So what industries are being affected or will be affected by the economy?

[Plucky]

I've seen people in any form of real estate, building, and manufacturing being hit. I thought extras like house cleaners and music teachers would feel it, but my piano teacher says she has more students lately.

 

What jobs will feel it the most now and later?

[Renee in NC]

Landscapers - not the ones who do lawn maintenence per se, but those who design and install softscapes and hardscapes.

 

Small business owners of all types. Low-end diner-type restaurants and liquor stores are doing fine in FL!:lol: My uncle owns both and he is the only one doing well.

 

I know that service-type areas (like house cleaners) are being hard hit, but in this area it has been balanced by Latinos leaving the area. As the demand slips, so has the supply, so the overall impact has been neutral.

[percytruffle]

Resaurant owners are feeling it around here. People are eating out less. Also, teachers and staff at small private schools like the one I work at will feel it as more people decide to choose public school instead of paying for tuition next school year.

[readwithem]

I would think discretionary entertainment, although maybe not movies :) We tend to get them on DVD anyway so I don't know about that. But we love seeing live theatre and musicals, and we're thinking creatively how we can still do that - volunteering to get free tickets, signing up for emails for specials, etc.

 

 

Probably the travel industry as well. I've heard of many families deferring travel till things settle.

[Nicole M]

Arts organizations here are really suffering. Symphony, opera, our center for the performing arts. Ticket sales are way down, and when you can't fill the house, you can't pay the players.

[kzdaisy]

Circuit city and Linen and things are both going out of business here.At the same mall.

[Michelle T]

construction is down, furniture stores are going out of business. My DH is a loan consultant, that's certainly been VERY tough. He knows many, many realtors who are struggling, many have lost their homes.

 

Restaurants are struggling, retail is way down (other than WalMart). Mervyns, Circuit City, Linens n Things all going out, and I''m sure other large chains will be following.

Michelle T

[Maria from IN]

Around here there is a plant which supplies three major automakers with airbag sensor modules. Over the past five years they have been scaling down and laying off scores of people, but just recently they asked for volunteers to be permanently laid off.

 

A friend of mine took the layoff, and she was put into Indiana's dislocated worker program. She will get unemployment and tuition reimbursement for 2 years!

 

I suppose then that she's doing better now that she's out...:001_huh:

[hsmamainva]

I've noticed two things going out of business around here -- furniture stores and car dealers.

 

So anyone who makes their living either making them or selling them appear to be facing tough times.

[Jami]

I would think discretionary entertainment, although maybe not movies :) We tend to get them on DVD anyway so I don't know about that. But we love seeing live theatre and musicals, and we're thinking creatively how we can still do that - volunteering to get free tickets, signing up for emails for specials, etc.

 

 

Probably the travel industry as well. I've heard of many families deferring travel till things settle.

 

Actually that doesn't seem to be the case in all entertainment areas. There was a blurb on the news the other night about 6 Flags having a good last quarter--people want to escape a bit when times are bad. And I read this article earlier today abut the gaming industry. http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20081114/ap_on_hi_te/video_game_sales

[Jane in NC]

According to today's New York Times, Sun Microsystems will lay off up to 6000 people in the weeks ahead. Other computer manufacturers see reduced sales so further layoffs could follow.

 

One of the things that I have wondered about just from reading this board: a number of people seem to depend on commissions for income. It seems that everyone who sells something is experiencing a slow down. So while some people may not be facing unemployment, they may be facing lower paychecks.

 

My home is in a retirement/tourist area. I tend to feel less sympathy for realtors and mortgage brokers who were raking in big bucks a few years ago, more sympathy for construction workers, landscapers, electricians, etc.

 

Jane

[mcconnellboys]

My husband says folks at his workplace are saying car body repair shops and dry cleaners.

[Carol in Cal.]

Medium level stores--not the very upscale or the very cheap ones, but the ones that are kind of medium.

 

Little shops with a lack of capital reserves.

 

Recruiters.

 

Home and business building construction.

 

Mortgage brokers, realtors, and property and casualty agents.

[Zelda]

Weddings. My mom has a bridal salon and weddings definitely get scaled back.

