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80 Signs Telling Us The Economy Is Getting Tougher, According To Professionals From Various Fields
These days, everything seems to be getting more expensive, so people are tightening their budgets and thinking twice about where they spend their money. The effects of this rough economy are showing up everywhere, from what people buy to how often they spend and what they decide to skip altogether.
Workers who deal with customers and businesses up close get to see these changes play out in real life. We found a Reddit thread where they shared the little details that made them think the economy could be taking a turn for the worse. Scroll down to see which of these warning signs you’ve noticed in your own life.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I work directly for a bunch of major companies. Right now, they're all business as usual. I think this is such a weird split economy that the big guys and rich people aren't feeling it. All the pain is concentrated at the bottom.
Kelly Scott 2 hours ago
Not when us poor people start rioting in the streets and invading their mansions.
RELATED:
#2
I'm a therapist. More people than ever are coming in talking about stress from large scale, society wide failures that are causing them individual depression/anxiety. That stuff is tough because it's not an individual level fix, it's a system wide decay. Young people feel like they've failed because they can't afford to move out & start their lives, & their parents don't understand why their kids are so depressed & seem to have no ambition.
#3
This will probably be buried. But I work social services.
People are leaving their dogs at shelters because they can't care for them anymore. We're talking long term loved pets, who have been clearly taken care of for years. Their parent may be homeless, but those animals don't want for anything.
Pantries are out of dog food. Some churches can't keep up with demand, some say that the demand will only be met by those of that congregation (f**k those churches).
Pet programs are buckling right now. The euthanasia list is bigger than usual. So, they leave their dogs at a homeless shelter. In hopes that an employee will take them home and love on them.
It is f*****g tragic.
One of the biggest pressures on the global economy right now is war. The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted shipping and energy supplies, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, a route that normally carries around 20 million barrels of oil and oil products a day.
The International Energy Agency says the disruption has pushed oil prices higher and created problems for households and businesses that depend on fuel.
The war's effects are being felt globally, not just in the countries where the fighting is happening. When fuel gets more expensive, transportation, manufacturing, shipping, and even getting food to stores can become more expensive too.
Once those costs move through the supply chain, they can push up the prices of everyday goods and add more pressure to the economy.
#4
Oil. Oil prices are getting high, and some of the less common stuff just isn't available. A local dealer is writing letters of warranty exception because the specific oil isn't available, so customers are still covered under warranty for using the closest thing they can get.
Everything in our economy relies on oil. Farm equipment uses hundreds of dollars worth of filters for diesel and oil. Harvest is coming, and we are going to see a massive hit in food prices. You think corn is expensive now? Wait until the farmer has to pay $10/gallon for the diesel to harvest it and haul it to the elevator.
All the s**t we buy from Amazon, Walmart, and your local grocery store? It arrives on trucks that run on Diesel. McDonald's overpriced, s****y cheeseburgers? The buns, pickles, beef, ketchup, mustard, onions, wrapping papers, bags, and the napkins they forget to give you all come on a diesel powered truck.
All those diesel powered trucks take diesel oil, and lots of it. A while back rotella was hard to get, and it had a major effect. That was just one brand. This shortage is *all* brands.
Tighten your belts. It's going to get very ugly. The people you know are going to change when food gets scarce. Preppers used to say that any society is 7 missed meals away from chaos. After they miss 7 meals in a row, people start to get desperate.
Kelly Scott 2 hours ago
I can see mob invasions at local grocery stores with people just walking in and walking out with food. I also wouldn't be surprised if people will start getting held up in parking lots while they unload their food into their cars. I'm already looking around me when I walk out into a grocery store parking lot with my full electric cart because I already know I'm vulnerable to the theft of my groceries.
#5
I’m a residential cleaner. My wealthier client’s kitchens are way filthier because they’re actually seeing some regular use. My less wealthy clients are cancelling more often. My company isn’t gaining new clients either. My elderly clients (many of whom get funded cleaning through the county) are using food banks more often, and some of them aren’t using their lights.
#6
I work for a university. One of the biggest signs an economy is in recession is that students stop pursuing degrees in liberal arts like social studies, music, history, literature, and instead go after career-demand degrees in accounting, healthcare/nursing, trades, and cybersecurity.
MushroomHead22 4 hours ago
" liberal arts like social studies, music, history, literature" all this can be found online. there really is no need to study it anymore. wait 100 years, then the class will become relevant again.
