good news and bad news. First the good news I get (or have ) to work till thurday of next week. An extra week. Bad news, no days off till then.13 straight 12 hr shifts. I will be ready for some time off by then. More good news that equates to 44 hrs of overtime in one week. I already heard more rumors that I will actually work for 3 more weeks.Beats me. I would just like to be given a date and told that will be your last day untill we have a permanent full time reg pay reg shift job opening.This constantly being told one thing and then something totally different is stressin me out. I finally got to have a beer after work today. It didnt really help anything, I just wanted another one and couldn't have i cause I was drivin. Oh well, when I get my last paycheck I will thank my self for working so much ( and sleep for a few days) I figured out that in the 3 weeks that I know I will work this month, I will earn 1 1/2 months wages.

 

I read this thread a few months ago with dread. I had been there before and thought a had done proper research of financials, growth and market back in Fall of 2000. I accepted an offer over 2 others at the time. My previous company had filed Chapter 11. Well the market shifted this Spring and has heavily affected the telecommunications industry. I made it through two earlier layoffs with my current employer, but not the most recent one last week. This was my reward for working 10-11 hour days and even July 4th to meet reporting deadlines. This reward was spiced with a generous one week severence package. Hopefully, contract work is forthcoming again or do I, heaven forbid, start selling off aftermarket items?

 

Laid off on January 9th from Bush Industries, we made ready-to-assemble furniture, like the desks and stuff that you get from Wal-Mart. Really has screwed a lot of things up, the unemployment helped, but it barely covered the bills, and it's a good thing I paid my truck off when I bought it instead of financing, I would less one great truck right now. They were good people to work with, and very vile and disgusting people to work for, they would knife you while they smiled in your face, they wanted people to work and not get paid for the jobs they were doing, and the ones that would got to keep their jobs. All 150 of them out of almost 700. People operating machines that are supposed to pay $13 an hour are getting $6.56, and when we asked about the pay they threw the 'voluntary layoff' papers in our faces and told us to 'make like horesh** and hit the trail' if we didn't like it. No unemployment now, can't find a job even comparable to the money I was making from unemployment, hoping something takes off soon. Their excuse was that 'In an election year, sales of major purchases slack up, and they still haven't picked back up.' Since when was an entertainment center a 'major purchase'? A Lightning is a major purchase, not a bookshelf. I really hate it for everyone that has lost their jobs, I'm ok because I am single with no kids, but lots of good people with children at home and families to support aren't getting anything, and I think that's really sh***y, because most of us worked our hind-ends off in less-than-favorable and usually less-than-safe conditions for the people that smiled while they axed us. What really gets me is when I apply for a job, and then I see the people getting hired with no work experience, or way less than me. That really sucks when someone less-qualified gets a good job and I don't even get an interview. Maybe it will pick up soon and everyone will get back to where they were. I hope so anyway.

 

Lucky me, A postion(that pays more than I was making before the layoff) was actually created just for me and I am a permanent fixture.I guess I made some kind of impression on them working all the 12 hr shifts in a row.(BTW That paycheck with 44 hrs of overtime got 45% taken out in taxes). I totally forgot about this thread or I would have updated sooner.Best of luck to everyone else.

 

I got laid off back Feb2 from a great paing job with GE Capital IT Solutions. I was in IT sales for government agencies, schools and others for the state of Alabama and a helped few others. Starting NOV 00 they started layoffs but they said not all will go because they need an American presence for the customers. Well come Jan 01 they said we are changing things, dropping contracts and moving what we can to India and other countries. THey did give us all a full two months severance plus I got my two weeks of vac. time added to that. I saved every penny of it and have made it just fine. Thank god I never fully quit my job with Advance Auto parts, I had just dropped down to working 1 day a week there and 5 at GE. Now I am at Advance full time but the pay is only about half. It is so hard to find a good job right now that you can depend to be there in 5 years, especailly in computers. Good luck to all, I know it sucks.

 

I started this thread way back in March. I am truly sorry to hear about all the layoffs and I am sure there are many more that didn't get posted. I have been laid off twice in the past 5 years and have ended up better off both times. Sometimes change is good, even if it causes short-term discomfort.

Here is my current situation: I was hired into a Contract-to-Hire position as an engineer for a startup medical device company near Boulder, CO just 2 weeks after my layoff. It is a good job and things were going just fine until I asked my boss about the Hire part of Temp-to-Hire. I thought they were going to bring me on full time after 3 months but they said 'hell no, when your project is done, you are too!' I don't know if the misunderstanding was my fault or theirs but their decision stands. Fortunately, my contract was extended all the way to December so I have 6 months to find ANOTHER FREAKING JOB! I am so frustrated!! Time for me to find another career besides mechanical engineering.

 

The small company I work (still) for...downsized from 175 to 55 since December 2000. Next week I think we get paid in I.O.U.'s

 

Went to a instructional class required by workforce commission to keep unemployment benefits coming and hopefully give us some insight in job hunting. Told us to expect to take huge pay cuts and unemployment rate in Dallas is now 6.6%. Were they trying to help or just make me feel worse? Do state employees ever get laid off?

 

Yes Crew Coach,
State employee's get laid off too. I am lucky that my actual salary is reinbursement from the federal gas tax through road projects, so I am not affected by state gvmt. shortfalls. However in SC this year, many revenue, prison guards, DMV, and other state jobs that are paid for by state taxes lost their jobs. As a matter of fact, you have 45 days here to transfer a tag when you buy a vehicle. I bought the wife a jeep and those 45 days have come and gone, still no registration. The DMV laid about 2/3 of the work force off that gives road test, renew license, process paperwork, etc. The state had to release the ability to write tickets for 'No Tags' since they can't process the work. Doesn't make since, and the lines are a block long. So looooong Governor Hodges....hehe