Well for all those people who thought that 2008 is long past us should wake up. The world economy is not picture perfect as yet, and we are still in tough times – but it may look smooth. After all the world is also seeing this kind of turmoil for the first time. The Pre – 1929 era people are not really writing blogs and newspaper columns even assuming that they alive.

Over the past weekend and beginning this week I have got phone calls from one media house with respect to lost (or losing) jobs. Many people have been sacked from well and high paying jobs. Now many of them are couples working in the same organisation. It gets worse when husband and wife both lose their jobs, and the wife is expecting. EMI on housing loans, cars, student loans etc. have to be paid….

What went wrong?

Well to begin with many channels sprung up (change this to life insurance companies, banks, airlines…story remains the same). They paid higher and higher salaries to attract and poach talent. Suddenly you had many more people than you required. In each location 3 reporters, cameramen, assisstants etc. were being sent. Now suddenly there is a worry on profitability. The board is pressurising. So the employee gets sacked. This is also sadder because the HR in most companies are happy recruiting when the MD says and then SAD when the MD sacks. Most of them do not hire to a plan nor fire with any sympathy.

From the employee’s point of view – he quickly adjusts to his ‘new’ salary. So what if it has gone up from 5 lakhs in 2002 to Rs. 54 lakhs in 2008? Well today they are not really too many companies willing to pay Rs. 52 lakhs to look after risk (in a bank) or even Rs. 50 lakhs to look after operations! Only peple bringing in sales revenues can hope to earn higher income than Rs. 50 lakhs – that too as a variables!

When the times get tough, the tough get going….