Countries rely on one another for almost everything, from electronics and cars to food and raw materials. So when tariffs rise, or trade rules change, businesses can suddenly find themselves paying more for what they need or struggling to predict their costs.
The World Trade Organization explains that changing trade policies, government interventions, and geopolitical tensions are pressuring the global trading system.
For some businesses, that uncertainty can make growth harder. Smaller businesses in particular may have less room to absorb higher costs, and if things get bad enough, some may have to cut staff or close altogether.
#7
I own a mid sized construction company. For the first time in 12 years we don't have at least a 1 year backlog. We're busy now but when these projects finish things could get interesting.
Tabitha 1 hour ago (edited)
My husband and I have a small pest control business. We have never had customers let their bills go past due to the level they are now. I mean, we always had some, but the past due balances were always relatively small. They’re now about 10 times as high as they were even a year or two ago. Things is, we live in an area that has huge problems with mosquitoes in summer, and ants every time it rains, not to mention other pests in their homes that people have been very happy to have us get under control. If we end up with customers cancelling their services, not only will it affect our company, it will also greatly affect our customers who will have to contend with swarms of mosquitoes eating them alive all summer, and ants virtually pouring into their kitchens after every rainfall. Wealthier customers don’t seem to be affected, but we have more customers who are in more modest tax brackets, and they’re the ones being hit harder.
#8
Each man to himself attitude.
Companies not promoting family culture (or culture) any more. Visible budget cuts on methods like team building that fostered communication across teams.
People no longer speaking up in jobs because they fear being let go.
Internal budget cuts and layoffs in the name of AI (without adopting any AI tools).
On the consumer front, pushback on big ticket items. Elimination of wants (including at grocery level). Customers moving from organic (and premium categories) to regular. Rise in name brand sales. Lack of loyalty to brands.
Scott Rackley 32 minutes ago
I'm sitting here wondering when companies promoted family culture
#9
I'm a pastor and the church I serve hosts a public food pantry. Our clientele doubled in 2025 and then doubled again in the first half of 2026.
In the U.S., consumer prices were 3.4% higher in August 2026 than they were a year earlier, while gasoline prices jumped 3.9% in August alone. When groceries, fuel, rent, and other necessities take up more of a paycheck, there is less left for things people can live without.
Families start skipping wants like a restaurant meal, new outfit, trips, or even a small treat. When millions of households make those same choices, businesses can feel the drop in spending too.
A shop that depends on those sales may cut hours, reduce staff, or eventually close, leaving even more people without jobs and putting another strain on household budgets.
#10
I deal with a number of elderly people in my profession. So many are looking for jobs because their social security and pension income can no longer cover their very basic expenses. Truly heart wrenching to know some one’s nana is having to choose between medical care and groceries.
#11
Massive layoffs in the medical field. Hospitals and clinics are closing fast too.
You think it's hard to find care now, just wait a year.
#12
Daily garbage truck weigts goes down. Normal is 73-75 tons per day. We have more customers but we're down to 67 tons per day.
The International Monetary Fund projects the global economy will grow by 3% in 2026, but that does not necessarily mean the economy is getting better for everyone. It just means that, overall, more goods and services are being produced and economic activity is still moving forward.
The IMF notes that this growth is uneven because some countries are benefiting from the AI boom, while others are dealing with the effects of war and stubborn inflation.
#13
The company I work for sells sustainable, low water waste irrigation (drip irrigation) solutions and supplies for farms ranging in size from backyard vegetable gardens to large scale commercial farms.
The amount of backyard farms that people have been setting up is both comforting and alarming.
Comforting because I love that people are growing their own food with sustainable irrigation.
Alarming because of how much people feel a need to be setting up their own gardens.
I love that it's happening but not why it's happening.
#14
I work at a museum. Visitor numbers are declining noticeably without any major negative impact from our side.
It sadly does make sense. If people need to watch their money more closely, leisure trips to cultural sites like museums are suffering due to it.
#15
Well I’m a truck driver that hauls foodstuffs. When we see a major shift away from restaurant supplies to grocery stores we know people aren’t eating out as much. Everyone knows about the price of diesel jumping and that is calculated into our fuel surcharge. The fuel surcharge is paid by our customer who then charges more for the product they sell.
As an industry, we’ll notice small companies or owner/operators fail if a large company can undercut their rates. General freight will slow down.
The International Labor Organization expects global unemployment to stay at 4.9% in 2026, and says progress in job quality has stalled, with millions still lacking secure, decent work. AI and changing trade policies are putting more pressure on workers as employers adjust to the kinds of jobs they need.
