The Best Cities To Live In During A Recession
Posted on 17. October 2008 by Laurie RuettimannConsumerist has an awesome list.
I’ve laid off thousands of people. That’s not an understatement. Hundreds of those employees had other opportunities within the company — along with solid & gold-plated relocation packages — but would not move due to family reasons, personal reasons, or personal preferences.
My best HR advice? If someone wants to pay you to move and you like your job, you move. You move during the good times. You move during a recession. You move your parents. You move your kids. You move the dog. You find new doctors. You find a new dentist. You find good schools. You find the nearest Starbucks.
You can do it. You should do it.
Me? I’m moving to Raleigh, which is right next to Durham (a city on the list!). I’ll be fine. You? You really need to rethink your attachment to your town, your house, your yard, your garage, your neighborhood farmer’s market. Those things exist elsewhere. In fact, the farmer’s market might be better in a different town.
Move.
3 Comments on “ The Best Cities To Live In During A Recession ”
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Laurie, you can’t be serious. I know that you’re only expressing your opinion but to claim that a job, no matter how “great”, is something that’s worth uprooting your life over is ridiculous. You have ties to your town. Your kids have friends. You have friends. You belong to a community. You’re supposed to give all that up… for a job?? Seriously? What happens when you uproot your whole family, move to your new town, and get laid off again? Now you’re in the same boat as you were in before except now you’re in a new place and don’t have any support system in place. General question, and I mean no disrespect, I’m genuinely curious. Why would anyone disrupt their lives for a job, even an “excellent” one, when, given the economic environment that we’re in (and I mean since the early ’90s when companies got into the whole re-engineering business), that job is not guaranteed to be there even a few months down the road?
Posted on 17. October 2008 at 12:14
Steve,
All good points and obviously this doesn’t apply to entrepreneurs and certain kids of jobs; however, in the Fortune 500 world, this advice is indispensable. Many times, your lost job can’t be replaces but your personal ties can be made (and even strengthened) by moving.
Also, I follow the money so that one day, when I’m retired, I can have a little more choice over my circumstances.
Posted on 17. October 2008 at 12:29
Actually, one of the joys of a certain type of entreprenuerial life is that you can make the decision to live where you want to.
Personally, I have moved numerous times for career opportunities. The very first time I moved, I moved my family from Lansing Michigan to Dallas Texa, going sight unseen into an apartment we found through an aprtment relaocation service. It took me 4 weeks from time of offer to starting my first day at Texas Instruments in Dallas.
It took almost as long to get our household belongings down to Texas from Michigan!
Posted on 20. October 2008 at 07:26