Happy Holidays! Now let the recession begin.

Hat tip to Ben Jones at the Housing Bubble Blog:

“Delia DeYulia was recently forced to take her first retail job. For the holiday shopping season, DeYulia is working part-time at Kohl’s, placing clothes on racks and cleaning dressing rooms. She resorted to taking the temporary work after not finding other employment.”

“After 15 years with Fremont Investment and Loan, she lost her mortgage job in Anaheim Hills in March.”

“‘I’m used to sitting in an office,’ said DeYulia, who audited loans at Fremont. ‘Now, I’m on my feet all day. I’m carrying a lot of stuff and my body has to get used to it. It’s hard work for a minimum-wage job.’”

“DeYulia’s position was one of 3,800 mortgage jobs cut in Orange County from Oct. 2006 to Oct, 2007, according to the state’s Employment Development Department. Many of those laid off have reluctantly turned to retailers for jobs to help pay the bills.”

“Robert Harrington and Shad and Corinna Vickers, are looking for retail jobs. Harrington of Tustin, was let go in September from Bankers Mortgage in Santa Ana. As its loan originator, he made about $75,000 last year. More than half of that was from commissions.”

“That’s why he thinks his best bet is to find a commission-based job at a luxury retailer or a store that sells big-ticket items. ‘I just need a commission-driven job because it’s better than hourly,’ he said. ‘I need the benefit of being able to make more money.’”

“Corinna Vickers was let go a year ago from Secured Funding in Costa Mesa. Then two months ago, her husband Shad Vickers, lost his job at Lending Tree in Irvine.”

“Combined, they had been making $200,000 a year.”

“Now they’re both unemployed and have been hunting for work to pay their bills and help them save for retirement and college tuitions for their four daughters. They have not had any luck and now the Vickers are both willing to take on holiday retail work.”

“‘I need to stop thinking about a career and start looking for a job,’ said Shad Vickers of Tustin.”
“Rhonda Struman of Laguna Niguel is not waiting around to get hired full time. Last month, she began working as a part-time salesperson at Nordstrom at The Shops at Mission Viejo. It pays $8 an hour. Before she was laid off in August from her underwriting position at Paul Financial in Irvine, she was making about $70,000 a year.”

“Her husband also got laid off from the mortgage industry. He was pulling in about $130,000 a year. Now, he’s working for $11 an hour at a Costco in San Juan Capistrano.”

“Because of their huge pay cuts, they’re having a hard time paying their $3,400 monthly mortgage. They sold off their boat to get rid of the monthly payments. They will soon sell their furniture.”

“‘I cry all the time and I’m stressed all the time,’ Rhonda Struman said.”

“By February, she and her husband will leave Orange County for Colorado to look for mortgage jobs or work that pays better than their current employers. They’ll rent out their Laguna Niguel house to help pay the mortgage and then rent in Colorado.”

“‘We have no choice,’ said Struman. There’s too much competition in Orange County. ‘There are too many people out of jobs’ who are looking for new work.”