In the U.S., NFIB’s August survey also found that small-business owners are less optimistic about creating new jobs in the months ahead, with economic uncertainty making them more careful about hiring.
#16
I'm in home improvements. All the mid sized jobs vanished over the past year. The only ones left are the jobs under 2k or over 10k.
#17
I'm in the government sector.
People are fleeing the commercial sector looking for government jobs for the security.
In a healthy economy, usually the talented government workers leave the government sector to chase bigger pay Days on the outside.
In the last interview panel that I was on most of the candidates said that they were trying to get ahead of AI layoffs.
Edit: So this is all levels of government. For some of you talking about how bad it feels in the federal sector.... Just think... There are still people coming from the commercial sector chasing those jobs. It's kind of ugly all the way around.
Tabitha 49 minutes ago
Well, it’s only been a couple years since a certain president let a certain a*****e billionaire (now trillionaire which is something no one person deserves to be) and his band of pimply, incel, egotistical teenage hackers raid all government departments and fire anybody who didn’t swear an oath of undying loyalty to that president, thereby draining government of all its talented and experienced employees and leaving the dregs to run the country. So, unless you’re a diehard MAGAt, you can forget working for the government. At least until we get rid of this administration and start cleaning and disinfecting the taint from their evil antics inside the Beltway and rehiring the good people who were unfairly fired.
#18
I schedule appointments for cancer patients. I've had a lot cancelations lately because people cannot afford gas money to get to their appointments. It reminds me of how things were when I first started doing this work in 2007. The Afghanistan war was happening and gas prices were high like they are now. I remember a man came in for an appointment that was rescheduled without him knowing and he started crying because he had to save money to make it for the appointment. Heartbreaking stuff.
Problematic Pangolin 4 hours ago
Times were incredibly tough then. I was in the construction industry, and all of the jobs dried up. Couldn't even pawn my tools because the shops were already full of them. Had to do day labor for $35/day, if I was lucky enough to find work that day. The future is looking similarly.
Small businesses feel economic pressure more because they have less room to absorb higher costs. With inflation and supply-chain problems adding to expenses, weaker sales can force owners to make tougher decisions about where the money goes.
NFIB’s August survey found that small-business owners are dealing with weaker sales, supply-chain disruptions, and continued inflation pressure. For a small shop or restaurant, even a modest drop in customers can make a big difference.
#19
Shelter veterinarian: so many more owner surrenders, strays, unclaimed animals (with known owner information), sick animals and euthanasia requests. Our shelter is bursting at the seams.
#20
Fewer people are giving to non-profits. The total donated may be higher, but it's because of larger gifts from a few wealthy people. Smaller donors can't afford to continue donating.
#21
I'm a business advisor. Tons of people seeking me out for advice on opening businesses based on physical labor (dog-walking, plumbing) because their jobs have been replaced by AI and they want something a human will be needed for longer. I'm talking tech execs making the move into roto-rooting or buying a Subway franchise.
When bills get higher, households can rely more heavily on credit cards, car loans, and other borrowing to stay afloat. U.S. household debt reached $18.8 trillion in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Credit card balances alone climbed to $1.26 trillion, while auto-loan balances reached $1.71 trillion.
When prices keep rising and a paycheck no longer stretches as far as it used to, people take on more debt to stay afloat in a struggling economy.
#22
I work in pest control, and business is actually booming. Main reason being that people cheap out on waste management and cleaning costs, which in turn leads to a spike in rodents and all kinds of bugs.
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago (edited)
And if one lives in a congested city it can be easy to pick up bedbugs. Even if people can afford the pest control, they cannot afford the cost of a night in a hotel with their pet to escape the deathly fumes.
#23
As a tattoo artist, no one is getting big projects, or even just two session medium-sized projects. Everything I'm booking is small-ish stuff and my flash sales. And I'm not even expensive for my area. .
#24
I'm a sous chef, working for a very large and popular restaurant in my city. Just like the grocery store, the prices of everything is going up.
While that might not be something most people wouldn't realize, what they might not realize is just how much products have gone up. Just this year in fact. We're paying upwards of 50% more on certain products just compared to 18 months ago.
The surprising thing may be that our supply chains are struggling too. Just today, I had a sales rep come in (He's with one of the largest food suppliers in the country), begging me to keep their products. Offered me price cuts across the board.
Also today, I talked with some of my delivery drivers for said food suppliers. Their companies are now telling them to not idle their trucks, to shut them off when making deliveries, and are putting more deliveries per route just to curb diesel expenses.
