Articles in the New York Times (Return to D.I.Y Ethics Erodes Service Businesses) and Los Angeles Times (Gardeners Reap the Pain of Recession) describe the decline of outsourcing of simple services, such as beauty treatments, animal care, and house cleaning.
I don’t actually hire people to do these sorts of things (I did consider hiring gardeners though—we seem to be the only house without them, and I’m afraid it’s quite obvious, and once our dog went to a dog space—she liked it), but many people do, and they are a considerable source of jobs as described in the New York Times:
These small, service-oriented businesses are run in storefronts on urban streets and in suburban strip malls, or sometimes just out of pickup trucks. Responsible for roughly 18 million jobs nationwide, according to 2006 Census Bureau data, these companies have long been seen as engines of America’s economic growth. Yet after years of explosive expansion, many beauty salons, dry cleaners, landscapers, dog walkers, nanny services and restaurants experienced slower sales growth or even decline in the final months of 2008.
And from the LA Times:
Gardeners, like housekeepers and pool cleaners, are seen as extras when people’s houses go upside down or when they lose their jobs, said John Husing, an economic consultant based in Redlands.
“You can cut your lawn. You can clean your house,” Husing said. “These are those little extra goodies when you are feeling flush. They are also some of the first to go away when you are not.”
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:35 am
I have noticed with nannies who contact me that a number of them are losing their jobs or having their hours reduced. The only nannies that seem to have a firm hold on their jobs are the nannies who work for stay at home Moms. Stay at home Moms who still continue to outsource everything (with reckless abandon!)