Just had to rant for a minute...

I just made it through the 4th layoff at the company I work for... I should be happy because i still have a job, and I am! The problem is that the people that got laid off today didn't have to be, and thats what pisses me off the most...

I have been at this company for 2 years and have made it through 4 Presidents and each one has gotten worse at keeping our company afloat. The other problem is that they will be tacking that work from the laid off team members had onto us.

I didn't go to college and don't have a business management degree but tell me if I am wrong, but if the company would stop sending the Marketing guy back and forth from his home state to Florida to work in our office (when he could do his job just as well from home) than the people that got laid off would be able to keep their jobs.

One of the people who got laid off was a single mom, who is going to school to get her nursing degree and was working at Wal Mart part time to give her son a good Christmas this year. But because they have to fly the marketing guy here to Florida every week she lost her job.

It's stupidity like this that I just don't understand....

I know that I am lucky to still have a job because alot of people out there dont... i just think that the high paid president that we have (who is single and also lives in another state and flies here every week could take a small pay cut so that all of us "little people" could keep their jobs. Hell, i would have taken a pay cut so she could have stayed and given her son a good Christmas...

Ok I'm done now... Thanks for listening...

 

Peter , I to just dodged our 3rd. layoff from work in three years. I have been here 10 years and was fortunate they let go a guy here 13 years before me. (Performance)

Was 14 of us when I started and now we are down to 5. I feel the pressure every day and now even more sense I have a greater work load.

I'm 52, have 2 kids, house payment and the thought of looking for a job making what I do now is very scary. The job market is very tough out there today.

I admire you moral feelings, but feel I don't have that luxury.

 

God bless you both. hope it all works out

 

I was recently suspended without pay at work for saying something out of frustration when I was egged on by a trouble-making co-worker. He called the anon 800 line and stated I was making threats of violence at the work place. I had to meet with a counselor, who determined within the first few minutes of our conversation that I was one of the least violent people she has ever met. That doesn't make what I said right. But compared to what things are said there daily it was tame. I saw the writing on the wall. I applied for and got a new job. I start Monday. I will stay there (I am an emergency dispatcher for an ambulance service) PRN. I am happy to be going back to Graphic Arts. I also don't have a 4 year degree (Paul - you listening?!), but 22 years in the industry did not hurt. Before when I was in printing, I was laid off so many times the state of Oregon paid for me to change careers. This might be available to your co-workers. These are scary times. Adapt and survive or die trying.

 

Makes me glad I stuck it out in the Navy for the last 26 years...I almost got out after 6 years. We too are being hit by the cutback bug. These junior guys are averaging about 12 hour days with no overtime/comp time. Also they are cutting back personnel on the ships...DDG's are down from 330 to about 275 and that's not including the personnel sent on IA's to Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

Thanks Guys, It makes me feel a bit better that there are others on the same page... It still doesn't help the good people that work very hard for their families get their jobs back... I am only 29 and am planning (and paying) for a wedding... My Fiance also works for the same company, which leaves all our eggs in one basket.. Not good! I will probably ride this wave out as long as possible but will be looking for something new as well, just incase..

Good luck to all us "little guys" and lets try to keep the faith!

 

Pete. You know my story (read above). Champaign-Urbana Illinois are college towns (U of I), and normally recession proof. With the economy, and whatever the heck is going on with the governor of this state - the college will be laying people off. They are not hiring. ACH Humko, which makes oil for Kraft Foods, is closing (one of our bigger employers) leaving 250 people with out good paying jobs. I just went to on-call status as an emergency dispatcher at an ambulance company - and will be going back into printing - because I couldn't make enough to survive. This is the worst I have ever seen. I know people with doctorates parking cars at the Space Needle in Seattle. Things are messed up. I wish you and your fiance the best - I wish everyone the best.