Are you affected by the current economic meltdown???

[barefoot serpent]

Originally Posted by slang

I'm working on next gen hip implants and business is good here, for now.

The mood is up here because this is supposed to be recession resistant at the very least.

Overtime and extra money for outside vendors and services is still available but requires much more paperwork.

Current national economic trajectory will bring even this very well run, cash rich corporation to cut jobs and shifts, IMO.

Until then life's pretty good. Once things slow down here I'll be taking another sanity break. That may be for a few years this time as the job market declines.

I dunno, ZMH is getting crushed and SYK is only slightly better. I think lots of folks a putting orthopaedic surgery on the discrtionary list.

[slang]

Originally Posted by barefoot serpent

I dunno, ZMH is getting crushed and SYK is only slightly better. I think lots of folks a putting orthopaedic surgery on the discrtionary list.

The current downturn is going to affect me sooner or later as it will with most of the people working in Ortho products in Warsaw.

There was big talk last summer and fall that there would be an increase of jobs here because the market was up on the boomers need for knees and hips. I've not heard a single word of that boom materializing since Nov 08.

Within this local area there's a bit of arrogance about the stability of the demand for bio products through all economic downturns of the past. On the rare occasion that I'd bring up the reality of an impending depression....or worse, people would chuckle nervously and tell me that I'm crazy.

As we see the trillions of dollars adding up in one bailout after another it's becoming more possible in the minds of many here that they will indeed feel the great pain of the times ahead of us.

Passing through the town one sees much the same situation as the rest of the country. Hotel business is down, car dealerships have gone broke and moved out, there are "for sale" signs on the lawns of countless homes and there is a general downturn in activity here.

Will the demand for hip and knee replacements remain strong considering each costs say, $20k+ (implant and surgery)? I don't know. My guess is that it will not.

It's just me talking here though. Only time will tell us.