Ireland 09-14 the recession years

Lost a well paying job at 24, found out I had a child on the way 2 weeks after being let go, couldnt get a job doing what I was doing so took a job that payed half of what I was on to pay mounting bills, my credit rating was destroyed, my confidence was destroyed, companies treating staff like ****e gave me bad anxiety and led to depression, I smiled my way through the ****e pushed myself in jobs and Im finally earning decent money again....I never want to experience that again but you just never know.

I left at the end of 2010 to London. I was always employed in Ireland but left due to wanting something new and there wasnt much on offer at the time.

I transferred internally to London with a new position. Been here since. 7.5 years.
Settled here now. Got married and bought a house.

Things are going grand.

I got lucky, I got a decent job at the tail end of the Celtic Tiger, and never lived beyond my means before of after it either.

So things worked out well enough for me.

ran a business through it and I will never do it again

very busy now bills are paid on the nose and debts are cleared

when it goes over the cliff again the doors close

draiochtanois wrote: »

No pity for you.

Rather than build up reserves that allow you to weather another crisis you want to buy a Merc.

Have you learned nothing?

Lol, Christ that's pathetic.

Lost a job and went back to college after a year on the dole have a degree in computer networking and waiting on my results for my honours degree in IT management.

I finished my degree in 09, went straight into a Masters and then a PhD with the idea of following an academic path.

Part-time work was hard to come by though. I worked in retail for a good while but the doors closed and that was the end of that. It was a shame because I loved the job but the recession directly affected the company, it went through administration, was bought, went through a second period of administration but I had to go at that stage. Moved on from there to a cafe/bakery and remember Brian Lenihan on the radio one day saying "the worst is now behind us" as I worked away. It didn't feel like it though, and it turns out there were many tough years still to go. Lost that job when the cafe/bakery had to cut back on costs but picked up bits of work in college while going for the PhD. That was steady enough work but it was absolutely clear that there was no way that that work would ever turn into a full time job. Many others would tell you how they started off doing part-time stuff in there and eventually it turned into a full-time role but it was clear that those days were gone...no matter how many letters were after your name.

Muddled my way into the darkside of a PhD, no research funds available so teached and continued with my part-time work. Left an awful strain on me, inevitably mental health issues cropped up and I had to stop. Seemed like a real black hole because I had no real options in Ireland. The only positive was that I was still living at home so didn't need to worry about rent all that much but still had a motor to pay for. My girlfriend, now wife, moved abroad for work for a year which was difficult for us both. It was even more difficult for her to find work on her return as, even though she had moved abroad to teach, she was asked by interview panels "why didn't you stay in Ireland, why did you leave our education system?". She eventually found something but it was the other side of the country so that separation wasn't easy. We're married now though so it all worked out thankfully.

A lot of friends of mine left the country in this period. I also lost touch with some friends due to me being so ensconced in my phd work and not having the time to do much else when I took teaching and part-time work into the equation as well. It was certainly a formative period and it has left its mark alright. The way some employers acted at that time was criminal as well, remember Vita Cortex? There was a general sense of doom and despair to it all and there were days when I felt like I was the last of my cohort to stay behind and wondered whether I was the fool for doing so? Don't get me wrong, I had plans to leave with herself but, ultimately, I never had the guts to. I really didn't want to either, I am a home bird. Still, queuing for the social (for a few weeks between my masters and phd time) was a sobering experience. A lot of highly educated people in that same line, a lot of hard workers, and a lot of talk about "I'm heading off to Oz next month etc.".

TLDR - It was bleak and it was hard. It has left a mark.

Mysterypunter wrote:

How about 09-18? Its not over

Well said poster it's only hitting some ppl now as in having to go pcp route to buy a car

Mysterypunter wrote: »

How about 09-18? Its not over

It absolutely is! go on Indeed.ie there and tell me there are no jobs.

chrissb8 wrote: »

It absolutely is! go on Indeed.ie there and tell me there are no jobs.

So true. One man I know must have loved every second of the recession, everything was the governments fault. Foreigners were taking all the jobs. He'd love to work if only there was something there. Still not working, but a lot quieter about it now!!