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Unnerving

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Basil

Basil

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Boss
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So I go to lunch with a co-worker and friend, today; a guy who's office is just down the hall from mine. A while after we are back from lunch I'm walking past his office and I see him boxing stuff up and figure he much be moving to a new office. "Where are you going," I ask? "I was just laid off," was his punch-in-the-stomach reply. My friend has been with the company almost 20 years and is a really solid guy who has contributed greatly to our operations. He had no prior warning that this was about to happen. Turns out there were 14 people let go yesterday in similar fashion, which has of course left many of us who remain somewhat shaken. The division/ operations I am in recently re-organized and they felt it necessary to "streamline" the operations. I'm up at 4AM because I just couldn't sleep because of this.
 
We're in perilous times.
 
That's what happen to me after 17 years. Two days later they hired a new person to take over my job. It has almost been a year but has given me time to finish off my Abarth.

Now looking for a new career opportunity

Cheers

Mark
 
Unfortunately I'm also a member of that club... built up a territory for a company and then wham...
I'm still looking......
 
It certainly is frightening.

I'm at the age (57) where retirement is a bright, shining light not so far down the tunnel. To lose my job now is unthinkable as I need every penny to meet my retirement goals. I have several friends in the same position. A couple of them have been laid off during this awful recession. Not fun at all, their family retirement plans completely shattered.

If misery loves company, just talk to some of the 80+ crowd who remember the last big recession (the Great Depression of the 20s/30s). My Mom talks about it often, unimaginable depravity. This one is a mere hiccup compared to the "real" one back then.

Nevertheless, our current economic scenario is unsettling, frightening, sobering. I've been lucky so far, but it could happen to anyone.

Sorry about the shakeup, Basil. On the bright side, talented folks always land on their feet. I hope your workmate is among that group. :yesnod:
 
And for those same reasons, people aren't buying as much dentistry as they once did.
 
Not only does a person get laid off, management thinks it's okay to not give a warning. Whatever happened to decency and respect. Torques me!

While yes we are in precarious times it would seem to me that the days of working for the same company all your life and then being given a gold watch and retirement party are never to be seen again. There is no such thing as loyalty, either by management or the young employees of this generation.

Am I wishing for the 'olden days'? I think so.

Stay forward thinking Boss, your skill level and intelligence will always allow you to come up smiling.

:banana:
 
I'm sorry, but you mean your surprised???

It's everywhere man! There is no segment of our workforce that is immune.

I was fortunate to be very close to a point when I planned to retire.

Some of the lessons I learned:

Your just a number, regardless of what they tell you.

Never, ever, ever, ever, trust an HR person!!!!!!

Sorry, even after more than one year I occasionally have a fit or two.

My advice - hang in there but have a plan B.
 
Bill: Are you kidding! I'm sure you are quite intimate with most dental insurance coverage. Prior to retiring, I had the typical corporate coverage. It was not real expensive for two of us, but the max. coverage was only $1500 per year. You can't get much done for that amount anymore.

Note: We are fortunate to live near two very fine dental schools; Temple University and University of Pennsylvania. We have enrolled in the student dental program at Temple and now have all of our dental work done at cost+. I'm having an implant done now and the total cost will be approx. $1200.

I mean I have to have some toy money, after all. :yesnod:

Cheers
 
One of the few real benefits of being self employed. As long as the bills are paid, I can still be here.
 
I'm self employed and anyone who wants my business can have it.
 
I'm self-employed and blame the boss for under-appreciating and under paying me. :crazyeyes:
 
meh... me too. But th' meetings between th' bargaining unit and management get interesting then.
Like playin' chess against yerself. :wink:
 
I'm self employed too!
Total job security -- at least I know the fool that will fire me better than anyone else on the planet.
Also: I work two jobs for the price of one (no benefits) and I can go fishing anytime I want to, as long as I don't mind the total hiatus of income.
 
Hi, Boss - It happened to me 6 weeks ago. 21 years with the same company. I'm 61, and they said no other in house project could afford my salary. Don't trust em, and Have A Plan. Mine was to finally finish rehabbing our 200 year old house - it's worse then going to work every day!

Hang in there. :yesnod:
 
Last year my husband was "let go" in July. He worked there for 16 years. This was after six months of covering not only his territory, but another territory as well. The company hired TWO guys to run the area my husband had spent 16 years building up. What is even worse...they are paying two guys each about 1/3 of what my husband was making.

I think that's the scariest part..there are so many people out of work that they are happy about the opportunity to go to work, even at a reduced salary. Many of these larger companies are taking advantage of this and letting their workers that have been there and built up a comfortable salary go and replacing them with employees that will do the same job for less. (In this case 1/3 of the amount my husband was bringing in)

We did get the last laugh though....several of my husband's MAJOR accounts were unhappy with losing him and took this as a time "shop around" and move to another company that wasn't as expensive.
I know it's not Christian to revel in their losses, but their way of doing business in the last year or two is just not right.
 
Being 34 I have a loooong way to go till "retirement" age. I fully expect to never retire. I think things will be a lot different when I get there. I think SS will be all but a memory 30-40 years from now, and I'll just have to live simply on my minimum wage salary from whatever chain store will still hire "old people" to sweep the floors.( not that I personally think that 65 is old, but employers seem to think that way) Until then, I work hard for a living, and even if my current employer were to close up shop, other garages are hurting for "A" tecs right now.
Even at my age, I know a lot of my friends out of work. I thank the good Lord for giving me a good trade to make a living with. (Even on the days when I wanna quit)
these days, there is no such thing as a "stable" job, and there's no saying that I might not be looking for a job tomorrow, but as long as there are broken cars, I can make a living repairing them somewhere, somehow. It'll never make me rich, but I can still afford food.
 
That is the sad thing Banjo, modern cars are bloody hard to fix. All of us that stay in the business, SHOULD make a really good living. I try real hard to stick with old British and Italian cars, but I still see some 21st century stuff. Since I am self employed, I get to shell out the $$$ for scanners, and O scopes and so on to fix the new stuff. Still, I read every trade publication I can find, and am on a couple of mechanics forums, but I am still slipping behind on the cutting edge stuff. We should be paid like rocket scientists, since that is what we are becoming...
 
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