Just got layed off

[EmergencyIan]

I hope it all works out for you soon. Take care.


- Ian

[Bo8a_Fett]

Hope things pick up dude....and you can look back on this as a life changing moment for the better...

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

I empathise. Last month we got cut to one shift a week. If it wasn't for the army I'd have NO money coming in.

So.... there's always the army.....

Don C.

[Adam West]

I know what it's like to be laid off and unless you've been there, you don't know how devastating it feels.

I definitely know the sense of betrayal that you are feeling right now. I was blind sided two years ago two days before Christmas and it came out of nowhere. The company I was working for was spinning off from a larger company with a proprietary technology and at the last minute, they pulled the rug underneath the spinoff that I worked for and basically said that they could not do any work that would potentially compete with the large company which was the bread and butter part of the business until they could stay afloat on their own. 2/3 of the company was let go and I was literally told to come in a conference room not knowing what was going on and told to pack up and leave immediately. My boss was completely devastated of having to tell me the news and I was even more offended when I got back to my office to pack up and see that my email and network access had been shut down from the time I walked out my office until the time I returned.

Looking back, I don't know how I had it in me, but I remember holding my head high, thanking my boss for giving me the opportunity to work there, thanking the CEO for the opportunity and they appreciated the way I handled it so much that they went out of their way to give me their highest recommendation.

I have also been on the other side of the coin, being the manager and having to lay off employees who reported to me. It is not easy on that side either. I wanted to give the employees a heads up of what might happen but I was explicitly told that I was not to say a word or potentially face problems myself.

I did end up with a better job, making more money and closer to home but I have to say it was lucky timing. My basic attack plan was to call every single recruiter that I knew over the years and try to network to find a new job. I didn't stop there and used every avenue I could think of....newspaper, internet, everything. Luckily, I had two job offers within a month. Since that time, I have tried to make an effort to stay in touch with the recruiters that helped me and in return throw them some leads if they are looking to place individuals at other companies.

My company was just purchased recently and I have no idea if the same fate awaits me in the not too distant future but for now, I have no reason to panic. I have already had my contacts calling me seeing if I want to jump ship since there are opportunities they think I would be a good fit. Right now, I'm not interested in moving since I love my job but I always try to leave options open.

Good luck with the job hunt. It really wouldn't hurt (as hard as it sounds to do) to send your former boss, a note to thank him for the opportunity to work for a wonderful company and for him and tell him that you understand what a difficult decision it must have been....I'm sure it was.

The main reason being that if possible, you want to use your former boss to give you a recommendation or reference for your next job. If you show respect and goodwill toward him and I'm sure the feeling is mutual, he probably feels as horrible about letting you go and you do about being let go and will probably go out of his way to give you the best reference you have every received.

[monkey tennis]

Sorry Man.
That sucks.
Hope things work out for you.

[jessica]

Wow. That majorly sucks. I think they like to pull the rug out from under you so that you won't leave them in a bind. That's why they like the surprise tactics--so you are unprepared to leave them. If you had gotten wind of it earlier, you may have started looking and then jumped ship, throwing a monkey wrench in the works. Good luck. All things happen for a reason and there must be something better out there. Has to be.

[Airdave817]

Man, that sucks. I'm here in the Med City, MN home of the Mayo Clinic and IBM. IBM's been laying people off left and right, mayo's been adding a lot of accounting people. Specialists and analysts.

Hang in there! Things will work out!!