Victims of the Crash - Chewers who have lost employment in the past year - Page 2

Awesome. Misery loves company and all that.

I'm not in any serious trouble right now, though. Thankfully my mom's been very understanding of my situation and hasn't kicked me out yet. I just want to start my career already.

I have joined a mod project for Half Life 2 that will hopefully make it to release. It's not glamorous, but it's paying an it'll look better on my resume than my stats in TF2. Plus I badly need the practice.

Update: Thank fucking CHRIST! I finally landed a decent job.

It's not as much as I'd like to be making at this point, but it'll pay all the bills, allow me to actually SAVE some money each month while having fun, and it's moderately in line with what I want to do career wise.

Longest three months of my fucking life.

Congratulations! And good luck to those who've been affected by this crappy economy.

We lost a few folks at work, but since we're on Wall St., we were very, very fortunate. We lost about 12 folks in the NY office - one of whom was one of my bosses, a great guy who's very much been missed. We lost about 20 company-wide, so when you consider that there are whole companies that are gone, yeah, lucky indeed.

A couple of friends of mine have been asked to take 10% pay cuts but the worst hit has been my mate who lost his job as the Credit Crunch started - he is still looking a year later.

I wonder how companies look at the gap in your employment after you lose your job. Usually they ask you to account for your time since your last job, but will it be different now?

I would suggest doing something. I did a couple of months voluntary work, and I started up some new hobbies. It gave me stuff to talk about at interview - obviously I said I hadn't been able to find work, but it made it look like I hadn't been sitting around at home bitching about not having a job. I'd actually done something constructive.

But I imagine they will be a lot more understanding of gaps in employment now than they would have been a year or two ago. For a lot of people it's completely unavoidable.

Well my first child was born a couple of months ago, which has kept me busy, and my wife is happy I'm around.

Very small update, but it turns out I'm slightly retarded because the project I joined isn't a mod at all but an actual, factual indie game. Now that NDA I signed makes a bit more sense. I've always wanted to work on one of these and if we make it to release it'll look fantastic on my resume. I'm pretty excited.

Hopefully things are looking up for everybody.

I was laid off from my first management job in October of 2008, after being on the job for only a year. Took me six months to land a full time gig, but I was very fortunate to land freelance work via LinkedIn during the interim. It was enough to keep me in my apartment, and my kids fed.

The worst part was that I had a serious relationship end in December of last year, too. The first few months of 2009 were really, really bad; I would literally have weeks where I had no reason or money to leave the apartment.

I did start working out more often - one of the luxuries of time. I also tried to get more active; meetup.com really helped with that, though my city is not terribly active with it, and (at the time) driving to one of the nearby larger bergs wasn't a good option due to gas and food expenses it would likely incur.

Thankfully, through networking with friends, I was offered a full time job in late April. I count myself very lucky - this area is extremely difficult in finding a job making the kind of money I had been making in my field. I wake up every morning feeling very thankful to be employed and able to provide my daughters with health care.

I was laid off yesterday from the job where I've worked for the last two years. It's a mom and pop store in the process of slowly failing, and I knew it was a matter of time.

Life has been a kick-you-in-the-teeth machine since I got home from Afghanistan. That job was what got me out of homelessness after a year of sleeping under bridges. There's one shelter within twenty miles, and it's got a waiting list a mile long. The winters are brutal in southeastern Connecticut, and the last time I was living out of doors a guy across the river in New London froze to death in the city park one November night.

The state and federal assistance for which I qualify can't possibly come fast enough to save my apartment. I loathe the thought of being homeless again. There's no way of knowing when anyone will begin hiring again. I spent last night checking out my options, and by the time I went to bed I was pondering the question of precisely where I should take the sensible way out -- someplace private enough that I won't be interrupted, but someplace public enough that my remains can be found and disposed of by the proper authorities before they become a health hazard. There's no need to be thoughtless.

This morning the shock wore off and the tears finally came. I still don't know what I'm going to do.

Update: Day three. The job search has begun. Met the morning with wracking sobs of guilt over all the people in my life who didn't treat me like I was disposable, and whom I pushed away.

I was laid off, yet I still run the risk of procreation!

I was laid off on Election day in 2008, took me 4 months to find another job, and now I will be laid off again by the end of this year. Big company bought by an even bigger company who decided that even though they're going to keep the software application I work on, they want to do their own implementation, so they're getting rid of all the current folks while they start their 6-year implementation plan with a 3rd party company. Unfortunately, I'm still on COBRA from the original layoff since I was contract-to-perm in this job, and when I was supposed to go perm, the company got bought. So I get zero severance package because they decided not to hire me perm after all.

Goddamn, sir. Best of luck to you.


Sounds like maybe you should take your last bit of cash and buy a bus ticket for way, way south? Least you won't freeze to death.

This is just a horrific story. Sorry to hear about it.. you said Southeast CT, could you get a job at one of the casinos? Busboy's make money too.. or you could try security (as you mentioned Afghanistan). Just a thought...

ETA - Just a reminder, incase you didn't know this. Eviction takes a few months and if you have CL-P and electric heat, I don't think they can turn off your power in the winter (pretty sure of this... check their website.. as that may just be with kids in the house or you have to tell them or something (you got me man.. I remember someone me about their problems in a bar once and how they got around it)).. if you didn't pay your electric bill, they'll send you a shut off notice and then just call up and work out a payment arrangement over a few months. If nothing else, consider that for the next apartment you seek.

