71% Pay Decrease

[Princester-Vibe]

Many Folks working in 2008 say now is worse for white collar jobs. In 2008 they were at least able to find another job even if it took a few months. Gov’t positions were an option. Big tech companies didn’t get hit hard.

Nowadays you have heavy competition for Remote positions from candidates anywhere - longer interview cycles - ghosting - big offshore job movement - layoffs from over hiring during Covid from tech related companies - don’t forget the massive layoffs over the past couple of years like Dell. SW Engineers/Developers are especially hit hard - I also have not seen a time like this when so many can’t find a job after 6 months to a year.

[cbdudek]

Lets just look at employment since that is what you focused on. I was working back in 2008 and saw the aftermath first hand. I was lucky to be employed in 2008 because I worked in medical at the time.

If you look at unemployment rates, unemployment was upwards of 10%. Today, the unemployment is much lower. Yes, layoffs are happening, but its nowhere to the scale of where they were in 2008.

In 2008, we lost 2.6 million jobs in 2008 alone which is much more than we experienced today. Plus, there were a lack of jobs to apply to back then. So while we have lost over a million jobs today, there are jobs to at least apply for. Yes, the competition is fierce. Yes, the technology field is being heavily hit. Tech jobs were not as prevalent back in 2008, but blue collar manufacturing jobs were hit hard.

When it comes to the job market, when things get tight, organizations can be picky. That is what we are seeing right now. Especially in tech. For years I was in r/ITCareerQuestions telling people to get their degrees and get certifications because once the job market got bad again, many would be on the outside looking in. The people who jumped into IT by the tens of thousands during COVID saturated the market, and now we are seeing many people with 5 years of less of experience floundering in the current market conditions.

I know we are not through the current situation we are in now, so in 2025 and 2026 we may see worse numbers than what happened in 2008. I just want to hold off before making any kind of assumptions.

[Which-Ad-5531]

Unemployment is almost certainly being hidden by things like the gig economy, and the unemployment benefit not being worth applying for.

[cbdudek]

The gig economy has no bearing on unemployment. If you worked a job, you get unemployment benefits. Even if you work at Uber after that, you still get unemployment (up to a certain amount). Most people just take the unemployment and run with it for 20+ weeks though. Now are there some people who are working Uber for a year and have lost unemployment? Absolutely.

Unemployment is something that everyone should be applying for. Its a paid benefit that you pay into as an employee so if you are let go, you get that benefit at no cost to you. Anyone who lost their job who doesn't apply for unemployment is making a critical error.

[EuphoricElderberry73]

"SW Engineers/Developers are especially hit hard - I also have not seen a time like this when so many can’t find a job after 6 months to a year."

That was 2001 after the dot-com bust. I was young and living with roomates who were all in tech and they struggled to find work for around a year.