I have been trying to stay positive in spite of the fact that the world is sick. We are facing different problems. I am always concern with global problems and how the environment is changing. In China, Jiangsu province was one of the provinces that was affected by drought and my colleagues said that this year's temperature is really abnormal. It worries me when I think about what will happen to the world when the Earth's temperature will continue to increase. I don't want to imagine the North pole's glacier melting and covering the earth with water. I have read from the National Geographic that some islands in Maldives are in the process of extinction. Scientists found out that the increase of the water level is faster than what they have expected. Many local people in Maldives are concerned since they are going to lose their livelihoods and their homes which they had for more than 50 years. Yes, climate change is happening now and it takes people's jobs and homes in some parts of the world. This situation scares me, but what worries me more is the current financial problem that the world is facing. I am worried about this economic recession that already left millions of people jobless. Every day I received a news from China Daily talking about companies who went bankrupt, people losing their jobs and divorce rate in the UK alone is going up.
What alarmed me today is that I received a news from China Daily saying that every minute, five people around the world lose their jobs. This is just for the first quarter of 2009 and it could increase in the next quarter. I feel sorry for all the people who lost their jobs and most of all I feel sorry for my two good colleagues. A job is an important possession that would make us feel confident. If given the chance to choose, I'd rather resign than being terminated by the management. I haven't tried getting fired but I believe that it's too painful. I have tried firing few employees before and I really felt bad. The first time I did it, I had to go out of the company and cried. I felt bad because I fired few people, but I'm sure that the feeling would be worse if I was the one who was fired. I could see sadness in those people's eyes and few of them cried. Even if a person doesn't like his job, his ego would be hurt if he gets fired. I felt bad because it was the company's decision yet I had to deliver the news. When I tried to fight for them and asked my boss to reconsider, he just said, "We are not a charitable institution." That time I wish that I was a company owner so I didn't have to personally fire people.
"In economics, the term recession describes the reduction of a country's gross domestic product (GDP) for at least two quarters.The usual dictionary definition is "a period of reduced economic activity", a business cycle contraction." wikipedia.
It is said that economic recession started in the late 2000s when the price of property market collapse. I thought that investing in property market is a secure business, but this recession proves me wrong. I remember talking to some British Businessmen about the idea of investing in property market in Dubai. I was able to convince some of them that investing in real estate would guarantee that they could get their capital back in just 6 months. Well, that was part of sales talk. Now, I wonder what happened to our customers who really went to Dubai to see the properties that we were selling near Burj Al Arab hotel, the only 7-star hotel in the world. Now many real estate companies are in jeopardy, and some even went out of business. One of the biggest banks in the USA which outsourced their customer services in the Philippines already declared bankruptcy. I'm worried for my students, if this problem is going to continue for the next 2-3 years, and that would be the perfect time when these young men and women are going to go out into the world and look for jobs. They're going to face a very strong competition. It is true that China is still positive when it comes to GDP, but I have read that companies are terminating employees as what other big companies around the world are doing. Although by definition, China is not in recession because there's no decline in the country's GDP. But considering that there are so many international companies that are based here in China, therefore the companies who are experiencing financial decline will still terminate employees, just like what our school did. So I feel worried for my students that they will be competing with those skilled executives and engineers who were fired. I am afraid that they won't be able to get the job because they don't have the skills needed by companies. I really feel sorry for students who are aware of the present situation but so apathetic to care about it. They think that life is too easy for them and they don't show interest in their study. For now, life could be easier for them since everything is provided by their parents. I always remind them that learning another language would be an advantage since it can be an additional skill. Maybe they don't care about economic recession because most of them belong to well-off families and they're not affected with money problems. But I could not help but worry about the kind of life they'll have after college. I am not an economist who can tell what will happen to the economy 2 years from now, but in my own understanding with our current situation I can say that job hunting for fresh graduates would not be too easy in the next few years.
I compiled some quotes about economic recession from some economists and leaders.
"Australia can reduce the impact, cushion the impact, of the global economic tide but we cannot stop it altogether." Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
"This downturn promises to be the worst since the Great Depression in the 1930s,"
said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist
"While we are making progress, the journey ahead will continue to be a difficult one,"
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson said.
"UK output is likely to fall by more than 2pc in 2009 with the first signs of recovery early next year as interest rates fall close to zero to stimulate the economy and to counter deflation. But the real worry is unemployment, with the number of jobless set to rise to more than 3 million by the end of 2010, it will certainly be a worrying and depressing year for many UK households".
Stephen Gifford, Grant Thornton's chief economist
“Exports will also slow down. Even though there are already new export markets in Asia, these markets, including China, are also dependent on the US economy, But still, I don’t see these impacts to be significant enough [to cause a recession in the Philippines]," said former Philippines secretary of finance Ernest Leung
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