Coping with a Layoff: POST STICKIED SO PLEASE CONTRIBUTE.

[atomicat]

>> Dunno whether to say piss off when they call me next or show up at the account customer then say "na it's completely fecked they should have had it replaced a couple of years ago, oh btw the warranty is well expired, what sort of muppets are you paying to do a shoddy job like this  then wander off into the sunset whistling the theme from monty python.

Bollocks to it, I'm prepped, the debt is no more and I got shitloads of whisky and popcorn. Let the games commence.

-----
I can understand your attitude on being prepared and anger toward your former employer, but I don't think it's good practice to burn any bridge.  You never know if a good impression when you leave will make them more apt to suggest you for a different job opening or some other opportunity they find.  I think a humble exit is a better one.

I'd rather be at the top of the re-hire list than at the bottom with some macho feelings.

[Lurkalot]

I've got one piece of advice. Keep ypur heasd held high when you leave and leave with dignity and pride.

When you first entered the company you most likely entered through the front door and greeted the boss. That's what you should do in revese order.

I say this because I was shafted by a company after six months of building up their entire intranet from scratch a few years back. I've been booted a few times now to have a wiser outlook on the process. Even if you are partly to blame for the firing like for whatever reason not doing your job properly, the person firing you is in the wrong. I used to take the short cut out of the building on my way home.

When it came to bye bye time, as I'd done nothing wrong and was unfairly treated, I went out proudly. I politely said my goodbyes to all the nice colleagues I'd worked with, had a good laugh with and smiled at all of them. I also made a pont of going up to the scum that fired me and politely said "Goodbye and thank you". I then walked out of the front door.

So don't take the blame for this crisis and don't let them win.

[jock]

Actually I never asked for or applied for a job with the company. I was running the IT for a smaller independent co, which was amalgamated/bought out (specialist graphic work for bbc magazines). I was the fly in the ointment not to go into a long story but without me the model just didn't work. I was the liason who smoothed over and sorted out the crap between the public funded artistic types and the techys who did the grunt work and kept to deadlines.

I was headhunted and the new firm were such a bunch of costcutting fuckups once things were signed and sealed that they upset everyone despite my best efforts to maintain things.

So there is no chestbeating just the knowledge that even if they were rehiring I would have no wish to work for them ever again.

[elliemae36]

layoffs in companies are affecting the media.  it was already bad.  I know you all dis the MSM.  I don't post often because of it.

consider this.

before the 80's, more people worked in journalism than ever before.  then the bust at the tail end of Regan.  layoffs.

then, conglomerate media companies GROW after mergers.

then, the 90's.  the onset of the internet.  less cost to post vs. print.  fewer people to watch/ report/ (be allowed to report) what was happening.

then, the internet bubble, within corporate bottom lines.  more cuts - good journalists never replaced.  just replaced with cheaper hires who were younger, and dumber.

now, commercials with dire messages.

in this market, people who work at a TV station, made a 'commercial.  it aired today... and i happened to catch it.  these people work at the station where it aired.  not all are journalists.  their faces flash on the screen, and the copy goes something like this (i only caught it when i realized it was waaaay different) -------------------------

"if you don't buy american, you're costing american jobs............ and that would be a catasrophe."

the commercial is sponsored by car dealer (didn't catch which one).

the Cleveland Plain Dealer is laying off more people.  the 'union' ran a campaign in another paper - and then 'boarded the bus' to talk to 'sheeple' about what was happening, reportedly.

there are rumors, that after deep, deep cuts already, the akron beacon journal WILL CLOSE DOWN. 

layoffs?   sure.  they're happening everywhere.  a few TV stations in town did some major "talent" scalebacks.

guess what everyone?  it will soon hit the MSM.  but that's not so bad, right? 

the scariest part is this ------- layoffs = no LOCAL media.  any chance we had to keep people in the know, is gone.

good riddance MSM?  what about your LOCAL media??

good riddace LOCAL JOURNALISM? 

pray for us all.  First Amendment... and it's First, for a reason, right?

the end will come when the sheeple have no idea.  maybe this february.. when no one can afford / want to buy a paper... when only the middle class and up can watch TV.

sure, there are internet bloggers... are they trained journalists? 

