There has been recent, continuous stream of soboring Diaries posted by Kossacks that have lost jobs.
Here's one: Another Kossack Unemployed
And here's one (with even more cross-links) that I particularly like because the author goes into detail about how unemployment statistics are calculated, and may under-reported:
Unemployment Statistic Methodology
Perhaps I can provide a small bit of encouragement with my rambling below the fold.
I'm an Engineer. A Structural Engineer. I typically (but not exclusively) work as an Consultant for "Prime" Designers such as Architects and/or Civil Engineers. To grossly (and I mean grossly) simplify, an Architect hires me to make their building stand up. A Civil Engineer hires me to design their bridge super-structure.
This week - you might be surprised how many times I've picked up the phone and heard (at some point in the conversation) "shovel ready" and "get it done quickly."
This morning, I visited a small Municipality with a Prime Designer. The goal.......to finalize the design of two bridges. We're talking small bridges - don't get dellusions of grandeur. No Golden Gates. Simple, one-lane community road over small streams. But this Municipality feels confident it will qualify for stimulus money (don't ask me how they know this - I'm just the Geek doing the design). They want their Construction Documents........and FAST! They want their project completed.......and FAST! Recently this has become a re-occuring theme. Perhaps the first drips from the faucet?
Please allow me to digress for a moment and explain "project delivery." The most traditional method is for an Owner to hire a Prime Designer, and allow the Prime Designer a period of time to completely design a project and produce Construction Documents (this can easily take a year + if the project is large. Major highway projects can take many years). The project then goes to a Contractor via bid or negotiation. But.......the need for speed is great at the moment, perhaps rendering this "traditional" method obsolete for stimulus projects. Here a bit from a McGraw Hill article airing the concern of Designers:
It’s a scenario that raises concerns among some architects. "We’re hopeful that ‘shovel-ready’ is reinterpreted to be ‘pencil-ready’," says Steve McDowell, principal at the Kansas City-based design firm BNIM. "Everyone needs to remember that design and planning are part of the economy of building."
This leads us to the most fundamental, "quick" method of delivery (there are many derivatives that are basically similar). It's called "design-build." Simply put - construction and design occur almost simultaneously. So look for lots of "design-build" type projects. Also from McGraw Hill:
David Thompson, senior vice president at RTKL of Baltimore, said he expects federal agencies to leverage their emerging experience with design-build and construction-manager-at-risk models to deliver new work. "They can’t afford to go with conventional methods—that would delay things tremendously," he says.
Bottom line, in my specific case, (pending what happens in Washington in the coming weeks) these two projects could be in the hand of Contractors as early as mid-March. And believe it or not - they could be completed in early June.
Another phenomenon I'm seeing is what's currently happening on public bid projects. Bid competition is insane! The results - the lowest prices in years. So Owners (Municipalities, Industry, Healthcare, Government, etc) that somehow have financing are getting major bang for their buck! If banks can find solid ground and begin lending, Owners will be lining up to take advantage of the hyper-competitive bid market.
Where is infrastructure stimulus money targeted? Here's yet another link from McGraw Hill/ENR regarding sector-by-sector anticipated stimulus spending breakdown:
Stimulus Bill Breakdown
My rambling brings me to this point.........there is some tangible hope. I'm reporting it first hand. I encourage everyone to take a look at the proposed sectors receiving money and target job searches there. I can also offer the following advice to those perhaps seeking to change careers, or young enough to still be choosing careers:
"Go Green!"
Wind energy, solar energy, any type of "alternative" energy, and anything remotely associated with it, will be big. Visit the USGBC site (http://www.usgbc.org) and get a feel for what's going on with "Green" building. In the near future - certain types of Civil Engineering are also destined to be big.
Good luck to all!