Taxpayers in a crunch
As the recession continues to weigh down the economy, taxpayers are looking to payday loans as an option to pay bills. Payday loans are short-term loans that are quick and easy to apply for. To apply for these loans you have to be over 18 years of age, have steady employment and an active bank account. If you are accepted, the lender will calculate how much you qualify for and it will be deposited to your bank account within a few days, sometimes hours. Many taxpayers are finding the payday loan a great option for funding as they wait for the recession to end.
Microsoft
This past week Microsoft Corporation reported its first decline in revenue in its history as a public company. As the world’s leading software giant, the company’s quarterly profit dropped by 32%, bringing it to $2.98 billion, from $4.39 billion one year ago. Despite being one of the largest companies worldwide, Microsoft has proven it is not immune to the recession. In January it had to cut over 5,000 jobs, succumbing to the market’s downfall. CFO Chris Liddell stated that the company expects their decline in revenues to continue “at least through the end of June.”
Microsoft is not unlike all companies. GM, Chrysler, and Bank of America are all experiencing lulls in their revenue generation business, indicative of a long and arduous recessionary period still to come. When industry giants are being swept away with the market, smaller businesses and consumers know that they are far from being out of rough waters.
Government help
While the auto industry and banking industry both received government help, other large corporations are left to use expense saving tactics to manage. Cut backs in employment represent huge potential savings to large corporations. Almost every large corporation today has seen some kind of lay-off, or has one pending. Although the unemployment lines are growing, many experts hoped large corporations would be able to stabilize the employment situation and create more jobs for the U.S. Unfortunately that is not the case. It seems that everywhere people are being laid off in an effort for businesses to survive.
The evolution of the payday loan
Those who are still employed are also suffering. They are looking to payday loans, not as an emergency fund option, but rather to make it through a month of bills. It used to be these were solely for emergency bills or unexpected needs. These days, it’s these types of funding that are getting consumers through their bills and are a standard practice. Melanie Shaller of Norwalk Virginia said, “My family uses payday loans almost every month. We didn’t plan on it; it just became a life-saver. We don’t plan on using them forever, but in today’s market there just aren’t a whole lot of other options.” Her sentiment is shared by a whole fraction of the population.
Help coming soon?
Americans are hoping for a turnaround in the market. When it will come, no one knows for sure. Analysts are projecting mid-2010 is when things finally will regain some normalcy and balance. No one knows exactly what that means, however. It could be that consumers are left with completely different loan structures and credit card policies. It could be that they are no longer benefiting from using these types of funding and payday loans are a more stable an option. Only time will tell where the market will be in a year. Consumers are left to wait it out and hope.
This is the worst recession in living memory – no doubt about it. Unemployment numbers that haven’t been seen since 1983, and the 1980s levels were second only to the Great Depression. It’s not exactly unexpected that even a titan like Microsoft would take a hit of some kind, but it’s still a bit of a shock.
I don’t care who you are, you will no doubt feel the impact of the current economic turmoil one way or another. Big or small, everyone has had to make sacrifices just to remain above waters. At this rate, Microsoft losing revenue is definitely not a shock. Expect big numbers from big companies.