Some major supply chain companies are also running out of products more often. Up until about 6 months ago, I could order any product, at any time, any day. Now, those same products are running out faster because they're just not being produced at the same quantities. And these aren't niche products either, I'm talking beef, chicken, vegetables. Staples in almost every restaurant.
The strain on our national food supply chains are rapidly expanding. If what is projected for diesel prices come true, we may see upwards of a 100% increase in food across the board. From the supplier, to the grocery store, to the restaurants you dine at.
I can foresee in the near future that we will have large scale food shortages if the price of diesel does not drop down.
A wealthy country may have more room to cushion high energy costs or support households when prices rise, while a poorer country may have far less room to do the same. The World Bank expects growth in developing economies to slow to 4% in 2026, and says that pace will not be enough to close the income gap with advanced economies.
The International Labor Organization also says nearly 300 million workers around the world remain in extreme working poverty. So even when an economy is technically growing, millions of workers are still struggling to earn enough to live securely.
#26
I'm a stay at home dad - my line of work includes doing the grocery shopping for someone with celiac disease. Many of the products that used to be Certified Gluten Free (and have a specific mark on the label indicating so) have dropped the certified status and just say in plain print "Gluten Free" somewhere near the ingredients - meaning that the company has stopped paying for the testing to confirm that their protocols are going to keep my family member safe.
Tabitha 37 minutes ago
Gluten makes me sick too. The price of gluten-free products has skyrocketed as well, and many grocery stores just aren’t stocking them anymore. For gluten-free products to not be tested could be disastrous for anyone who cannot tolerate eating anything with even a trace of gluten in it. Gee. Great. Guess I will be consistently sick, and at risk of an autoimmune response to it, malabsorption of nutrients, and risking eventual intestinal damage and failure or even cancer, nerve damage, and weakened bones. Thanks a lot, greedy price gougers and of course, the madman in the White House and all his evil minions.
#27
Amazon Deliveries are taking longer than usual. No one is really talking about it but it's happening. Logistics is in shambles.
DeoManus Argentem 7 hours ago
Where is this? Where I live (south FL, US) they're quicker than ever! 2nd day delivery is rare, it's almost always same day or next day now.
The economic pressure around the world is real, and everyone is feeling it in one way or another, whether it is at the checkout, at work, or when trying to make the paycheck stretch a little further.
Have you noticed any of these changes in your own life, at work, or in the way people around you are spending? Let us know what you’ve been seeing in the comments.
#28
My friend is in the military. He said all sorts of new people are showing up to his unit after finishing basic training. All of them are 30 and over. People that were former LEO or worked in oil or whatever.
When so many people over 30 are joining the military... it doesn't scream beautiful economy.
#29
A colleague opened a sw dev role identical to one he opened 18 months ago.
applications 18 months ago: 8
applications this month: 320.
#30
I work in politics. People are writing their congress reps more often lately.
Kelly Scott 2 hours ago
Those reps will be lucky if we don't grab them by the back of the neck and choke them till they listen to us.
#31
People are buying fewer books.
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago
And libraries are making a comeback. I have to choose food over books.
#32
Air travel is down. Completed passenger enplanements are declining across the board, and future bookings are down compared to the same months in 2025.
#33
Real estate attorney. More calls for evictions. A client who might have one or two a month have started sending three or four.
The foreclosure calls will come in a year or two as banks gear up and more people fall behind.
#34
Im in freight. Diesel is up, oil products are up which means it costs more to fill and maintain a truck, which means a load of goods that used to cost $1200 to ship now costs $3000 and that means the driver needs more money, and the shipper needs to pay more money, which they will restructure by adding to the bottom line pricing facing you, the consumer.
Also, not exactly my line of work, but holy s**t is our food supply chain in danger. I never realized just how delicate it is, but between tariffs and ICE and Mono cropping and safety agencies being gone, start a garden today.
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago
Thanks for finally mentioning tariffs. It's like everyone is whistling and shuffling their feet whenever tariffs are brought up.
#35
Sister works at a KOA.
They have more long term 'campers' (RVs as homes) than they have short term/tourists staying. They've gained 20 this year alone. And there's no specific age range. Could be 20 year olds up to retirees.
It's $750 a month for a lot, which includes sewer, electricity, water, and WiFi.
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago
I wonder what the cost is for camping gear for a family of four. Probably close to a week in Cancun.
