enonomy and work complaints

Many businesses are needing to downsize because prices are going up. In the case of business I work for, we havent lost work in comparison to the last 3 seasons but we have decreased the amount of staff working. Prices of fuel have gone up, plants, products, everything has gone up. So..... less staff, and same amount of work...... It makes no sence! People are being pushed to work harder, longer hours. But now we are doing the work of 2 or more people. No raises are in sight either, and our cost of living is skyrocketing.

What irritates me, is that I am salary. No one here has job descriptions, because everyone works together to get things done (my bosses idea). But we are all strapped, and trying to get our own departments work done..... and we are supposed to help each other? When I bring up that I am unhappy with the hours that I am working, I am told that I am not getting paid for the hours that I work, but the job that I do (salary). Ok.... no job description, not enough staff.... how do I know when to end my day? In previous seasons it was when the work was done I left. This season, I just leave at the end of ~my shift~. Because if I wait till the work is done, I aint never leavin!

With the economy in this scarey state that we are currently in- I am unable to make a decision. We would like to move, maybe build, maybe buy land. Scared to do that right now! Will jobs be available in 5 years? I am starting to wonder. I'd like to make the sacrifice (live simply) and either go PT or get a new job (maybe even be a SAHM)- but to scared to make that move with how the economy looks.

So I guess I will just hang tight. Try to be as happy as I can be today, and tomorrow. Hope our economy shapes up so I can make some changes in my life.