Well, it's been an interesting morning. Jesse came home with news that about half of his company was laid off this morning. In a sort of sneak-attack, too: It seems like only the VP's knew, and not even the managers knew anything until this morning. No "which underling can you live without" queries, just "these people are gone, just so you know." They had a big meeting to tell everyone about it at the same time. According to Jesse, all of the technicians are gone (including quite a few people who have been around as long as Jesse, or longer), so who knows what's going to happen work-wise? Sounds like either there won't be much work, or there will be too much for the people left to do on their own.
But the bottom line is that Jesse has (finally!) decided to job-hunt pretty much full time during his free time at home.
We're certainly grateful that he is able to keep his job, at least for now. They said there wouldn't be a second round of layoffs. But I know that line. Same thing was said after my law firm laid off people back in 2001. Guess whose job was lost in the supposedly not-going-to-happen second round? Yeah, mine. So I don't put much stock in someone telling you there won't be a second round. Especially not when they did this bunch of lay-offs so stealthily.
Like I told Jesse, I'm glad he's got some motivation on his own, now, even if it is a pretty crappy kind of motivation. I just wasn't doing so well at encouraging him. I just hope and pray that in this economy, job hunting won't be impossible.
We both feel pretty terrible for everyone laid off. It's not a pleasant thing to go through, especially this time of year. We know that first-hand. I'm just glad we don't have to feel it with kids in the house to take care of, too.
5 comments:
Wow, that is scary that they did it without any warning for anybody. It's terrible to get laid off anyway but just before Christmas?! Double whammy!
I'm so glad you guys are ok...for now. :)
Ugh. Very relieved for you guys - these days, it seems that even if you aren't wild about your job, you're at least grateful to have one. And your story makes me that much more grateful that James's boss's boss and some other high-ups gathered folks together a few weeks ago to give them advanced notice of lay-offs coming on Dec. 1. They didn't announce how many, or who, but they assured that everyone would be "taken care of" (severance, I assume), and at least everyone was able to update their resumes and maybe even start job-hunting. James is safe, too, but we'll be with you...2009 should be interesting.
not good! BUT I would LOVE for you guys to move closer. I had so much fun with you. Good luck with the job hunting! I think we'll put our house on the market soon, just to see if anything happens. Crappy economy, but hey! We'll see.
I almost missed this post. Wow that is so scary. There are so many layoffs and terminations happening everywhere. I'll make sure you are kept in our prayers here in MSVL.
I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope he'll be able to keep his job until finding a new one, or as long as you need it. :-S
The current state of affairs these days really has me worried. We've lost 50% of our savings (IRA's, Roth's, etc.), in just under 2 months. It just keeps going down.
Hubby's the accountant at work, so he's fairly confident he would be one of the last to go, but I still worry.
His boss talked about laying off 5-10 people before Christmas, and they've already shut down one of their subsidiary companies, and about to shut down another. But his boss changed his mind and decided no one was being laid off before Christmas if he could help it.
My thoughts and prayers are with you - for a good job, whatever it may be, to meet all your needs.
Cheers!
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