#36
Veterinarian (ER) here. People are less likely to do certain things for their pets, and doing less than optimal. It doesn’t make them bad people. Sometimes they’re choosing between food, rent, their kid’s college tuition, etc. It can be heartbreaking for all. I wish that I was a secret multimillionaire and just be like, “it’s your luckily day! You don’t have to worry. Some generous person donated…’”.
Kelly Scott 1 hour ago (edited)
I still need to get my cat into the vet for his vaccinations. Unfortunately, I can only afford one $500 bill a month and next month my car goes in to get an oil change and the blower fixed because it's got to run for the next twenty years, at least, and it's 21 years old now. October and November is about getting a plumber out to look at the leak in my trailer that is soaking the living room floor from the kitchen sink - forget Christmas presents and all. In January it's pay for car insurance and maybe, hopefully, get some new clothes, February our road maintenance fees are due, March is taxes, and if I want to have a garden, in April I need to start buying more soil - close to $300 worth. So there's no money for medical for me or my cat. I'm hoping one of these years I can just see a dentist. After the cat is seen by a vet, of course.
#38
I work in higher education. Not an educator, but I have interviewed and hired student workers, and used to work phones and spoke with countless students and staff early on in my career. Students seem to be coming in with more and more work experience, but instead of them working, say, a food service job or something, it's them juggling numerous gigs.
They'll be early to mid 20s with experience doing twitch streaming, website creation, etsy arts and crafts, commissions, remote phone service jobs, and so on. They'll often say they were on the job hunt for months or a year plus trying to find an actual main job or something that can help them gain experience for their chosen career. Many have also expressed interest in or had some things lined up to find opportunities out of the country.
To me, it just screams that at least where I am (US) everything is turning into basic service jobs and gig work, which lines up with my belief that the traditional work expected of the average person is now reaching a point where it has left the nation or is getting efficient enough to not need that many people, leaving the rest to scavenge.
#39
I'm a bankruptcy attorney and we're busy.
Kelly Scott 1 hour ago
I'm saving all the medical things I need done and once they're done, I'll be seeing you because that will be the only way I can pay for surgeries and the like.
#40
Insurance. You wouldn’t believe the number of lapsed policies and pending cancellations from nonpayment.
Kelly Scott 2 hours ago (edited)
Insurance is useless and a huge waste of money. They don't cover what you need them to cover and if they cover anything, they then jack the price of their insurance up by thousands or just flat out cancel you. It's high time Americans cancelled the insurance companies. Let them go out of business if they don't straighten up and quit being jerks. The day a ticket for not having car insurance is less than the d**n insurance itself, I'm going without.
#41
Science funding at the University and National Labs level is being absolutely obliterated left and right, and other than a few big headlines earlier this year, no one is really talking about it. We're so f****d.
TheTimeBeing 2 hours ago
I think the funding needs to be more carefully scrutinized and approved. I have seen some completely unneeded and frankly comical "studies" that have been funded with tax money. These are from previous years but give a great example: $419,470 spent to study if lonely rats are more likely to seek c*****e. $1.7 billion maintaining 77,000 unused federal properties. $1.9 million to see Can Dinosaurs Outrun a Human? We really just need a better way to make sure the studies being funded are actually helpful or useful and not just to spend the budget.
#42
Uber driver. There 3 big things I've noticed is that there are a lot more new drivers than normal, a lot of long term drivers have stopped because of fuel costs, and a lot of riders from every walk are complaining about how expensive things are.
Though it is interesting to see the new drivers trying to do this in a pickup truck that gets 14 mpg.
Kelly Scott 2 hours ago
Serve them right for buying the big SUVs with low gas mileage. I still remember when we had gas shortages from the 70s. Did people seriously think that would never happen again?
#43
Liquor Store - Rumors of suppliers having trouble with resources, glass bottles etc. Aluminum cans getting more expensive. Customers are splitting up purchases on two cards. Seeing a big increase in coin usage.
#44
In the finance industry and the number of businesses showing up on credit concern lists is growing and surpassing to see some of the companies listed.
On a personal experience, I had 2 major surgeries recently and our healthcare is beyond fixable. Our household income is 4x the average for our area and we can’t keep up with bills and have what most would consider great insurance. I’m glad this will be temporary but don’t see how anyone making below 75-100k per household can survive and raise a family.. something has to give and corporations need to lower prices, executive pay and pay the people doing the work better.
#45
I’m a labor and delivery nurse. Our birth numbers are down significantly.