Yeah, are you in a decent sized city/town?

Hit those restaurants, man. Dishwasher, busboy, ANYTHING. You've been employed for awhile, got to try to ride that wave while you can.

Final Update:

One of the competent members of the family finally looked at the schedule, realized that they were generating more revenue with the owner's kid in his original position and me in mine, and asked me to come back. I start back tomorrow.

Half of me is thinking, "seriously? After all the bullshit I just went through?" The other half is thinking, "I AM IMMORTAL! I HAVE INSIDE ME BLOOD OF KINGS!"

I'm still going to actively search for more hours elsewhere so that I have more of a safety cushion, but I've stood down from desperate drastic action survival mode.

My sincere thanks for the empathy shown here, and heartfelt warm wishes for those still waiting for the sun to shine on them. I love you guys.

If it helps them appreciate me more, I can't bitch too much.

The whole affair has certainly enhanced my relationships with my own family in ways that I didn't expect. We're a distant bunch, and I for one have wasted a lot of time creating my own loneliness by pushing them away, but I'll save that story for another day and another thread.

Good to hear that things worked out, Rheokhu.

I'm really, really glad to hear that everything worked out for you. It sucks to be out there with nothing in this economy. That being said, I think the smartest thing you can do is to keep looking for something with more hours and better money, as you said. If you are near the casinos in CT, that's a good place to start. Don't pin everything on this one job when you have time to hunt for something more secure.

Oh, no doubt. The casinos here are trying to cut costs now, too, but there's always work that nobody wants to do.

Looking for work when you actually HAVE a job is the best time.

Haven't been on for a few days, but I'm glad to hear it worked out. Any port in a storm, but that doesn't mean you can't keep an eye out for a better port.

So, after a company-wide meeting today, I've probably got 4 weeks at most, then I'm done. Again. Laid off twice at two different companies within 12 months of each other. First rime for "cost-cutting" measures, and this time because the company got bought out. Of course, I'm a contractor here, so I'm sure I won't count against the number of people they list that they're laying off.

Dammit, Martianman, I'm so sorry.

Likewise, Martianman. Update your resume, your LinkedIn page, and start looking now.

For what it's worth Martianman, from one anonymous person on the internet to another, you have my support.

Martianman: I'm a contractor as well, so I truly wish you nothing but the best of luck in your search.

Just got my walking papers, I'm done at the end of year. Bad time to be someone who works in new construction in Chicago, all the work is drying up. Losing the olympics drove a stake through our hearts...

Thinking about moving to LA. Sick of the midwest winters. Hopefully the job market is better there...

Henry, I'm so sorry. Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

Well, out of the blue I got a call from a competitor of the company I used to work for. I start a new job on Monday, after being laid off for 4 months. I honestly didn't expect anything until next year at the latest, so I hope this works out. Good luck to everyone here that still needs hope.

Rockin' good news, Wydren! Congratulations and best of luck with the new gig.

Yaaay! Congratulations!

Congrats. You don't have a non-compete agreement though, do you?

That's awesome Wryden. I'm slowly starting to dig out of my own hole. I finally got my creditors paid up, and the lack of constant phone calls has been great. I'm still not going to feel comfortable until I have a much more sizable cushion in the ol' bank account though.

Non-compete's very rarely hold up in this kind of situation. No judge is going to uphold a document that will prevent someone from makign a living, especially coming off of a layoff.

Seconded. Most non-compete clauses that I've seen guard against the employee quitting their job and then going directly to a competitor.

Thirded. ESPECIALLY in this market. The only way I could see a non-compete getting enforced in this climate, is if trade secrets are being infringed/in danger of being infringed. Hope you don't work in R&D.

Yeah no joke! If a firm is laying people off it's doubtful that they have the funds to launch a proper non-compete violation lawsuit. Those things can take forever to sort out! Good for you Wydren!!

Thanks for all the well wishes. No, there's no non-compete clause, so I'm good. The only slightly bad thing about it is I hear this new company doesn't treat their employees the best, but I haven't experienced any of that first-hand. Hopefully it's all hearsay, but any port in a storm I say. It beats worrying that my unemployment is going to run out so that I'll have to sell the house in this market.

Was feeling sorry for myself (and a tad embarrassed), but I was laid off a couple of weeks ago. If anyone from the Arts, Entertainment, and/or Interactive fields wants to connect/network on Linkedin, drop me a PM.

Not too many leads here in Orlando.

I'm voluntarily leaving me job for a lower paying non-retail position. Am I crazy?

Awww, Dark, I"m so sorry.

Alex, good luck!

Well, I guess I can add myself to the list as of Monday night (day before my 31st birthday, I might add, GREAT TIMING!). At least I've been given about 8 weeks notice, though how that's going to be impacted by the end of year shutdowns and a lot of legal firms having longer shutdowns this year because of the economic climate, will just have to wait and see.

So, how weird is this--not only did they not get rid of me at the end of October, I'm still here, and I talked to my boss this morning briefly, and I got the inclination from him that they're not letting me go until either I get another job, or he's told specifically that he has to let me go. However, we're having a big lunch today with his new boss, so that may spell doom for me sooner than later. I asked the guy I contract through if he had specifically been told a date yet, and that if he hasn't, until someone tells me that I need to turn in my equipment, I'm gonna keep on truckin' until they do, or I get another job.

Heh, it would be cool if you kept this job for the next three years due to some Brazil-ian Bureaucratic error. Hopefully this isn't like stapler guy from Office Space :P