Jobs are Stupid
 

Okay, so I've been looking for a job all summer. My area's been in a recession, so there are pretty much no jobs, and the factory(lets call it Company A) that usually hires college kids over the summer stopped their biggest line, so no jobs there.

So when I got back from vacation last week, I had a message on my answering machine from Company A saying they had positions open. I called and they said all of the positions had been filled. So I told them to keep me on their list in case a spot opened, all the while going to an interview for a Temp Agency in town. I have an interview for Company B on Friday.

However, TODAY, I got a call from Company A saying that someone quit and they have a spot open during the shift that I wanted if I'm interested, so I said yes (because Company A is 20 minutes closer to home than Company B), so I set up an interview for Wednesday. (and they said I can start working on Wednesday too)

HOWEVER, I found out today that my best friend, who started work at Company A last night(during the same shift as the one I want), got a call from them telling her that she doesn't need to come in for a week because they don't have any work for her to do.

So what the heck? I have no idea what's going on. I'm a little cautious about cancelling my orientation with Company B until I know what's going on with Company A.

So any advice, or if any of you have any fun stories about how your job doesn't make sense, feel free to share.

Well, first off, if your job to be is in a different department, or working on a different line/shift, then there probably isn't much issue at all.

It's the same shift, and it's strange that they would hire someone new when other people can't come in because there's no work. Generally (at least last summer when I worked there) they always just moved people to different lines and departments when there was no work for their current line. Especially if she JUST started, so she could have been trained wherever they needed her, and they don't need her anymore and they're hiring me now too.

It's just really strange. I hope everything works out right.

EDIT: and I just found out from another friend who works a different shift that she doesn't have to work all week either.

That sounds highly suspicious. If it was me I would avoid that like the plague. No need to be shunted around if you can avoid it

CJ, it's not just your area. They don't want to admit it, but the entire country's in a recession, if not an all-out depression. Unemployment hasn't been this high since the 1930s (second-hand info), and there are no decent jobs anywhere. Add to that the shitty housing market and shitty stock market, rising costs, the fact that we are in a war and it hasn't improved the economy, and you end up with nobody having money to buy anything.

That having been said, as stated above, if it's not the same job or shift, you have no need to worry. Take what you can, and go for the shorter drive.

Never mind. Go for the secure position.

I've been working at a plant all summer now, and what I'm guessing is happening at your plant is that they want to keep employment "high" in the plant without actually increasing the amount of hours they're giving away. Especially if your two friends are teetering ever closer to that magical 40 hour mark cause any time after that they get paid over time, which your company doesn't want. So by hiring more workers they can claim higher employment rates, but give less hours to everyone making them look good at a glance but very bad when you look delve into whats actually going on.

I believe that's incorrect second-hand info. Unemployment is hovering right now someone around 5 ~ 5.5% It was up in the 25 ~ 30% range in the Great Depression. Right now it's actually still lower than most of the 90's, in which it ranged from 5ish to 8ish. 2 years ago unemployment neared or reached record lows. It's come back up since then, but it's still in a pretty healthy range. Of the many problems we're facing right now, unemployment is surprisingly not one of them. At least on a national scale.

More on topic, I agree with most everyone here, go with the safe bet. The risk just isn't worth the rewards for Company A.

What sort of industry is company A? Is the position full-time or part-time?

Company A is a boxing company. Full-time. Close to home, and I've already been trained there last year. And it's $8.25/hr too, so that's not bad at all.

Company B I know next to nothing about. I know I would need to get steel-toed shoes, so I'm a little concerned about the safety of it (it's a factory making doors, I know) plus it's 20 minutes away from home, and gas prices being what they are, it would be nice to stay closer to home.

I think I've decided after talking to a number of people I know who work there (different departments, different shifts) that I'm definately going to call the company tomorrow to at least ask them what will happen with me after I get the job. I don't really mind starting next Monday, I just want to know (and I want to know that they aren't going to suddenly be like "nevermind, you don't get a job"). I mean, it doesn't hurt to ask someone in charge first.

It's just really weird because all of the people I talked to were told not to come in until next week, but when they called me, they were like "you can start Wednesday." I don't want to screw up my sleep schedual already if I'm not going to be working for a week.

Well, the way it's counted right now is that to be "unemployed", you need to be actively seeking work. Many people have actually given up looking, so what we would consider to be 'unemployed' is actually higher than the rate the government gives.