A Laid Off Perspective
I tend to read blogs from parents, not just focussed on parenting but talking in general about a parent's perspective. One of the blogs that I read, "Laid Off Dad" had an interesting post on the effects of having been laid off during the high tech shuffle. The effects of a layoff go so much deeper than financial.
My husband and I were lucky ones. We know friends who were off work for more than a year and accepted jobs that were significantly less pay than before. I was laid off in February 2002, after returning from maternity leave. They had replaced me while I was off and I knew that the company was not considered "family friendly" so, when I had no job to go back to and was given pieces of other people's jobs, I knew the writing was on the wall. It did not make the conversation any easier to handle.
It took me a few months to figure out that I could be home with the kids without the guilt of not having a job and rather than looking for full time work, I agreed to watch a friend's kids and work part time (one day at the office and 7.5 hours scattered throughout the week). It actually worked out best for everyone. I was making reasonably good money and getting out of the house one day a week. And I was home to abuse the kids during the day. Even so, when a full time position came up I jumped at it even though I was seven weeks post-partum with my third. I jumped because I just never knew when I would get the next chance.
For Todd, I was already off work. He was laid off in September 2002 and, unlike me, he did not see it coming. The company was doing well however, they had set up Todd's office as a satellite office (always a risky place to be) and they had just delivered on a cutting edge technology. Delivered translates into limited future value. They shut the whole office down. Todd was only off for 6 weeks when he used his contacts and landed his first contracting job. This lasted for 3 months, then 3 months more and during the final weeks of the contract, Todd landed a job with a company making software to help learning and economically disadvantaged kids learn math and English.
In both our cases, we landed on our feet. While there was economic "strain" there was never the possibility of losing the house, or being forced to sell the cars, etc. We were never up against a wall. However, similar to Laid Off Dad, I have never brought in personal items to my desk. I keep one drawer of documents that I would need to bring with me when I leave. And I prefer contracting (there is a clear end date that both parties agree to in advance) over supposed full time employment. At least in contacting you get well paid up front and have the ability to save understanding that there will be times without work.
My husband and I were lucky ones. We know friends who were off work for more than a year and accepted jobs that were significantly less pay than before. I was laid off in February 2002, after returning from maternity leave. They had replaced me while I was off and I knew that the company was not considered "family friendly" so, when I had no job to go back to and was given pieces of other people's jobs, I knew the writing was on the wall. It did not make the conversation any easier to handle.
It took me a few months to figure out that I could be home with the kids without the guilt of not having a job and rather than looking for full time work, I agreed to watch a friend's kids and work part time (one day at the office and 7.5 hours scattered throughout the week). It actually worked out best for everyone. I was making reasonably good money and getting out of the house one day a week. And I was home to abuse the kids during the day. Even so, when a full time position came up I jumped at it even though I was seven weeks post-partum with my third. I jumped because I just never knew when I would get the next chance.
For Todd, I was already off work. He was laid off in September 2002 and, unlike me, he did not see it coming. The company was doing well however, they had set up Todd's office as a satellite office (always a risky place to be) and they had just delivered on a cutting edge technology. Delivered translates into limited future value. They shut the whole office down. Todd was only off for 6 weeks when he used his contacts and landed his first contracting job. This lasted for 3 months, then 3 months more and during the final weeks of the contract, Todd landed a job with a company making software to help learning and economically disadvantaged kids learn math and English.
In both our cases, we landed on our feet. While there was economic "strain" there was never the possibility of losing the house, or being forced to sell the cars, etc. We were never up against a wall. However, similar to Laid Off Dad, I have never brought in personal items to my desk. I keep one drawer of documents that I would need to bring with me when I leave. And I prefer contracting (there is a clear end date that both parties agree to in advance) over supposed full time employment. At least in contacting you get well paid up front and have the ability to save understanding that there will be times without work.
posted by y-vonne at 4:26 AM
2 Comments:
You couldn't pry my government job from my cold dead fingers! I remember being envious of my friends in the early parts of this decade as they skyrocketed with the tech boom, and then being relieved when I didn't have to endure the recession that followed.
Security is underrated!
Thanks for the link... great topic. I work in the high tech industry, in project management. My husband works for the same company.
One never knows when lay off's are coming, and while both my husband and I have managed to dodge that bullet thus far... we never feel "safe".
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