[Sara R]

finance

real estate/construction

retail, especially discretionary or overpriced items

airlines

services; if people can do-it-themselves if their incomes (or access to credit) goes down, they will have to

domestic automotive

movie theaters. People say that movie theaters still did good business during Great Depression I, but we have more at-home alternatives now (great quality free digital TV, youtube, Netflix, library DVDs, video games, and so on) and I think inflation adjusted movies at the theater are much more expensive now

 

These are the sectors that are weakest and should fail. The possibility of more bailouts makes everything unpredictable though. Bailouts mean that the weak industries get propped up for a while longer at great expense.

[Mommyof4ks]

Things are just beginning to slow down here, but two sectors that continue to do well here are fast food chains (people can afford that over regular restaurants) and convenience stores (hubby works for a distribution company and they are having the best year in a long time).

 

Many of the business failing around here are those who have a good bit of loan money to run their companies like car dealers and furniture/rug stores while those that pay cash are doing fairly well.

 

I fear our Target will close since their business has been slow :(.

[Peek a Boo]

well, the business charter jet industry is still kinda slow in the Dallas area ;)

 

If anyone needs a pilot for their personal jet, let me know :D

 

I think Peace Hill Press would look GREAT on the side of a Hawker....:lol:

[Renee in NC]

Pizza delivery - one of our employees has been delivering pizza on the side for a long time and he is down to 2 days a week. Last night he worked about 2 hours before they sent him home because they were so slow. He said tips are way down as well.

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

Wouldn't it be easier to speculate on which industries will be *un*affecected by the slower economy? ;)

[Renee in NC]

Wouldn't it be easier to speculate on which industries will be *un*affecected by the slower economy? ;)

 

Healthcare as a whole, but certain areas will even be hit hard in that industry as people move away looking for jobs.

[kewb]

I imagine just about every industry is affected. During hard economic times liquor stores and bars tend to do well but everyone else suffers.

Retail: Who is spending money? Certainly not me.

Landscapers: Deigners and regular maintenance-I can mow the lawn myself if needed.

Restaurants: We eat out a lot less then we used to.

Airlines, hotels: Business travel is dowm.

 

My dh has his own technology firm. It is good for him because people outsource IT but at the same time clients are taking longer to pay.

[Renee in NC]

I imagine just about every industry is affected. During hard economic times liquor stores and bars tend to do well but everyone else suffers.

Retail: Who is spending money? Certainly not me.

Landscapers: Deigners and regular maintenance-I can mow the lawn myself if needed.

Restaurants: We eat out a lot less then we used to.

Airlines, hotels: Business travel is dowm.

 

My dh has his own technology firm. It is good for him because people outsource IT but at the same time clients are taking longer to pay.

 

Yeah - my uncle (who owns a liquor store) says people drink MORE in a bad economy!:lol:

[Plucky]

They smoke more, too. I'm not sure how they can afford it.

[G5052]

I'm an adjunct community professor, and we've seen a solid increase in enrollment, apparently because more traditional students are staying close to home and more adults are going back to school to retrain. Our largest major is nursing, and it's become a very competitive program to get into. Now you have to have A's and B's in the prereqs and they prefer some experience in the medical field. Of course the budget is down though, so we're basically even compared to last year. They're hiring more part-time professors because our contracts are only semester-by-semester and we cost less.

 

Locally several sit-down restaurants have gone out of business while I've heard that Chick-Fil-A and Dominoes are doing just fine where we are, although the Dominoes manager told me that more people are doing take-out on the way home versus delivery. Borders is apparently struggling while library circulation has significantly increased (although they're cutting back the hours in January). Private school enrollment is down, and I have several friends who stopped homeschooling and went back to work because their DH lost his job or his pay/hours were cut back. Our county is going to be laying off some employees, but they're hiring for the school system.

 

We'll see how this goes!

Edited November 15, 2008 by GVA

[BabyBre]

Our friend has just very unexpectedly been laid off from her job as a computer software sales rep along with several others from her office, including her supervisor, where she has worked for 14 years. She went in to work at 8:00 last Friday and was home by 9:00.

[PinkTulip]

Oddly enough, work in the legal field has increased. Issues that people may have let slide in the past, they are more aggressive about now, i.e., "they owe me and I'll do anything it takes to get what I need." Also, mediations are up in a huge way, as a lower-cost and faster alternative to litigation.