ccmckee

And yet they are still making monmey, pretty bad when you break your own profit record http://ctv2.theglobeandmail.com/serv...N/ctv-business

morkable

I really think that Ft Mac is going to be sheltered a bit from this downturn.. price of oil is allready starting to climb back up,. once it hits 60-70 a barrell, it will go crazy again

Kevin

Diesel Dave2

Yes.....Calgary needs the price of oil to go up....The EPC are the ones that are really getting hit.Jacobs has already let go 1000 people...Amec about 500.

03 ant a hemi

there was no slow down in the economy when it was $40bbl,. they just need to get their books in order stop panicking, so what if they arent making douple or triple their operating costs, they are still making lots of money, the costs have not gone up to produce the product so they can stop crying that tune.
When they say they lost xxxx billion dollars that is from theri projected budgets of $100 a bbl. If they actually ran in the red besides infrastructure projects they would have shut the doors long ago.
Take a breather, this maybe a bit a run along from the big guys but they realize if they shut down to long this time they will be worst off in the end when they want to fire up again.

DWeiler

Buddy of mine told me today that they let 50 plumbers go from the company this week in Alberta,they are a larger commercial /industrial operation mostly.He was a bit worried but the owner said he need a recession/slow down to help get rid of the "slackers"in the company,-----these are the guys that show up for work 2-3 days a week,seem sick every other week and demand that anything/everything be given to them.The boss says he always remembers these fellas when times get tight and sleeps well knowing that they are outta here.He loves to keep the guys who get the job done/done right/wine the least and take pride in there work..------For me things are a bit slow from last year but it was a record year for sales/$$$ so would like things to be a little bit quiet /level out for a bit,one thing with the bread business is people will always have to eat.DW

Scotty

Over here in Sask its all I hear from companies...They are too busy. Or you try and get something done and its delayed for something else they feel is priority or ya get a know it all clown with no skills messing things up.
I just had a company come and measure/quote new windows. I measured and got a quote at Home Depot myself. The guy at Home Depot tells me my cost on the windows would be the same from one of their approved contractors that they get a margin and the labour. So I thought what the heck...lets get a quote. I was guaranteed a call in 48 hrs and 18 days later I get a call. Then the guy shows up late. Then he starts telling me what I need not what I want. I get a call a wk later and am told the price of just the windows with no labour. Its double what I got quoted from Home Depot and its the identical windows.

I politely told him to work someone else and then he says if I do not commit to that even before labour quotes [because he has to come back and pull the mouldings off for a more accurate measurement] it'll probably take 4-6 months for them to come put them in. Yeah right.

I get agitated when companies want to crank the consumer like this.

The real big pay and the real big times are not so big no more.

Scotty

pind

Scotty

I agree with your post. I can see the downturn in the economy being good for knocking some of these swell-headed construction and housing contractors down a few pegs.

I rarely hire anyone to do anything for me, because even when I buy materials, and charge myself out at my normal hourly rate, I'm still cheaper. That is truly disgusting. I used to hire out all my welding jobs, and any and all construction stuff. Now, I simply do it myself, be it on my own place, or working for my regular customers.

When shops here hit $100/hour, I went the other way. I run a mobile truck for substantially less than that, and provide 24/7 on site service. My rates haven't changed since 93, and now that things are tightening up a bit, the "big guys " are getting slower, and I'm getting busier.

Darn it all to heck. Where was my business model anyway?

I'm not one to say that slow and steady wins the race, however, do an honest job, for an honest dollar, and no matter what the economy does around you, you'll always have clients.

Festus

Schlumberger is doing exactly that. They let go 5000 I heard, however, they're still hiring.............newbies are stayin' in the same hotel as me.

While I'm evaluating as I'm training with my company, I've been told by management that "if you can't see the candidates doing what you did in the field, put a bullet in them, and ask them to leave training. We want the cream of the crop even if only one or two make it through each class."

Maybe we can get a bit better service as a whole out there with this.

Scotty

It seems like the free for all...call your price and name your rate is becoming a thing of the past. I think thats a good thing as long as the pendulum does not over correct and swing so far right that we get into a depression as opposed to a recession. Its not like we can learn from our past...at least part of it anyway. Most of what we are encountering now has become a very complex business structure with all kinds of hands in the pie. Simple is good as long as simple can provide good quality service and good quality products. Lets just say, I have learned the hard way on that one. First hand on both sides of the fence. The learning curve was expensive and can sometimes make a small business or individual very leary about running on your own again.

My brother in Houston tells me whats happening with the company he works for and they are down to about 5% of their original work force from 3 yrs ago.
Scary! He may be moving back before fall and has been there 21 yrs.

Scotty

Diesel Dave2

Heard on the news today that there is a threat of world trade wars now...

Scotty

My brother said the same thing to me today. I wonder how many countries are self sufficient? Are we? Would we stay that way or would it be east vs west or PQ's or even each province start holding out?

Lets see...we got cows/grain/oil/uranium and hmmm coal, refineries

Somewhere someone mentioned to me how close all of this is running to what had been predicted for years.

Off topic a bit...sorry, I will go to my room now.

DODGER BOMBER

Hey Scotty, If your lookin for windows, i might suggest Home Hardware. I bought mine in estevan(cause it was a convience thing for me) but they had fair price and they got me everything on time they said it would take. I got Jeld-wen triple pain/low-E roll out windows. I think for all 7 windows cost me 4600 but i got 4 other quotes and these were a bit more that 2 other quotes, but the thing was time to get them. I think the home depot and rona were a bit cheaper but it took them for ever to get back to me(i think they were about 4200 but took 8+ weeks to get). I think all in all my bill with siding and exterior foam was like 8000 +/- which was cheaper than alot of places i got quotes from. Sorry to go off topic, but i thought i would give you a heads up.

morkable

I bought my windows from a company in Edmonton called Weiss Windows... the price was amazing thousands less than the nearest quote.

Kevin

Scotty

I'm probably going to get scolded for swaying the topic. So?
I priced my windows at Menards in Minot. 1/2 of up here and I am making a trip there in a few weeks. Two wks eta for the windows. I have accounted for the exchange with this price. I did not go triple. I am doing 11 windows. All but the living room open and they are all single sash. UP HERE its more money for the sash style. Down there its more for anything other then the sash. All the old siding comes off in a few weeks, 2" foam and stucco.

Don't ya just love renos? All jeldwen Low E too.

Scotty

Diesel Dave2

Don't worry about going off topic...