#46
I work at a mid-sized company doing sys admin and helpdesk tasks. I order our replacement laptops once a year for our staff who's laptops have aged out of warranty. We ordered 5 laptops 3 months ago and they haven't shipped and don't exist yet. Out of stock.
Data Centers have consumed the world's RAM and ssd/hdd storage.
Edit: Thanks for pointing out my typo. Random Access Memory is indeed memory.
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago
China's tariffs on electronics have been brutal for some countries.
#47
As a firefighter—private equity destroyed the companies that build fire engines. Costs have gone through the roof and wait times are measured in years.
Also… and probably more scary, in the west we are limiting training with water so that we can save it for emergencies. These droughts are getting severe.
#48
The cracks in the supply chain are getting wider. Random items suddenly become unavailable or out of stock for a month or so until the new shipment can land. Some items will skyrocket in price with no warning.
#49
I have 4 unemployed friends. They are college educated with advanced degrees in STEM. They all were laid off, two of them because the entire division at their company got cut. They are all delightful, hard-working people who are actively job hunting. A year ago it was 1 unemployed friend. The layoffs keep coming and they are interviewing and not finding new work.
#50
Working in video games - folks are pushing for unions more, corporations are firing more people each fiscale year, multiple decades well known studios culture are going down the sink and we are asked to do more with way less.
If you love a studio or a game, please support them, and don't be toxic to the devs.
Edit : thanks for award, first one !
#51
I wash highrise windows. I’d say between 40-60% of what I clean is empty. Be it residential (apartments) or commercial office space, more than one in three windows I end up in front of are ether empty apartments, or office space that isn’t being used. Even the occupied offices are often just empty of people, people work from home.
#52
Architect here: Material prices have spiked yet again, but the biggest pain point right now isn’t materials…it’s electrical.
Good electricians are increasingly hard to find, and the combination of labor shortages and rising electrical costs is blowing through what used to be perfectly reasonable project budgets.
Curious if others in construction are seeing the same thing. Electrical has become one of the hardest costs to predict and control thanks to the data center boom.
Kelly Scott 2 hours ago
But if you were a good electrician, would you get hired anyway these days?
#53
I work for a charity that relies on funding from external sources.
There is no funding to be had.
#54
Patients can’t afford to travel to our referral medical center for things like transplant evaluations.
#55
Plenty of folks are purchasing $16k dollar, 5 year old cars with 18% APR, 72 month term loans. YIKES.
Kelly Scott 2 hours ago
I predict in the future you will only see the brand new $50,000 - $70,000 vehicles only the rich can afford or the old junkers on the road. Old junkers are all anyone will be able to drive because no one will be able to afford to replace their current cars.
#56
I work in engineering design & manufacturing.
It's been business as usual except *everything* from raw steel to diesel fuel has skyrocketed in price the last year. Case in point I started a job last year with a budget of $1M and 6 months later I had to figure out how to account for another $300k from increased material costs and tariffs. A couple weeks ago my company shipped a bunch of stuff to Canada that absolutely was not ready to be shipped, but if we didn't have it out the door we would've gone from a healthy 20% profit to being 30% in the hole. I just started another job in Canada ($5M budget) that won't be ready for manufacturing for another 6-9 months and I'll get to deal with the fallout of that, which I am dreading.
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago
Yeah, I think it's fair to say that Tariff Trump is going to be costing your industry more than anyone bargained for.
#57
The bar is busy during the day with retirees and is d**d in the evening when young people are supposed to be out.
#58
I work for a "Marketing Automation" company. If you're getting email or text messages telling you to buy stuff... there's a pretty good chance we're the software that's generating those sends. Sorry... :/
Customers are getting way more risky with deliverability, and broadening their message targeting. Aggressively. And they're willing to risk ruining their sending reputation, annoying customers, and even burning their current IP pools.
Some explanation - Email marketing cares a *lot* about deliverability. Getting the message in front of the contact is basically the whole thing marketing departments exist to do. Companies like Google are very strict on sending reputation - things like spam complaints, targeting non-responsive inboxes, sending to inboxes that don't exist... those all hurt your rep, and get you de-inboxed by google. Either your messages get delayed, or they get spam-boxed, or they get removed from automatic flagging.
The consequence is we spend a *lot* of effort helping our customers target marketing tightly. We focus on people who are engaged with the brand - they click links in the email, they've visited the sight recently, they've recently purchased stuff, they don't mark messages as spam - all that sort of stuff. That keeps deliverability high; keeps the messages actually landing in customer inboxes, and keeps the sending reputations up. We try to keep "engaged" pretty recent - mostly last 30 days.
