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I'm interested in hearing what everyone's experiences are right now with what's happening in Alberta (or elsewhere) in regards to the economy due to the cheap(er) price of oil these past few months. Lots of layoffs announced publically, but you also hear of rumours of large layoffs happening under the radar. Real estate agents will tell you that everything is peachy, but yet it's widely been reported sales are down massively (especially in Calgary).
I don't know about others on here, but knowing and hearing first hand what's been happening around (mainly) Alberta would be beneficial to me for work for job security, for parts of my day to day tasks in my job (I'm a buyer and purchase various metals regularily), in the fact I'm somewhat interested in buying a house again, etc. I like to be in tune as possible with what's going on around my home and the world, hence the thread. Hopefully others share my sentiments.
Personally:
Work related: I work for a company that provides various parts for the oil sands. About 2 months ago we got word that one of our sister plants in Nisku is shutting down permanently, and we laid off about 25% of our workforce. We are incredibly slow right now as the big oilsand sites deplete their inventories rather than place new orders. Sooner or later, they will order more as our product is essential to them operating, but it's just a matter of when and if we get the orders before we are forced to lay more workers off due to lack of work (in which case eventually we'll have to hire them back)
I also notice WAY more sales people calling, both inside and outside salesmen. I used to maybe see 1 outside salesmen a month, now I hear from probably 4-5 a week.
The GF works for a recruitment and consulting firm with branches all over Canada and has said that Edm is slower but somewhat steady, Calgary is at 50% from what they were a couple years ago, and Toronto is super busy right now.
I've been looking for job opportunies since last August somewhat regularily, and the jobs in Supply Chain have dried up. I used to apply for 5-10 jobs every week or 2, and now there might be 1 every 2-3 weeks that pops up.
Real Estate: Housing in my area of Edmonton seems to be fairly slow, but after a few price reductions, houses do end up selling after a month or 2 on the market. I was very surprised to hear that a good friend in Calgary wasn't able to sell their condo near the Stampede grounds last August and resorted to renting it out. Who knows if they priced it too high though? I got ride of my house in Fort Mac last fall and thank God b/c neighboring houses are still on the market since I listed mine, with record MLS listings right now (so way more competition to sell), and $20-$40k price drops from when they originally listed. I bought in 2008 right as the market was turning and the value of my place probably dropped $100k less than a year later. Over the next 6 years it barely recovered.
Other: Life is pretty much going on as usual and if you're eyes aren't fully opened, you'd barely notice anything different, but look a little closer, and you can tell that things here in Edmonton are a little slower. Slighly less people in restuarants, easier to catch a cab on a weekend, etc. Interesting to see what will happen around here if this continues for an extended period of time? I've never really worked through it before. In 2008/09 I was up in Fort Mac and things slowed down just enough for us to take a breath (but things were still very busy up there). Oil recovered pretty fast though back then.
I don't know about others on here, but knowing and hearing first hand what's been happening around (mainly) Alberta would be beneficial to me for work for job security, for parts of my day to day tasks in my job (I'm a buyer and purchase various metals regularily), in the fact I'm somewhat interested in buying a house again, etc. I like to be in tune as possible with what's going on around my home and the world, hence the thread. Hopefully others share my sentiments.
Personally:
Work related: I work for a company that provides various parts for the oil sands. About 2 months ago we got word that one of our sister plants in Nisku is shutting down permanently, and we laid off about 25% of our workforce. We are incredibly slow right now as the big oilsand sites deplete their inventories rather than place new orders. Sooner or later, they will order more as our product is essential to them operating, but it's just a matter of when and if we get the orders before we are forced to lay more workers off due to lack of work (in which case eventually we'll have to hire them back)
I also notice WAY more sales people calling, both inside and outside salesmen. I used to maybe see 1 outside salesmen a month, now I hear from probably 4-5 a week.
The GF works for a recruitment and consulting firm with branches all over Canada and has said that Edm is slower but somewhat steady, Calgary is at 50% from what they were a couple years ago, and Toronto is super busy right now.
I've been looking for job opportunies since last August somewhat regularily, and the jobs in Supply Chain have dried up. I used to apply for 5-10 jobs every week or 2, and now there might be 1 every 2-3 weeks that pops up.
Real Estate: Housing in my area of Edmonton seems to be fairly slow, but after a few price reductions, houses do end up selling after a month or 2 on the market. I was very surprised to hear that a good friend in Calgary wasn't able to sell their condo near the Stampede grounds last August and resorted to renting it out. Who knows if they priced it too high though? I got ride of my house in Fort Mac last fall and thank God b/c neighboring houses are still on the market since I listed mine, with record MLS listings right now (so way more competition to sell), and $20-$40k price drops from when they originally listed. I bought in 2008 right as the market was turning and the value of my place probably dropped $100k less than a year later. Over the next 6 years it barely recovered.
Other: Life is pretty much going on as usual and if you're eyes aren't fully opened, you'd barely notice anything different, but look a little closer, and you can tell that things here in Edmonton are a little slower. Slighly less people in restuarants, easier to catch a cab on a weekend, etc. Interesting to see what will happen around here if this continues for an extended period of time? I've never really worked through it before. In 2008/09 I was up in Fort Mac and things slowed down just enough for us to take a breath (but things were still very busy up there). Oil recovered pretty fast though back then.
If it's smoken it ain't broken
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