Friday, October 31, 2008

Slump Is Here, Shit's Hit The Ceiling

There is no running away from the slump. Wherever you are it is going to get you! Early morning newspaper articles, lunch time discussions, cricket commentary, chat with your parents/girlfriend/boss/receptionist, clients - you name it and the slump has cast it's shadow.

It has replaced weather as the ice breaker during meetings and also toppled the 'ISI Hand' as the number one reason for anything untoward happening in India (according to Mamata Banerjee it's still the CPM which retains the top spot though).

Will I lose my job? Will they slash my salary? Do I need to pay for my own food/phone bill/internet bill? Should I die? are various questions on all our minds, and we are sharing little titbits with our friends and colleagues about the dreadful cost cutting measures taking place in the office next to us, and how ours may just be the next.

People are postponing marriages and cancelling honeymoons. There are houses here, there, everywhere but not a brave soul to check them out, forget buy. Shift in sales from high end cigarettes/beer/chocolates/pirated DVDs to the next and the one below levels are taking place.

Some drastic steps taken are as follows -
  • Some firms are cutting down on the number of times their premises are cleaned.
  • Executives, in large IT companies, who could earlier get cab drops as and when needed for working overtime, are now finding that they need at least three other peers to get a ride back home.
  • Some companies are discouraging use of colour printers and round-the-clock use of air conditioners.
But, the award for the most radical measure taken to tackle the slump goes to -

"A leading Indian pharma company has already done away with toilet paper at its offices ..."

(Read original article here)


Now that's when they say the shit has hit the ceiling, or floor, or wherever.


P.S: This article shows it's now hit the dogs too.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

"When the shit hits the fan" you mean. :P
Toilet paper?!? ouch!

Suhel Banerjee said...

Good to see someone notice the missing fan! In these times there's no fan between the shit and the ceiling:)