I have always been amused with the demographics involved with both the micro- and macro-economic aspects of the way the world works. A demographic analysis of activities such as employment, consumerism, selling, investing, and so on throws out interesting revelations. Adding recession to the list of macroecomonic phenomenon to be demographically analyzed leaves me even more puzzled.
Factors like age, sex, location, and qualification have a profound effect on the behavioral patterns of people involved with / subjected to the weathers of economic phenomena. The play of inverse proportionality is intriging to see – growing while shrinking.
Consumerism (where small is BIG) Consumption patterns change during a recession with the introduction of smaller packets (sachets) of products that otherwise had begun to be offered in extra-large sizes…especially in emerging markets like India.
Job Losses / Unemployment (where better halves are better halves) During this recession, job losses tended to involve more males than females leading to phrases like “he-cession”. Job losses tend to affect part-timers more than full-timers…especially in Canada and the US.
Self-Employment (where entrepreurial spirit is kindled) Women until now have been driving growth in self-employment with small firms. The recession has reversed the trend with more men choosing to employ themselves and set up firms of the “unincorporated self-employed, without paid help” type.
Customer Expectations (where it goes inside-out) The ever-changing and demanding expectations of customers (read clients outside an organization and employees inside an organization) become more predictable during a recession. Clients want less but continue to ask for “more for less,” while employees want to do more and are possibly ready to do “more for less” – even if they don’t really admit it explicitly.
I suppose one just needs to learn to take the good with the bad and let it settle down, which it eventually does, albeit at a different level. The realization is clear – “change” is the only constant. In order to be apt, one needs to adapt.
“The other thing is quality of life; if you have a place where you can go and have a picnic with your family, it doesn’t matter if it’s a recession or not, you can include that in your quality of life.” – Jim Fowler
