Recent articles indicate consumers are concerned about a recession and are adjusting their purchases accordingly. That however could not be further from the truth. Individual consumers don’t put the name recession on their concerns, that is a job for economists. Right now the economists and forecasters can not see the trees for the forest.

It is a hard assessment when individuals see daily evidence of the lack of job security. The pieces of the puzzle take many forms. It may take a while for the news to hit mainstream media, but with enough pieces, the overall picture can be recognized by the lowest level of employees. It does not take an active imagination to try and prepare for hard times ahead with a few pieces of the puzzle.

Some pieces may be:

Are vacancies being filled or is the workload redistributed among remaining employees?
Have work hours changed? Alternative schedules, reduced shifts, overtime due to loss of employees followed by lost overtime as workload is shifted?
Have housecleaning and trash removal been reduced? Are buildings, parking lots and grounds looking a little rough?
Are messages distributed warning employees about energy consumption, consumable supplies, or driven (threatened) to higher performance?
Maintenance Performance- Is equipment being routinely inspected or maintained with used or reconditioned parts? Or worse yet, is it being shut down, removed from service, and salvaged?
Have safety, emissions, or health standards been adversely effected?

I can go on for days, but you get the idea. It is time for economists to lose the power suits and visit the cafeterias, break areas, and local watering holes. Only after that will they see how the trees create the forest.