Dead-beats, check-in!

Well, its official, they laid off the entire Houston office.  

The timing sucks, as this is before the regular hiring cycle, most of your paid holidays you expect to get are forfeited (thanksgiving/xmas/newyear), but at least I get my three weeks unused vacation and generous European-style severance paid out.  

Wondering if I should just retire early at 30...  

Anybody else lookin' for work?  Seems the job market is pretty sucky.

My daily job is going to go away sometime after the first of the year. I deliver the mail. We had a national mail count in Sept and volume was down, of course. EVERY route dropped. I have a small route so I'm expecting it to be chopped up and fed to other routes, cannibalized , as I call it. I'm HOPING to have something left, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll go back to being a sub. That means I'll be guaranteed one day a week, and sub on vacations and sick days for the route I'm assigned to. I'll be able to work other rts if the sub for that rt can't do it. I will be the Senior RCA and first dibs on a rt that becomes available. But as I am the oldest carrier in my office it's doubtful anyone is retiring soon. I never thought that when I started at the PO almost 18 years that I would end up where I began.

You are 30 and your prospects are better than mine I'm sure. Try starting over at 54. It's depressing but I'm trying to keep a positive spin on it. Maybe I can have time for my painting and eek out a bit of income from that. I have a few leads for that but I just can't find the time to get serious about it.

Does being a full-time student count? :lol3:

While I would hate to inflict the job on anyone, we have found trucking to be consistently lucrative and stable.  If I lost my job tomorrow, I could have 5 new ones before the next morning.

Ducman, if you want something to make a little money before Christmas, check with Toys R Us.  But read the comic strip "Retail" first!

http://www.retailcomic.com/

My brother-in-law was laid off from NASA along with everyone else - it is gone from Houston now.  His wife (my sister) died two weeks before his last day at work, very tough times. 

Ugh I'm sorry you are going through that.  I hope you find something you will be happy doing soon; in spite of the economy.

 

mrblanche said:

While I would hate to inflict the job on anyone, we have found trucking to be consistently lucrative and stable.  If I lost my job tomorrow, I could have 5 new ones before the next morning.

Ducman, if you want something to make a little money before Christmas, check with Toys R Us.  But read the comic strip "Retail" first!

http://www.retailcomic.com/

Click to expand...

My Dad had just started a trucking job when he finally got a call for a job in his career field a few years ago.  (He is an aircraft mechanic/inspector/instructor)  It was the best thing he could find to meet his needs.  I hope he doesn't have to go back to it (mostly because it takes him from my Grandma, who needs him and my Aunt to care for her) but at least he's single.

 

Wow, so sorry to hear that when is the economy going to get better? Or can it at least stop getting worse? Geez i hate hearing such bad news

Btw, what industry did you work in? I'm wondering because if I remember correctly you were talking about IT in another thread....and from what I've heard there are still IT jobs out there...

Sorry to hear that - I'm sending job hunting

ut0pia said:

Btw, what industry did you work in? I'm wondering because if I remember correctly you were talking about IT in another thread....and from what I've heard there are still IT jobs out there...

Click to expand...

Yup, I'm an IT monkey, problem is that geographic location is more or less irrelevant with current technology, and so more and more of the industry is being outsourced overseas.   Some of our contracts went to Venezuela, some to Jakarta, and a big chunk to India where a "good" salary is often below the poverty level here and there is greater incentive as the company doesn't even have to pay payroll taxes (IMO if anything the tax for an outsourced job should be more than an employed American).    The quality of the work is typically quite inferior with greater downtime and the like, however, I can understand the need to cut IT costs as they can either sacrifice the quality of that a bit or have to fire some of their own employees if business is bad.  

I'm sure I can find something, but right now all the openings are unfortunately for stuff WAY above my pay grade so to speak.  Lots of demand for very high level project leaders and security administrators and the like, but I don't have the skillset for that. 

Good luck finding a new job!!!!!

DF is lucky..his field will always be needed. He is a mechanic and can work on anything from charter style buses, to tri axles, big rigs, all the way down to regular old cars and trucks. Hes an all around handy man when it comes to that kind of stuff. Right now he is a mechanic for a farm/trucking company so he works on all the big trucks, plus all the farm vehicles and equipment like tractors and combines. We are waiting for his new building to get built and then he will go over to another company owned by the same person and basically paint all day long but not full cars, things like bumpers, doors, fenders, etc. Better hours, better pay, and closer to home.

Not sure what your husband gets paid, but I know mechanics in this area are making $20/hour plus.  One lady I talked to said her boyfriend is a Volkswagen mechanic and he gets over $30 per hour.

Volvo (Bruckner) is opening a new location on the south side of Dallas soon, and they're going to need a bunch of mechanics then.

Ducman69 said:

Yup, I'm an IT monkey, problem is that geographic location is more or less irrelevant with current technology, and so more and more of the industry is being outsourced overseas.   Some of our contracts went to Venezuela, some to Jakarta, and a big chunk to India where a "good" salary is often below the poverty level here and there is greater incentive as the company doesn't even have to pay payroll taxes (IMO if anything the tax for an outsourced job should be more than an employed American).    The quality of the work is typically quite inferior with greater downtime and the like, however, I can understand the need to cut IT costs as they can either sacrifice the quality of that a bit or have to fire some of their own employees if business is bad.  

