The Economic Outlook from Ground Level

So what does this all the economic gloom and doom mean for the little guy? Zompist paints what has to be a somewhat discouraging picture (thanks to Random Goblin for pointing this out).

I'm looking for work right now, and pickings are very slim... if anything it seems worse than the last time I was in the market, three years ago. There aren't many programming jobs, and competition is high, not only from a glut of IT workers left adrift by the crash, but from outsourcing. (A friend of mine has the charming job of moving jobs overseas. He reports that India is no longer the hot place to go; it's the Philippines.)

Job security is dead. My father worked for one company his whole working life. Recruiters are amazed that I worked for one company for over ten years, and I was recently shocked to realize that, with three years' experience, I've been here longer than most of my co-workers.

I took a pay cut to come here, and I'm wondering if I'll need to take another to be competitive. The expectation of higher salaries as you get older, which so far has covered up the stagnation of the middle class, is no longer to be counted on.

I am obviously in a different field from Mr. Zompist, but I have to say his observations square with my own. I am at an ok job, but a good part of my decision to stay here is because I have little confidence in my ability to find anything else (not to mention the beating my stocks are taking). Economic conditions are shakey. I hope things pick up, but we'll have to see.

How many of you feel like the economy is doing all that it could for you?