The economic displacement from the current downturn has been severe on the professional classes of Silicon Valley. Many of the majors are ramping up redundancy programmes and trimming pay and benefits. This can come at a heavy toll on the financial & emotional well being of real people and their families. Sometimes the results are even tragic.
But bad news travels fast & like a snowball downhill, its impact can deluge most those at the bottom of the heap. Recently I spoke to the good people at Compass Community Services who provide support for families seeking shelter in the Bay Area. They shared some alarming, albeit alternative, economic indicators for life at the bottom in the Bay Area as we head towards 2009:
As a result, social welfare agencies such as Compass Community Services find themselves with 75% of their annual budget burned before even completing 6 months. of the fiscal year.
Corporations who pride themselves on their leadership inpositive sustainability impact usually target social investment at around 1% EBIT. Maybe its somewhat easier to be a good corporate citizen in the good times but if trends like this continue, corporations & their employees may just have to think even more creatively about philanthropy and growing local community need.