Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cohiba]

Anyone been in, or lived in, a western country recently? What is
it like these days with the economy? How about jobs, prices, trends
etc.

I came to Korea for a year stint. That was 14 years ago. So I am a
little out of touch with what is happening in the west.

[alphakennyone]

I'm home in San Diego now. Most likely going back to Korea. Why? Because it's just so easy to get a job that will pay 15-20 an hour. I'm not even able to get crappy $9 an hour data entry jobs here, which I'd gladly take if it just meant getting by.

Food prices have gone up a LOT. It's getting almost to the point of Japanese prices for meat and Korean prices for produce.

Gas is wavering between $2-3 a gallon, which is less than this time last year.

Rents aren't going down but they finally stopped going up.

Lots more homeless on the street than I remember and my car got stolen within 2 weeks of being back (recovered later though).

Trends? Uh, hiphop hasn't gone anywhere. More people sporting the emo look while probably less are listening to emo music. BBWs seem to have become both more prevalent and proud, and plenty of the fellas seem to like it (or have no alternatives?). A lot of my friends hunt for dates/lays on craigslist...I'm only 26 and I remember internet dating still being taboo even a few years ago.

Mexican food is still cheap (large $3-5 burritos) and delicious beer is still plentiful.

[dporter]

In Ohio for the past 3 years. The recent announcements by GM and Chrysler have hit the Midwest hard.

We are starting to see secondary industry being hurt because they are no longer supplying auto manufacturers. The closing of dealerships is hurting small businesses like diners who cater to those employees.

Heck, even little league baseball teams are hurting because it is more difficult to find team sponsors.

I think unemployment in Cleveland is around 10% and the real unemployment is probably much higher. Local school districts are hurting because declining property values reduces their funding. State and federal projects are in danger because of lower tax revenues. I know a few MA graduates who were not accepted into PhD programs. Perhaps due to lack of money available to universities.

All in all I wouldn't want to be looking for a job in the Midwest anytime in the next 3-5 years.

[Cohiba]

[NightSky]

emo:

http://i707.photobucket.com/albums/ww77/Gigifish_album/emo.jpg

[Robot_Teacher]

It's just getting poorer as the gap widens with a few, a tiny few, who are loaded hanging on to what they got hoping the dollar doesn't collapse, while the same old places from the 40's and 60's just sit and look more and more older, dilapidated, and run down as time passes with nothing new going in. NO development as it continues to fall into a 3rd world state of condition.

Food prices were rising, thousands of layoffs mounting each passing day, and no one's hiring. Jobs only pay about $7 to $9/hour even if you have degree, military service, and high skills with a good CPU sitting on your shoulders. Employers aren't willing to pay Gen X and Y sheeeeeet. The old biz leaders in charge are greedy and hanging onto what they have only living for today as they know they don't have nothing to worry about as they're dying as well as taking us all down with their dying ways.

That's home.

It seems the only way to make it there is to either have money and good brains playing the market or to inherit property and money. There seems to be no good career opportunities being offered these days unlike in decades past where you could get an education and make a good living without needing rich parents to set you up as is the case for my best friend who is pulling down $10,000 grand or more a month doing real estate appraisal his retired bank president dad got him into. My friend only has a psychology degree with mediocre grades including F's, got on academic probation for year, but hunkered down to graduate when his daddy tightened the purse strings. He's got a beautiful set up of a home biz as well as a nice new home being built going on 10 years after college graduation.

Those who didn't have rich parents? No dice with a very few exceptions. It's harsh.

Pizza Hut still delivers and Taco Bell is mighty delicious before you run South of the border to escape economic doldrums.

[madoka]

Eh, I live in southern California in one of the most expensive cities to live in the U.S. and I can't say that it's all that bad. If you go to the malls, they are still packed. If you have money, it's great because prices have decreased so much. I'm trying to justify a sixth car and the biggest thing stopping me is that I've run out of parking spots.

The food prices are pretty cheap, especially if you like fast food. The local pizza shops, such as Round Table Pizza, offer all-you-can-eat buffets for $5-6. Subway and Quizno's offer footlong sandwiches for $4-5. Carl's Jr. sells two Famous Stars for $3. That's two large (monstrously huge by Korean standards) burgers for cheap. McDonald's, Wendy's, Taco Bell, etc. all have dollar menus. If you want to go fancier, Ruby Tuesdays and TGIF has $6 lunch menus.

Here's a random story:

One of the things I was reminded of when I came back from Korea, was the omnipresent beggars in California. I was at a freeway offramp when I opened my window for fresh air. Immediately, a beggar came rushing over because he thought I was opening the window to give him money.

I have noticed my local beggar, a lanky, tall white guy in his early 30s, is doing really bad these days. He has got to be the hardest working beggar I've ever seen. Wakes up super early to make sure he gets this very lucrative offramp and stays there all day long bowing to people. I noticed that if he doesn't get there early enough, another beggar will take that spot. He's been working that spot for several years now. Before the financial crisis, I'd estimate he was making about $15-20 per hour. Now, I haven't seen a single person give him anything. And to make matters worse for him, another beggar came on the onramp next to him. This new beggar is a former middle manager, bald white guy with a big pot belly in his late 50s, who wears a suit and tie with a sign begging for a job.

[afsjesse]

Yikes... reading this makes me scared to go back to Michigan before I move to Minnesota for graduate school. Hope those 2 years go by quick so I can high tail it back here!!!

[Yu_Bum_suk]

He drove the usual one-hour commute on various high-ways and bi-ways - none of which was particularly direct or free of congestion - from the shop his father owned in the minivan his father owned, the A/C barely adequate fo