For those who have been laid off or know people who have

[jingramm]

how did it work out for you? Know any friends who have been through one? Are they all okay now?

I'm concerned because I just got laid off and I know it's very discouraging at first, but I hope there is light at the end of the tunnel. I really don't want a large gap on my resume if I can help it

 

[Rifter]

It worked out, i worked warehouse jobs for 10+ years working my way up the ranks to management and made good money. Then the economy tanked and i got laid off, through my connections in the warehouse scene i got a few more posistions in lower paying warehouse work(forklift operators and general order picker) but then got laid off from all of them(4 different companies) within a few months due to downsizing.

After the last one it was march so i decided to take the summer off on EI and enjoy it for a change instead of busting my balls looking for work right away like i had in the past(untill this point in time i had never spent more than 1 week between jobs in my life).

I didnt even make it till the end of april till my new job found me, my girlfriends best friend was working for a tow truck company as a dispatcher and wanted to get into a different field and asked if i would be interested in taking her posistion. I gave it a shot and now 3 years later i still love my job. Im looking into higher paying dispatch jobs now that i have 3 years under my belt hoping to land one in the 60-80,000 a year range but my boss really wants me to stay and might offer me the cash to keep me since we are opening up a new office soon, he actually wants me to manage the new office im just not sure i want to go back into management(more like back into babysitting).

 

[JEDI]

how did it work out for you? Know any friends who have been through one? Are they all okay now?

I'm concerned because I just got laid off and I know it's very discouraging at first, but I hope there is light at the end of the tunnel. I really don't want a large gap on my resume if I can help it

i'm a little worried.
my guarenteed contract expires in mid-2012. doesnt look like they're going to renew unless the economy picks up

have over a years expenses in the bank and rising to ride out the expected (still) rough econ next year.

 

[SwiftWind]

The main thing is stay positive and do whatever you can to make yourself more marketable. i.e. improve your skills, pick up new ones, make connections, and believe in yourself. You have to keep a positive attitude not just for yourself, but also because it will show when you interview for new jobs.

Stay confident and keep doing what you can to increase your chances of landing a job.

I wish you the best man.

 

[Oyeve]

In the last 2.5 years I have been laid-off 3 times. The first lay-off was at a company I was at for 15 years. Made it up the IT ranks and bam, lay-off. I have been struggling ever since and am now doing consulting work. No benefits and making 40k less than I was making 10 years ago. The economy sucks and I see no light at the end of the tunnel for years to come. Its very tough right now in NYC.

 

[bruceb]

Last job was for about 3 years and 6 months or so. Then the layoff came in early 2011 .. turns out the entire dept we were contracted to got it. Contract renewal was at hand and the bid from our company was not low enough to win. Also taking some time to rest and relax before attempting to go back to work.

 

[shortylickens]

As of September I been out of work for 3 years.

It sucks donkey balls, trust me. Stirred a hatred for illegals and politicians I never knew I had.

 

[Oyeve]

As of September I been out of work for 3 years.

It sucks donkey balls, trust me. Stirred a hatred for illegals and politicians I never knew I had.

I hear ya. Everytime I go shopping now I see the asian immigrants buying better food than I can and whipping out a foodstamp card. Pisses me off as I cant even get that and I also have no more medical and they have medicaid.

 

[shortylickens]

I hear ya. Everytime I go shopping now I see the asian immigrants buying better food than I can and whipping out a foodstamp card. Pisses me off as I cant even get that and I also have no more medical and they have medicaid.

Legal immigrants I got no beef with. They pay taxes and learn english.

 

[nageov3t]

two of my friends both lost their jobs in May-June and have yet to find new ones (one was a journalist, the other was a chef)... I don't worry too much about them, even prior to losing their jobs they both voluntarily lived at home with their parents.

the journalist has stopped looking for a job, though, and is now trying to find a husband instead.

 

[Schadenfroh]

My lab had a $2 million annual budget with only a handful of employees. After the federal budget fiasco, our budget is now zero. Everyone was laid off, save for the professors who only receive their salary from the department for teaching. The only thing that saved me was graduation, which arrived right as the money ran out. Our lab was mostly full-time employees with a couple of students.

Everyone I knew there is gone, angry and upset. It sucks, bad, I really liked all of them.

Sorry to hear that you were laid off, OP. My mother was laid off two-years in a row once, only to be rehired by the school system at the last minute. It really messed her up psychologically.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

It really depends on you. Some will say a lay off ruined their lives and they were "forced" into becoming an alcoholic and was out of work for years. Another guy will say it's the best thing that ever happened to him and he's found a great job. More than likely the former was a lazy piece of shit that sucked unemployment dry then continued sleeping on his moms couch while the latter example worked his nuts off looking for work then once he got the job continued working his ass off. Like I said it's all in how you handle it. Life throws you some shit but it's how you handle it that defines you.

 

[Engineer]

My blog

Long story short:
Laid off on March 5th, 2010.
Landed and started job on March 22, 2010 (banked 3 months worth of severance from laid off job) *
Found new and much better job (not advertised) and started on October 11th, 2010.

* Company that I found job after being laid off shut down last month with no warning.
* Every person but one that was laid off last month from that company has already found a better paying job than they had.

Even though I used Careerbuilder and other sites, it was networking and calling of many people and talking to them that helped me find and/or land both jobs. Far more important that I ever realized as I had been at the same job for nearly 18 years.

Better than before:
Pay is up $8,500+ from the layoff of 2010.
FREE insurance saving another $3,600 year from 2010.
Driving distance from 36 miles per day down to 15.4 miles per day with much easier drive.
Much better boss (owner of company).
Been out of town 0 days since starting nearly 11 months ago (was out of town 60% on last job taken after layoff).

Worse than before:
Vacation is down from 23 days per year to 5 (will be 10 next year).
Sick days down from "up to 45" to 0
401k down to Simple IRA and can't start until November of this year (had to wait 1 year! ).
401k match down from 3.5% to 3%.
Expenses (i.e. lunch if you're on the road, etc) at much lower rates than before.

Overall, life is very, very good! :biggrin:

Good luck OP!

 

[pontifex]

got laid off in 2008. was on unemployment for 2 months and then got my current job. not what I want to be doing but then i really don't know what I want to do.
well, not really my current job. got hired on as a contractor, then got hired permanently, then about a year later the group I was working for was losing it's contract so I ended up applying to the company we were contracted to and got hired by them. I now get to work from home and get paid about 8k more than I was making at the previous company which is nice, but the work still sucks.


I did lots of interviews and never heard back from 99% of them.

I was scared at first but then after awhile it was ok. was kind of nice having some time "off" work. I did take on some part time work to help supplement my unemployment pay until I got hired full time.

 

[ultimatebob]

got laid off in 2008. was on unemployment for 2 months and then got my current job. not what I want to be doing but then i really don't know what I want to do.

I thought that you liked guns. Why don't you find a job in that field? Pennsylvania is crawling with gun shops and gunsmiths... there has to be something out there.