Double Dip – The Fizzy Side of the Recession

Definition: Double - Dip Recession - When gross domestic product (GDP) growth slides back to negative after a quarter or two of positive growth. A double-dip recession refers to a recession followed by a short-lived recovery, followed by another recession (Definition courtesy of Investopedia.com).

We have all had to tighten our belts in one way or another since the first dip in the global economy in the last quarter of 2008 – in little over a year it was announced that the UK had defied the gravity of a mass financial downward spiral and had exited the recession with weak 0.1% growth. So even though the growth was slow, we as a nation were heading in the right direction right? Wrong.

Britain was headed for partial recovery after the initial crisis hit during the tail end of 2008. The crisis hit businesses in an often-perishable fashion seeing the closures of company branches as well as the administration and widespread insolvencies across every sector. One of the industries that were hardest hit by the downturn was real estate, housing markets and business activities according to the Association of Business Recovery Professionals. People were losing their jobs, homes and the country simply lost control of economic activities. Statistics show that shortly after the financial crisis hit, the unemployment figure was at 5.3% (approximately 1.6 million) - by 2009 the figure had sharply risen to 7.7% (approximately 2.5 million people out of work) and in 2010 increased by a further 0.1% according to World Bank data. By the end of 2011, employment rates began to rise – for some this appeared to be a glimmer of hope, the reality is that although there has been a rise in employment statistics show that there has been a decline in full-time work opportunities and an increase in part-time workers.

It seems that nobody is safe these days as far as employment is concerned. People applying for jobs, the lucky ones who make the cut from the interviews and the employees who have not been under threat with a company ‘shake-up’ or restructure – as soon as we find ourselves with a job (of sorts) things can change. The amount of applicants applying for one job has risen substantially since the beginning of the recession – some jobs have more than 70 applicants fighting it out for one position. Arguably sectors in customer service or admin have the higher number of applicants. The number of temporary positions has also soared as well as part-time vacancies on offer.

Until February I was juggling my life around two part-time jobs in completely different industries – fair enough, they were both customer facing but one was in an educational institution and the other was a bookmakers. In my opinion, it is increasingly difficult to choose a career path in these tough times – many employers require experience in order for an applicant to be successful, however how can one gain experience if there are no genuine ‘entry-level’ jobs where the experience can be gained? Not everyone can afford to take unpaid work experience. I graduated in 2009 in Television Production and would love nothing more than to become an editor, unfortunately when I was studying I had to work to keep a roof over my head and couldn’t juggle unpaid work experience.

With the battle becoming fiercer between applicants, it is an incredibly hard slog for school leavers and graduates who have limited experience. Perhaps it is time to go back to the drawing board and before making that decision about going to university ‘for the uni experience’ really think about what it is that you want to do and plan to go through the tough route – it is not unheard of for students to be under the assumption that they will be able to walk straight into a job… hell, I was one of them. This is why I personally would advise anyone currently going through school or Sixth Form to consider what they want to do and how they will achieve it. Anything is possible, it is just harder in times of recession to get what you want – don’t make sacrifices, plan ‘in case of’ the tough route and the easy route will be a doddle.

I should take my own advice and plan for the tough times… easier said than done.

Over and out. Weez