God help this country.  There are reports out everyday that you all post on this board.  I GUARANTEE you only know half the story.  isn't that sad?  scary?

the next time you slam the MSM, consider what we are working under.  BLOGBLOGBLOG.  until the power is off.

******modification*******
i posted here because the mass layoffs now, and the ones to come, effectively cut into advertising rates - which is what journalism these days is based on.  (also it's what bloggers funds are based on, like matt, as he has already disclosed)

[shaleoh2]

Why did batman turn into the dark night
--bank foreclosed on the batcave
--robin got salmonella
--can’t afford to fill up the batmobile

***can the batmobile be a hybrid??

da da da da da da batman, batman
  hardtimes, batman

[shaleoh2]

can the energizer bunny last...
he keeps going and going

[jakam75]

"if you don't buy american, you're costing american jobs............ and that would be a catasrophe."

HA! People are so gullible.  I own an "American car", it was made in Canada.  Thats right, my Pontiac was made in Ontario.  I also have a Subaru, made right here in Indiana!!!  The same factory also makes toyotas.  Go figure.

[elliemae36]

thank God(dess) I have not been laid off (yet).

What in the world, do you say / DO, for a friend who has been laid off/let go?  Anything I can think of, seems so... shallow.

I'm looking for people to respond who've actually been let go.  My friend is a really nice woman, totally shafted, and, she was the bread winner.  There's no way they can keep their home, and put diapers on their 1 year old baby.

Please help me, help her...

[Lua]

You could invite her to live with you. That's probably about the only thing helpful at the moment - REAL, live time, survival help.

[Grower]

Maybe do something with her to help. Like, if you have the money, buy a beginning canner's kit, a box of Ball jars, and some tomatoes or fruit. Can it with her, to show her how and let her keep all the stuff.

Or help her develop a pantry organizing list and share a book that addresses cooking and eating out of the pantry (see the LATOC book list).

Or invite her to help in the garden next year for a share in the produce, and if you're really generous, help her establish her own. Even if it is pots on a porch.

Or something else that you're good at.

[elliemae36]

I'd invite her to live with me, but I'm in a small 1 bedroom apartment - I doubt she, her husband and baby would move in with me before they moved in with their family.

Maybe the pantry/ gardening ideas would work.  I actually kept a garden this summer at a close friend's house.  Was there every day from May til this month, when we had the first freeze (we live on the lake, and the temps are a bit warmer longer than south of the turnpike in Ohio).  Great success - beans, tomatoes (till the spider mites came  , winter squash, spaghetti squash, amazing red green yellow orange peppers, zukes, cukes, pumpkins, and more - on an inner city postage stamped-sized back lot.  LOL.  That is something I got really good at this year  .  Some were grown in containers, so I could teach her that ... in another 5 months....

Anyone have any other advice/ideas for what I might be able to say/DO right now?

Thanks!

 

[Jane Doe]

I think the most important thing is to let her know she is not alone. We get so much of our social contact at work that when it is gone we feel isolated. I was out of work for 4 months earlier and felt very alone. All my friends were working and busy so it was hard to catch up. It meant a lot when they would check in.

Is she an efficient shopper? Maybe help her stretch her $$. Unfortunately, there will be many more to join her.

[Barter4Booze]

Lurkalot -- What you did, greeting people warmly on your way out the door -- including the one who'd fired/given you the shaft -- was very classy.  I suspect it will do you good long-term.  Even if it doesn't, it was still classy.  The gesture put you head and shoulders above the rest in the Human Relations Dept.

[Nephilim]

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[Nephilim]

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