My job was eliminated today

[Scoop]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Thanks again everyone.

This is just a case of bad timing. I was planning a move to northern Wisconsin. We put our house up for sale just before the real estate market tanked. I was staying in southern Wisconsin until the house sold because we needed the money to run two households.

Now I need to come up with a different plan. I am sure this is a blessing in disguise.

I guess it really was mostly the shock of working for a company for that long, then having the change not be my own decision and knowing that the severence package will not really help. (While I still don't know what it is, policy is 2 weeks after 10+ years)

They asked me to stay for two weeks and said they would give me a good reference. All of my former bosses (who are no longer with the company) are on my current reference list.

No matter what happens, I am a big believer in not burning any bridges. This the first job where the decision to leave was not mine. All the others that I have moved on from have offered to give me a job if I ever came back. Of course that was over 16 years ago.

Calico, thanks for the offer to go fishing. I have already moved all my poles and tackle up north, but If you are ever going to be in near Rhinelander, let me know. I would love to go fishing with you.

Now that I have had a few hours to put life in perspective. I have to say I am lucky. I got to work for a great company with great people for a long time. The last 3 years may have been a little different, but I still had a job. I have a great family and will be moving to the area I wanted to live in for a long time. Hopefully I will get to go fishing more often in the future.

It was time for a change and this may have been the nudge (well maybe more than a nudge) that I needed to start on a new path.

As a lot of you said here, change is what you make of it. If I choose, I can make this work for me.

I appreciate everyone's support. Tight Lines​

 

[roscoe]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Hey Scoop, hang in there.
You will land on your feet alright.

The real estate market is tough in certain segments and some areas of the state, but if the price is right, it will sell.
You just need to decide if the price is right, or if lowering it now would be better than keeping it for 9 more months, or 18 months. Do you think your local real estate market will get substantially better by spring, enough to offset the payments, insurance, taxes, heat and utilities, that you will be paying for 8 or 9 months. If not, just drop your price by the amount you would pay over the next 6 - 8 months, and get it sold.

As for serving out the next 2 weeks, do it. If you walk out, you are quitting, and unemployment will be denied. ( every little bit helps ).

Plus, it will do wonders for you self image and character.

We will be waiting for you to find some new favorite fishing holes, and invite us up to dangle a worm.

Maybe you can find the location for the 2008 WI iboats regatta.

Keep us posted. And on your last day, whistle all day, and stop once in a while and do a little dance. The "Icky Shuffle" would be good. It will absolutely drive the other workers (and your boss) crazy !

 

[MikDee]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Hang in, and good luck to you Scoop! It sounds like you have the right attitude.

Scoop, They asked me to stay for two weeks and said they would give me a good reference. All of my former bosses (who are no longer with the company) are on my current reference list.

It appears you were valuable, and doing the right thing if you outlasted them

No matter what happens, I am a big believer in not burning any bridges. This the first job where the decision to leave was not mine. All the others that I have moved on from have offered to give me a job if I ever came back. Of course that was over 16 years ago.

And, IMO, this is the right thing to do also, as I would do too.
My son's girlfriend is still working with a Mortgage brokerage house in NC that 2 wks ago, just let go of about 300 people! With no notice, can you imagine that? Jeez, it's a crazy world out there today. Anyway, My Best to you, Mike

 

[ANIMAL]

Re: My job was eliminated today

All things happen for a reason. Now that reason may not reveal its self right away but there is a reason it happened. All you can hope for is that it was for a good reason...ANIMAL

 

[QC]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Yeah, I am in the do the right thing camp. I am a little confused though. Were you already planning on leaving after the house sold?

It seems to me that these things do work out for the best as you and others have noted. Good luck!!!

 

[Windykid]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Hang in there the two weeks, especialy since medical benifits usually carry a few weeks after termination. Also the unemployment money as a temp income until you find better. With the housing market, you may want to rent it out until the market recovers.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: My job was eliminated today

The only way to survive is to adapt and change.....get psyched for the next phase. Why wouldn't it turn out ok?
That said, I read that unlike 30-40 years ago when people almost kept a single job (or two) for life, the new average will probably be something like 5-6. This is something I always keep in mind for myself these days....ie: what's next?....and then try to control it, before it runs me over.
Sounds like your on it. Good luck!!

