The Financial Meltdown and Workplace Stress in Las Vegas
My wife I are currently in Las Vegas and we are stunned by the constant news of how the financial crisis is flattening the Las Vegas economy, causing huge job loss, and creating enormous anxiety and workplace stress for local people. It is hard to imagine the extent of this downturn when we think of Las Vegas, gambling city of the world, playground for the rich and famous, a modern-day engineering marvel in the Nevada desert. Yet this amazingly wealthy city is suffering in the current financial crisis. The local newspaper reports event cancellations, revenue shortfalls, and widespread job sackings. It seems that even this famous city is not resistant to economic pressures and thousands of locals are experiencing workplace stress as a phenomenal level.
Yesterday we caught a taxi to one of the famous factory outlets and the taxi driver, a 23 year local, said he had never seen anything as bad economically in Las Vegas before. On the famous Strip, 40,000 jobs have been lost. These are, of course, service industry jobs. Waitresses, bus boys, door attendants, dealers, and all the support personnel are losing their jobs. Many of these jobs rely on tips from satisfied customers but when money is tight, tips are small.
President Obama made reference recently to the fat cat conventions being held by members of the finance industry in Las Vegas. Fear of losing the stimulus package caused many of these finance executives to cancel events in Las Vegas. The latest figures show that cancellation of conventions and business meetings has meant 111,800 fewer guests and 236,700 room nights fewer than expected. Of course, when people are in Vegas they gamble and the estimated reduction in gambling revenue for this current period is $131.6 million. This does not include, for example, spending on wine and food, shopping and tourist travel. The impact on the local economy is devastating and this downturn is causing enormous anxiety and stress at all levels of employment in Las Vegas.
For some months now there has been news of home foreclosures by the hundreds if not thousands in Las Vegas. These foreclosures have spawned a new business: a bus service that takes people from foreclosed house to foreclosed house either for gratuitous viewing or for potential purchase. What a sad time we live in.
All of these factors leave thousands of people in Las Vegas as victims of workplace stress, anxiety, fear, and depression. Even if people do not lose their jobs immediately, there is an ever present threat of job losses that makes them feel insecure, worried, and fearful. This kind of personal stress and workplace stress can be extremely disabling. It is very hard to be confident and stress free when in this city of extravagant riches there is so much uncertainty, job instability, and financial uncertainty. When we see reports that gambling revenues have declined for the 13th straight month we can imagine that people have become nervous about their jobs and their workplace stress levels have increased dramatically. Let's hope we soon see a turnaround in the economy.
Warm regards
Dr Jeff
For the team at Mighty Digital Downloads
Dr Jeff, a psychologist, writes about workplace stress, personal stress, interpersonal stress, and how to manage stress. On his blog,http://www.drjeffbailey.com, he answers questions from readers. He works hard to make his articles practical and helpful and all of his articles are based on sound research evidence and extensive clinical experience. Please go to his Dr Jeff blog to get your free report on stress.
Tags: manage stress, relationship stress, relieve stress, stress, stress at work, workplace stress
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