofas@reddit
I have looked into some of the data around this and it's worth pointing out that violent crime had a sharp uptick in 2020 but has fallen since then and is now well below 2019 levels. Property crime however has risen but it is mostly in larger cities and is mostly low dollar amounts aka shoplifting and petty thefts. The levels are actually still on a long term down trend and lower then they were 10 years ago, but the uptick is noticeable. I found this trend in both red states and red cities and blue states blue cities so the cause doesn't seem to be any particular policy. It's probably related more to COL and housing costs and greater numbers of homeless people IMHO. That being said I don't think the laws around letting homeless people camp anywhere they want or not prosecuting small thefts are helping the situation, but that might be my bias as I cannot see it in the data.
rolling_steel@reddit
Retail other than luxury oddly enough is suffering. Walgreens & CVS closing 20% or more locations and many like Target and Walmart abandoning markets where theft is hurting them beyond the ability of resolution. Flash mobs & smash /grab theft are hurting retail drastically. I’m seeing this all firsthand. Scary stuff-
kingofthesofas@reddit
There is a shocking amount of organized crime involved with it too
fuzzysocksplease@reddit
Health Care- short staffing, which creates more work for everyone else.
Shagcat@reddit
I work at Walmart. Our starting pay in my state went from $15 to $16.50, a nice jump. State goes by federal minimum wage, $7.25 so Walmart is a decent employer. Egg prices are going up. People still buying lots of name brand stuff.
Vercoduex@reddit
Not my work but masks are starting to look more common due to several new covid cases going crazy. Upstate NY
dodekahedron@reddit
My post office is holding first class mail due to planned staffing shortages. 🙃
splat-y-chila@reddit
wait, like holding it hostage and not delivering mail?
dodekahedron@reddit
Hostage isn't the correct word.
But they are no longer attempting to cover planned staffing absences and mail is not moving as a result.
RhythmQueenTX@reddit
Same in my city which is very large. Mail is no longer reliable, and I see my carrier maybe once a week.
dodekahedron@reddit
For us it's not a carrier issue. It's clerks. When i started we had like 8.
Now they consider 5 people fully staffed.
Except we only ever have like 4?
This week there were like 2 people in the morning.
We are still working on sorting mail from Tuesday.
My union rep is useless when he's healthy and he's half dead right now and can't even tell me who is replacing him so we're all just like whatever.
I've got newspapers that were dropped off Friday that haven't been processed yet.
Oh well.
RhythmQueenTX@reddit
I had one clerk last time I went inside the post office. Granted it was around lunch time.
stabthecynix@reddit
Walgreens stock is down to $8, cutting hours across the board, part timers have pretty much been eliminated. Funny thing is, we are still really busy.
TopSignificance1034@reddit
Outsourcing continues, newest department is the client services team. Per the last big department meeting we have no jobs available onshore, only offshore currently (team is about 500 people)
rmannyconda78@reddit
Not many places seem to be hiring, power tripping among management has been bad
LeFoxz@reddit
Tech. Shit jobs are getting automated (i.e. data entry). Skilled jobs that need critical thinking are relatively safe.. for now.. but the trend is for entry level jobs to either be automated or off-shored.. CEO’s are looking for ways to reduce costs for anyone below upper middle management (the middle managers that are close to CEOs/founders)
dadbod_Azerajin@reddit
Changed truck policy, now it's a nightmare unloading truck
Have a "fill the fridge" to buy garbage, gave us more money but added water bottles into the cost
I don't mind the chips and meat sticks though, good on days we need to unload a semi trailer
KinkMountainMoney@reddit
It’s getting colder so we’re getting more homeless in.