[zer00eyz]

Having been through the cycle twice I'm going to tell you a secret.

You could be the greatest developer, who has honed skills in every language and still be in bad shape. What you know has NOTHING to do with your ability to survive.

You need cash on hand. A lot of it. That recommendation about three months in the bank, you should have six months or better yet a year of your current salary. If you get laid off, you better start living lean. Cut every expense you don't need to make that money last as long as possible.

You need to have a network, cause skill alone won't get you work. Its quickly going to turn into "who do you know" and "who can get you in the door". It is vital that you build and maintain these relationships NOW, cause when it hits the fan, its going to be too late.

Honestly, the down has always been good for the bay. There is a lot of "medium talent" in the bay right now, and a down market is very much going to clear all of that out.

[ido]

It's always a good idea to save, but if you get fired in the US do you not get unemployment benefits?

I've been laid off in Austria before (a few years ago, the company I worked for downsized about half its workforce around ~2010) & was IIRC entitled to unemployment benefits for about half as long as I worked there (ended up finding a new job before the benefits ran out).

[arebop]

Unemployment benefits in California* last for 26 weeks, but the maximum benefit is $450/week, enough to cover about half the rent payment on a studio apartment in the Bay Area. Prudent workers save on their own for the possibility of unemployment.

*(corrected from U.S.)

[ido]

Interesting that it's not a percentage of your wage, seeing as you pay more unemployment insurance/social security the more you earn (at least you do in Austria and Germany).

In Austria it was 55% if your net salary IIRC.

[laxatives]

I believe it is tied to wage, but it isn't really designed to support high income earners and has a relatively low ceiling as far as software engineers are concerned.

[rharb]

It is a percentage of your wage, but they have pretty tight lower and upper bounds on it. Where I'm at in Ohio, it's one-half of your average weekly wage, but also constrained within $118-$435 pre-tax.

[vonmoltke]

You can't really talk about unemployment benefits in the U.S. because unemployment is a state matter.

[refurb]

Being pedantic here, but $450/week is $1800 per month. I'm sure there are examples of studios at $3600/month, but I've seen plenty of one-bedrooms in desirable neighborhoods for less than $3600/month (based on last month's Craigslist).

[seanp2k2]

True, and outside of SF you can find studios for under $2k, but unemployment won't additionally cover any living expenses beyond basically base rent.

If times were super hard, you could possibly find a room to rent for $1200 if you get really lucky, $1400-$1600 if not, then try hard to make that remaining $200-$600 cover the rest of your expenses, and good luck if you're not just single, young, able-bodied, and able to find another job in a few months.

[kbenson]

Presumably you could also relocate temporarily to a surrounding area where it's (relatively) cheaper, and bus, drive, and soon possibly train in for anything requiring you be in the city. You should have enough free time on your hands that the time eaten by commuting isn't a problem.

[shagie]

Relocation typically has the question of "can you afford to live here?" This is done with a pay stub of offer letter to see if you have 3x the money on it than rent. If you are unemployed this can become rather difficult.

This says nothing of the cost of breaking a lease or the expense of moving itself. If you don't have the 3+ month savings, unemployment checks are eaten away by basic living in no time flat.

This is being said by someone who had a paycheck bounce which in turn lead to what would have been a bad check written for rent. Fortunately I had a friend who loaned me $1k for rent who banked at the same place and immediately got me in touch which another job offer.

[ChemicalWarfare]

also if SHTF property prices will drop.

there is a dynamic there when once the foreclosure numbers mount, the rental prices stay stable because all those ppl who lose their jobs/houses need to live somewhere but in SF's case the real estate market including the rentals is so over-heated any major hiccup will cause them to drop significantly before stabilizing.

[nedwin]

Unlikely to see a big drop unless something really catastrophic happens. Relatively small drop in 08.

[ChemicalWarfare]

From the numbers I've seen the 2008-2012 drop was in a 30% range, considering the ~1 mil average price right now we're talking a 300K drop in value...

[zer00eyz]

You do get unemployment as well in the states in a LOT of cases, but it never lasts that long. However if your a "contractor" your not paying into the system so no pay out.

[rm_-rf_slash]

Excellent answer, thank you.