KEY POINTS:
When single mum Mary Shanahan was made redundant for the second time last year, she was devastated. Since November she has applied for 10 jobs unsuccessfully.
Shanahan worked in middle management at Counties Manukau DHB and says being told she was out of a job in April came as a shock.
She landed another job quite quickly, helping to run a rest home. But in November she was back on the job market, living off her savings.
Following a short but fruitless hunt, she feels there is little prospect of getting another role in the current job climate. Her money's running out and the bills keep coming. So she is launching her own business - investing in herself.
She says when it comes to being made redundant, you always take it personally. "I had only been in the DHB job a year when I was made redundant. I was very hurt," she says.
Shanahan found job-hunting tough, too. "The corporate world doesn't acknowledge my experience as a business owner, which is really strange because when you are self-employed you are meeting people from everywhere - from the bottom line right through to customers, staff, HR issues, accounts, payroll.
"My recent work history was in middle management, so I had been on quite a nice salary. Coming down has been hard."
And it's no wonder Shanahan is finding it difficult to get back into a job at her chosen level - the recession is hitting middle managers hard.
George Brooks, chief executive of recruitment firm OCG, says companies don't appear to be reducing salaries to cut costs. Instead, they are cutting out jobs wholesale - and middle managers are bearing the brunt.
"Companies have downsized their middle management and they did it very quickly and aggressively," says Brooks. "The expectation is for that to continue."
The Westpac McDermott Miller employment confidence index shows a drop in confidence during the final quarter of last year of 17.2 points to 104. An index above 100 means there are more optimists than pessimists, and a number below 100 indicates pessimists outnumber optimists.
Westpac's senior economist, Donna Purdue, says the deterioration in confidence is "nothing short of dramatic".
She says laid-off workers will find it increasingly difficult to get another job and expects the unemployment rate to peak close to 6 per cent this year, from 4.2 per cent currently.
Other economists say it will hit 8 per cent. In demographic grouping, confidence declined most in the 50-plus age group to which Shanahan belongs, with the index dropping to 94.3.
Like many 50-somethings, Shanahan has a lifetime of work experience and has made a list of transferable skills that she will use in her new business, Ask Mary. She has a degree in sociology from Auckland University that she gained in 2005. She's been in business running a drainage company in Ireland, and she opened the Immigrant Pub in Auckland with her former husband.
Shanahan says the turning point for giving up her job search and returning to self-employment came just before Christmas.
"I had been interviewed for a job and it went really well," she says. "On the Friday I was told by a recruitment consultant that I was in the top spot to be offered a job paying $75,000 a year, but on the Monday I was told they wouldn't be placing anyone in the role, which is all very odd.
"It was terrible - another let-down. I decided then that I have so many skills to offer that I'd start looking at doing something for me."
Shanahan's business is a little like Hire a Hubby, but with a feminine twist. Mary and any one of a number of associates will offer mums, dads and fellow business owners a helping hand when they need it, doing anything from childcare to completing a firm's GST return.
Shanahan has been working with life coach Clive Littin to identify her skills and break them down into categories, such as household management, business services, event management, hospitality and life planning.
"There's no doubt I'll be doing a lot of work myself," she says.
"But I also have a team of people ready and waiting to help my customers Jobs are already starting to come in by word-of-mouth."
Shanahan says one of the key services she will offer is life planning after redundancy.
"It is a very low time for people and many job hunters can have a feeling of uselessness.
So being able to support someone back into the workforce or help them start their own business would be great. I want to empower people."
According to Shanahan, the shadow over middle managers across the country is causing plenty to start making contingency plans.
"I know lots of people who are running small businesses on the side," she says. "Years ago they would do a night class to upskill, now they are starting businesses.
"The phrase on everyone's lips is 'multiple income streams'. People are not leaving all their eggs in one basket. They are looking at their transferable skills - we all have them - and are deciding how and where they can use them. You just have to sit down and realise what you have to offer."
HAYS RECRUITMENT HOTSPOTS
The most active demand for skills this quarter are in these sectors:
Accountancy: Management and financial accounting candidates, experienced audit and tax professionals and those with a career in insolvency.
Architecture: Candidates with experience in healthcare and education.
Banking: Banking analysts and claims candidates in the insurance sector.
Construction: Quantity surveyors with consultancy experience.
Contact centres: Customer service candidates.
Engineering: Mechanical, electrical and civil design engineers, environmental engineers, scientists and managers for infrastructure projects.
Facilities management: Technical and trades staff.
Information technology: Mid-level staff with two to five years of experience.
Legal: Lawyers with skills in insolvency and restructuring.
Office support: Executive assistants and experienced administrators.
Sales and marketing: Business development managers, internal sales staff, fundraising specialists and tender and bid writers.
