Interest rate hikes and your job

[Aussie-SO]

With yet another .25% interest rate hike the 7th in almost as many months, many Aussies are being forced out of their homes as banks foreclose on their loans.

I work in a shopping center (mall) and this of course has transfered to retail sales declining and not surprisingly an increase in shoplifting.

Curious to know how you are surviving and if it has taken its toll on your workplace?

[NRM_Oz]

Actually it is the 14th I believe in a row with some banks jumping above the 0.25% raise in official interest rates on housing loans.

I see the same people with their $5.00 coffees 2 - 3 times a day and smoke like chimneys yet complain about struggling financially after booking a holiday overseas, sending their kids to private schools and having leased a new car too. How can people spend over their limits without realising it ?

Australia is the home BUY NOW PAY LATER deals for tyres, carpet, furniture, electrical you name it. 12 months interest free (+ hidden $30.00 monthly fee) and a huge 36% interest shock after 12 months backdated. Suddenly these people appear on tv saying "I did not know it was 36% interest and I paid nothing on the account in 12 months". Mobile phones are another area where young people are being caught out in massive debts of $10k or more too.

We are fortunate that our market is well-off people and as the aussie dollar is 93.5 cents US (was 95 on Monday) we are offering credit vouchers due to lower costs which customers naturally redeem for shoes, etc. Stores can do $300k in sales in 10 hours with 4 staff or can do $25k with 5 staff depending on the day and social calendar (horse racing is back in vogue). For grocery shopping I have noticed that people are hitting the late night clearances on meat to make their $$$ go further which is what it might take to survive.

[HotelSecurity]

Canada's economy is still going strong. Maybe too strong for some businesses. Our dollar is at par with the US or even over some days. It is interesting to search the web & see items at Quartermasters or Galls being sold for $100.00 & it only cost &100.00. Just a few years ago $100.00 US would cost us $140.00 Canadian. It is hurting the hotel business though. Americans make up a lot of our business & this plus the fact that they travel less during an election year looks like our summer will not be as good as in past years.

[NRM_Oz]

I was watching something this afternoon before coming home (abusing the boss system) about the CEO from Not Your Daughters Jeans. He was complaining about the $3.00 more in material it cost to make the jeans and how he was unable to absorb the cost. Seems the US dollar is not so strong now and the buyer was in Turkey where only the Euro was accepted as US currency was not accepted in restaurants at the moment.

Other important factors was 12 months ago crude oil was around $60 US a barrel and it peaked at $103 US a barrel last week which we all need for transportation of our goods. These costs are hidden on why prices are rising together with other factors as the need for companies to make XXX dollars profit to satisfy the shareholders.

We sat on 95 cents US on Monday and our MD made the decision to order a s**t load of merchandise as it was a good 5% cheaper to do so with anyone who needs to go to the USA for work being told to go there now due to discount fairs and deals on offer. I wish I could convince them I need to go for a month !!

[Eric]

Cost cutting has been hitting high tech companies over the last few years as well. Fewer raises and increased workloads.

A slowdown in the US and at par currency will hit Canada as noted above.

[Aussie-SO]

Thanks guys

I hear you, it's looking pretty grim at the moment across the board but what I want to know is.

how you are surviving and if it has taken its toll on your workplace?

Fortunately I live less than 200 meters from the shopping center I work at and with that in mind I get around 3 months to the Litre

But within my workplace I see specialty shops struggling to survive as customers purse strings are tightened even further.

The major retailers (grocery stores) are getting by, but there has been a noticeable drop in sales as things like life's little luxuries isles suddenly become no go zones and plain label no frills items isles become the area of choice.

Shoplifting has increased, people are now becoming more brazen in their attempts at walking away with goods. Even skinny little waif thin girls with gutter trash mouths are swinging punches at male staff in order to make good their escapes.

And heaven forbid you place an item down for a mere millisecond, guaranteed you will loose it as sticky fingers pounce from literally out of no where.

Where does it go from here, where does it stop, what has been put in place by your company to meet the ever changing demands of today's consumers?

[NRM_Oz]

Clearance items for meat are quickly vanishing as people deep freeze what they can and last week my father said he spotted someone pulling sale items from someone else's trolley (cart) when they walked away, before quickly rushing to the registers to get out before being caught.

Groceries are essentials and items like clothing / entertainment can be reduced or delayed purchases to make $$$ go further. If people spend less, then staff cuts of hours will hit them first and anyone on casual or p/t hours are going to be losing out with their hours reduced or eliminated.

People are looking for alternatives to save money and on my last trip up the mountains I bought a 5lb bucket of honey for $13.00 US and showed it to my father when I saw him. He then told of a jar 1/8th the size he would be paying $6.00 US for. I promised to bring him more down on my next trip. Same as fresh produce $2.50 US a lb for pumkin and I bought a 6lber at the same place for the same price. For a large family these savings have to add up.