 

[Bob Huff]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Stick it out and be nice.. I've been there before and within 30 days or so they'd be calling me and asking questions, which I promplty billed them for at a 100.00 an hour (minimum of one hour). I made more in 2 weeks then i was in a month as a full employee.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Stick it out and be nice.. I've been there before and within 30 days or so they'd be calling me and asking questions, which I promplty billed them for at a 100.00 an hour (minimum of one hour). I made more in 2 weeks then i was in a month as a full employee.

....ahhh, consulting....what a great idea.
You know what they say about consulting?
"If you can't be part of the solution....then at least you can be part of prolonging the problem"
(that comes from one of the demotivational posters you should see on office walls)

 

[ANIMAL]

Re: My job was eliminated today

I've had more jobs and women {opps,I promised to be good} then I can count or want to remember. I still stand by my earlier post...ANIMAL P.S. Sorry there 57whitehouse, it slipped

 

[Scoop]

Re: My job was eliminated today

You know, this sleep thing is over-rated.​

QC, I was planning on leaving the job after my house sold. The company had changed and it looked like they were not thinking long term for sales in the area I was supporting.​

I spoke to HR today. They said that there are no plans for a severence package. My severence is that I get the next two weeks to look for a job while I have a job. For obvious reasons it is not called a severence because they had me promise to help transfer my duties.​

They are providing me a letter of recommendation and are promising to give me a good reference and pay me at my standard rate for the next two weeks. I promised I would be available by company cell phone, but that I probably would not be in to the office because I need time to look for a job out of the area.​

I will be eligible for unemployment, but I am hoping that I won't ever have to take it. This is the first time I will be out of a job without it being my choice.​

I am going to send out an email to the CEO later this morning asking if she will be a reference and/or give me a letter of recommendation.​

No matter what, I have always been professional in everything having to do with work and will continue that. It would not do me any good to be any other way and it makes me feel better about myself.​

My current boss has been totally professional and fair and I respect her for it. After 15 years and 9 months, I was hoping for severence package, but it does not look like it is to be.​

I have medical insurance through my wife's job so I am good there. We are cutting back to bare minimum on all expenses. My phone and internet access here in Southern Wisconsin will be shut off at the end of the month and we will subsist on a prepaid cell phone and free internet access during library hours in northern Wisconsin.​

We will be in good shape. It will be tough for a while because we spent our extra savings on finishing all the projects on our house so we could get it sold, but it gives us the chance to "re-live" the college years of eating Ramen noodles for dinner. The good old days.​

The company will be paying out my unused vacation and they just instated a policy that combines sick time so I will be getting that paid out also.​

Well, I think I will try to get some sleep. I am going to finish my chores here and head up Northern Wisconsin later this morning. My wife has talked me into taking tomorrow off and going fishing with a friend. Hopefully I will have time to drop some resume's off.​

I am not sure when I will have time to visit the board next since I won't have net access at the house we are renting. I appreciate all the support and I believe in the long run, that this will be for the best.​

I was out for a beer with a few friends tonight and one said that they have not seen me so relaxed as when I start talking about moving "up north". These were all friends that were smart enough to leave the company before this happened to them. They are the perks of my job. Over the course of 15 years, I met a lot of good people that are now friends for life.​

 

[Scoop]

Re: My job was eliminated today

I did not get to leave for Northern Wis today. My boss asked me to be on a conference call at 4:00 today.

I did get some good news. I sent a goodbye email to the CEO who is one of the owners. She is going to be a reference for me and is personally writing a letter of recommendation for me.

She is nationally recognized as a leader in the indutry and has been ranked as in magazines as a leader in the industry next to people like the President of HP etc.

