Employee Motivation and The Economy

We all are familiar with the problems in our economy, which is also one of the major topics of the 2008 Presidential Election. Due to the problems with the economy, the credit crisis, financial institutions closing left and right, the downturn in the housing market, and our stock market being so vulnerable, people are getting more and more nervous as the weeks go on. We are all seeing the tightening of our budgets, trying to get out and stay out of debt, and some worrying about if they will have a job next week or a house to live in. Things are getting scary, but in this time, I think we are seeing changes in what actually motivates our employees.
We have seen the times where the things that motivate us to come to a job is the vacation time, company vehicles, employees allowances, and retirement packages. I think we are now seeing and heading more towards the time where people are becoming satisfied with just having the job that will pay the bills. It is more important to see that we can get insurance packages to support our families and having the essentials, not all of the luxaries. It is so important to just keep the job you have because our the scary possibility that there won't be anywhere else to go. I'm not exactly sure what the direct effects or differences in employee motivations that might come from the new President, but they will have an impact on the economy changing (hopefully for the better) which in turn will change the way we are looking at our jobs.
I am attaching a link to a website that describes ways a leader/manager can help in motivating their employees. They are the simple things such as your mood when you show up to work or giving feedback to your employees, that can help at any time, times of plenty or times of less.
http://humanresources.about.com/od/motivationsucces3/a/lead_motivation.htm
Enjoy! I hope everyone has a good day and remember not to take the little things for granted, try to focus on the things that we have, instead of the things we are lacking, and be grateful for them!