And we're seeing our customers, who've previously been very happy with tight targeting, come back and say "No, we want a messaging campaign targeting *everyone who's engaged with anything in the last 3 years*". The marketing teams are getting desperate, which says to me the sales numbers just aren't coming in, and they're getting leaned on to generate more leads. And they don't care about the long term.
It's happening across industries too - clothing, fashion, real estate, furniture, pet supplies... everything.
#59
I work in the public sector and we are severely understaffed to the point that we can't run things anymore and we are all on the verge of a breakdown.
I was the last hire, nearly two years ago now, and since then we have lost 1 full time and 1 part time positions, with people not being replaced when they left/retired. We are supposed to be half the time public facing and the other half in the background actually running things, but since we don't have enough people to run the public facing part it has become the main part of our job, which means that the place is collapsing in the background with things not done.
Normally they would have hired someone. Maybe not enough people to make sure we're not understaffed, but at least enough that we're not all about to snap. But instead they are trying to cut off some mild advantages we had to save money, and we suspect they are trying to reduce the numbers even more by pushing people to quit in prevision of the coming economic downturn.
I am lucky to have a strong job security and sound managers, but the situation has gotten impressively bad in less than a year.
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago
Not hiring replacements and pounding on the workload of existing employees has gone on for at least 3 decades.
#60
I work for a large software development company, and among other things direct data center purchases for our development organization (we do scientifc computing / HPC - no LLM building - please don't stone me).
One - costs on ordinary server hardware has gone through the roof. "Regular" servers (not exotic GPU) that we would have bought two years ago are sometimes 2-3x more expensive than it was a couple of years ago for equivalent gen hardware. What started as a GPU shortage became a memory shortage, and now it seems like many common components are way more expensive or have way more lead time. This is with a company that should have huge leverages with the scale we buy at. This has to be throwing the balance off in the industry somehow, and considering the growth wall street expects out of the tech sector...
Also, budgets are tightening even though sales are up. We are literally choosing not to buy hardware that we need to optimize our software (so customers want to buy the software) because of larger corporate budget constraints. Product Management up to the VP level have made business cases that we will lose new and recurring business because of this, but it's falling on deaf ears.
#61
I run a small cleaning company and we do everything from trailers to yachts. Low end and high end Airbnbs are doing well, but everything in the middle has been struggling and a lot of folks are finally moving back to mid and long term renting. Finding reliable cleaners and laborers in general has also been very difficult.
Edit: And staffing needs all over town are not being met. Theres no competition between workers because they know there isn’t anyone waiting to take their place. Personally, despite paying my cleaners $35/hr with full benefits, I haven’t been able to find consistent reliable folks who can show up to work on time and sober.
Edit: I actually don’t know our unemployment rate here. It may not be a lack of competition, but rather a lack of incentive to work hard. What’s the point of working hard if you never see yourself becoming financially secure, or being able to own a house anyways? I live in the States and the sad state of affairs here breeds an understandable sense of nihilism.
DeoManus Argentem 6 hours ago
You have so much business you can't even find enough people willing to work for $35/hour + full benefits? That's a high wage in most of the country for un/low-skilled labor. Is it because they aren't guaranteed the typical steady 40 hours/week?
#62
I work in the supermarket supply chain for a broker.
I see all the price changes 1-4 months before everyone. I did a ton of them june/July
Im getting more now.
It s***s.
#63
There are much, much fewer full time nanny jobs. The UHNW families are still getting nannies of course, but most of them are 50-60+ hours a week or 24/7 ROTA roles.
The upper middle class families who used to hire nannies are choosing daycare instead to save money and a lot of WFH parents are coordinating their work schedules to avoid having to pay for childcare at all/as much.
#64
The number of students who qualify for homeless services.
Kelly Scott 1 hour ago (edited)
What I am continually amazed at is when every time there's a story on homelessness on say, MSN, the comments are just vicious about how every homeless person is a d**g user or an alcoholic and if they would "just" get a job, they'd be fine. No mention of the economy, how hard it is to get a job when you do have an address, good credit, or decent clothes, or how people will get to work, or even how many people are homeless but NOT a d d i c t e d to anything. There is a HUGE percentage of our population that is incredible ignorant and in total denial about who is and isn't homeless and why they are and of how many homeless people there are. These people read what the Republicans and MAGAs throw at them, only see the pictures Fox News posts (dirty tents) and pick apart the stories of the people who are homeless, saying they should have done this and should have done that. And it's scary, because some of these jerks are only a missed paycheck from homelessness themselves and refuse to see it or prepare for it or try to get their representatives in Congress to address homelessness NOW (aside from the a*****e cuts they pass on social services), before they end up on the streets, too.