She has not been directly involved with the day to day workings of the company for the last 3 years. She turned the working of the company over to the president 3 years ago. She is one of the best people I know and it was a priviledge to work for her for 13 years.

Well off to Northern Wisconsin early tomorrow morning.​

 

[CalicoKid]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Good luck Scoop, catch some fish!
​

 

[azlakes]

Re: My job was eliminated today

sorry to read about your job. can you appeal to your owner/CEO friend to reconsider a severence package? may be worth a try and who knows.

good luck

 

[Scoop]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Just checking in. Thanks for all the support everyone. When I was driving up here, I looked around and knew it was the right decision to move up here. When I mentioned this to someone up here, they asked if I had ever been here in Winter? LOL

Here is a quick update from my wife's work computer at a internet cafe'.

- Had a 2 hour interview yesterday for a good company. Hoping I move to the second round.

- Sounds like I will have an interview with the state on October 17th if no one transfers in.

- I helped someone get their data off their fried computer up here. In the process, a hard drive cable went bad on my computer and it fried my system board. Doh, bad timing. good thing I backed up my data.

- My last day is at work is Friday. I has been unreal how many people from my old company emailed me and said that they were extremely shocked that my position was cut and that they would be happy to be a reference for me. It made me feel like my hard work over the last 15 years was recognized by someone.

- I got the recommendation letter from the CEO. She also sent a great card thanking me for all my contributions over the years and other comments that really showed me that I made a difference to the company and to her.

She cannot interfere with the hiring and firing of the business. I believe that when they hired the current president, that the owners signed a contract giving him the rights to make changes to the business with no intereference from the owners. This also means severence decisions are his.

The last two weeks at work have been slow. I had already gotten my replacements trained before this happened so I had backups for vacation. I just shifted the stuff that I could not finish to them. I know they will do fine.

- My house has not sold. There we two more showings last weekend. There will be an open house this Sunday, and there will be another showing that afternoon. I am crossing my fingers, but not holding my breath. If it sells it will make things so much easier.

- My gasoline bill went down $200 last month and will go down a lot more this next month no matter what the gas prices are.

- The colors here in northern Wisconsin are unbelievable right now. They will last to the weekend, but not much longer. It is awesome.

- I got to take my boat out for the second time this year and did some fishing. Only caught a few small ones, but it was great sitting on a lake for an afternoon with almost no one around. The lakes up here are great in the late fall when all the seasonal people have closed up their cabins. It is not unusual to have a lake all to yourself.

Well, I better get back to looking for more jobs to apply for.​

 

[aspeck]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Congrats Scoop, on the job interview, the relocation, and the relief of stress. Hope all continues to go well for you and the house sells quickly.

 

[57whitehouse]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Keep us all updated please.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: My job was eliminated today

Scoop you're doing all the right things...and you are maintaining the right frame of mind.
You're going to win this game dude.
Good luck.

 

[moterboat]

Re: My job was eliminated today

if it is'nt a large company letting you go so the pension they pay will be less,right before you are to retire nowadays, then thier letting you go because someone will work cheaper,or a fresh face out of college with new ideas.. I worked a few dealerships in my day,but stuck to independant auto repair shops because of this,I would get tired of the place or it was'nt just working out,I would move on.. no big loss,its only a job and thier not the only job in town. I always figured that a career was being a doctor,lawer,ceo for a large co. anything else was just a job,or a job that pays 6 figures or better a year with full payed benefits I considered a career..Good Luck in your move and in your job search..

 

[arboldt]

Re: My job was eliminated today

From all you've said, you are a man of integrity. Work out your time and walk out with your head high.

The company I work for appears to have a corporate strategy of seeing how many clients it can alienate before we go under. The CEO is really moving along that track rather quickly.

We were told last April that our jobs would all be eliminated around the end of December. Instead of telling the company what we really thought, we've maintained our pride and professionalism. As a result, one of our client's board of directors was meeting today to consider buying our division. Haven't heard yet what's decided, but there've been a lot of prayers...

Take your time and consider. Rhinelander isn't that remote. Can youi do any consulting around there?