#65
Unemployment claims are up. In my state, unemployment claims have to be sent to all employers a person worked for during the last 12-18 months. A lot of people who left my employer for other jobs are filing for unemployment, meaning they’ve been let go from these other jobs. By June, we’d already received twice as many claims as the average.
#66
Recruiter here. I haven’t made a placement in 12 months.
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago
Interesting. There's another thread here today on people who cannot find work despite education and experience. Maybe your trade and theirs could get together.
#67
Decrease in motor coach charter business nationwide. Things like transport from hotels to weddings, bars going to ball games, school field trips etc.
#68
I work in food system sustainability and people are finally actually interested. It's terrifying.
#71
I’m in banking, commercial real estate underwriting to be precise. You guys don’t want to know how many businesses aren’t going to be able to afford to refinance their properties when their loans come due because interest rates are now more than double when the original loan was booked.
#72
I'm the grocery Getter in the family. I'm noticing very busy gas stations. My theory is that folks are just buying enough to get through and not filling up necessitating more frequent visits.
#73
More and more people relying on unorthodox ways to cope with disabilities as the government social programs just cannot help them all, and are so underfunded and understaffed that they cannot give the time and attention to the clients they do have.
#74
Heating oil/diesel fuel delivery dispatcher: People cannot afford the price of heating oil to heat their homes currently. They can't afford to buy it, but at the same time, without the business, we won't be able to purchase the fuel from the supplier soon.
Kelly Scott 1 hour ago
Electricity will be going up, too. I used to just not put the heat on at night, even in winter. I finally got to where I would put a space heater on very low at night just for my bedroom last winter, but I think that's not going to happen again this year.
#76
I run an art gallery. We sell original art at price points from $40 to $100k+. Only rich people are buying now. We used to sell to a lot of middle/upper middle class folks and the best selling points were $500-$5k per piece. Now it’s $10k+ and very little below. It’s a little wild to me that $100 paintings will sit on the walls and I’ll talk to people who wish they could afford them, and the next day I’ll have a guy look at a $12k piece for 5 minutes before whipping out his Amex. Ten years ago both of those price points were selling well.
The K shape is hardcore in the art world right now.
#77
Entertainment nobody's buying tickets to shows. They call it blue dot feaver.
Kelly Scott 1 hour ago
That's on Ticketmaster. I can't wait till they go out of business because they've made tickets too expensive for anyone to buy. And I won't cry over their demise.
#78
Insurance claims being denied much for frequently for folks with mental health problems. Changing laws/standards for insurance companies in my state that makes mental healthcare harder to access.
It's a sign that the insurance companies can't afford to pay for everyone's therapy. At least not without dipping into the CEOs profits.
Kelly Scott 1 hour ago
Wait'll they have kids in schools get k****d by a shooter that needed mental health treatment.
#79
Hospitals are so under-staffed that when you search for a new doc, their websites now list all the residents, physicians assistants, and even some of the interns, just to "pad the stats".
*Where are all the doctors?*
Probably taking the Private Equity Buy-out and f*****g off to greener pastures, where they don't have to deal with indignant morons who refuse to take the simplest precautions to prevent communicable diseases and societal decay.
BarkingSquirell 1 hour ago
My country will not accept medical qualifications on par or even with extra training. Pediatricians back home are working as security guards. (Certain) citizens will not accept non-white family doctors and people wait years to get one. This system couldn't BE more messed up.
#80
I teach part time. Students have been absent because their parents can't afford gas for their cars to bring them. They've also been looking for afterschool work but their main competition for those jobs is usually their own parents.
What do you think ?
Kelly Scott 1 hour ago (edited)
It will take a ton of time, but getting rid of Trump, his cronies, and the majority of the Republicans will go a long way to solving these problems. Oh, and also taxing the rich for a change. And don't tell me what rate they're being taxes on. You can tax them as high as you want. That's not the problem. The problem is getting them to PAY anything.
Kelly Scott 1 hour ago (edited)
It will take a ton of time, but getting rid of Trump, his cronies, and the majority of the Republicans will go a long way to solving these problems. Oh, and also taxing the rich for a change. And don't tell me what rate they're being taxes on. You can tax them as high as you want. That's not the problem. The problem is getting them to PAY anything.
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