I'm sure I can find something, but right now all the openings are unfortunately for stuff WAY above my pay grade so to speak.  Lots of demand for very high level project leaders and security administrators and the like, but I don't have the skillset for that. 

Click to expand...

Sorry to hear this and good luck to you!

I was an IT monkey for 30 years before I got the axe. The IT offshoring starting over 20 years ago and I have yet to find estimates on how many IT jobs were lost from this country. I looked for a year for an IT related job and finally settled for one in retail. I just left that one after a year because the physical labor of mixing paint at a Home Depot gave me arthritis in my hands so bad that I can't do a lot of things with my hands anymore. The pay wasn't worth destroying my health and the money just isn't in retail. The hours really stink on top of the poverty level pay.

Yup - there are lots of project management jobs out there. My problem is that with 15 years in project management, I'm considered over qualified. I have about 10 versions of my resume depending on who I apply to (some are incredibly dumbed down). Even though I claimed that I'd never do an IT job in my life again, I'm considering taking one for a few years just to tie me over until I'm old enough to really retire. I'm hoping to find contract work where I only need to work a couple months a year.

My advice to you: the only way you'll find a job these days is by networking. Simply applying for a job, even with a stellar resume, doesn't cut it in IT. If you don't know someone in a company to get you thru the door, your chances are slim. Keep your contacts up with the other co-workers that were laid off with you, and follow up on any lead. I've seen jobs posted for developers (mostly Java and web these days), so there are more than project management positions out there.

We are always looking for good employees.  Finding experienced bakers is very difficult.  We can hire someone with no or limited experience but its a demanding job and many people are willing to handle the job's demands.  Production workers are well sometimes due to the hours.  Our pay is much better than fast food/most retail.

But we usually get hires that we are their first job or they just don't have the necessary common sense for working.

Good luck on job hunting.

Compared to a lot of companies that are in our line of business weve  always been really busy. Theres a company in my town though that just announced it can't find a buyer so it's having to let several hundred staff go. There's never a good time to announce redundancies but why do they always pick near Christmas?.

Rosiemac said:

There's never a good time to announce redundancies but why do they always pick near Christmas?.

Click to expand...

Friend that is in upper management said its because its a combination of being much better for budgeting your next fiscal year with a clean slate and not having to pay out all the holiday pay that comes starting late November.  Win-win for the company, lose-lose for the employees as for them its the worst time of year to be shopping for a job instead of Christmas presents and family vacations. 

Sorry to hear that Ducman. I'm guessing you have the resources to find something quickly. I hope it's a job you like.

Yes, we have been through it. In 2009 my DH had already been unemployed for 2 years due to being laid off when the company he worked for closed. Next, I got laid off from my job after being there almost a decade. I was the highest paid employee. They said they couldn't afford me anymore. Family members replaced me.

THANK GOD I found a job in 9 days. I still have a job, but my paycheck is 3 weeks behind. Sometimes it's 4 weeks behind. My DH found another job, but his hours were recently cut to one day a week or less.

It's tough out there. I agree networking is the best way to go.

Ducman69 said:

Well, its official, they laid off the entire Houston office.  

The timing sucks, as this is before the regular hiring cycle, most of your paid holidays you expect to get are forfeited (thanksgiving/xmas/newyear), but at least I get my three weeks unused vacation and generous European-style severance paid out.  

Wondering if I should just retire early at 30...  

Anybody else lookin' for work?  Seems the job market is pretty sucky.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry.  What a lousy time to lose your job.

Ugh.  I'm trying (still) to look for something.  I've been doing some volunteering in the social services sector- and I really kind of like it.  Unfortunatley- any kinds of jobs there (along with lousy pay) would require me to go back to school (again) for another 3 years.  Ugh.  Considering the last time I tried full-time school- I got NO help around the house.  And my husband is 45 and I have 2 teenagers!  One of which is a SENIOR in high school.  (sorry for the vent- but their attitude didn't help the massive stress I was under)

I did turn down a paid job.  It sounded fun, it was a resident counselor in a group home for disabled adults.  I did that years ago and I enjoyed it.  But it was $8/hr. Shifts were either 3-11 or overnight.  And there are some risks with this job- the last one I had there were a couple of times where a client got aggressive on me (we had been warned about aggressive behavior from this particular person) and I got hurt (couple of bruises and scratches but it was kind of scary)

Anyways- I'm struggling with the idea.  I mean- I like volunteering.  But there's no pay involved.  And that kind of stinks. And I would like to do "something" with the rest of my life.  As I said- my oldest will be in college in a year, and the younger one is right behind her (freshman in HS).  I'm lucky in the fact that dh makes enough that I don't HAVE to work. 

The only paid thing I had this year was a 1 month stint with Pearson- I got to score essays that HS kids wrote.  For NAEP.  Kind of a pain in the butt job- but some of the things those kids wrote- oh my LOL

Cheryl
 

I was lucky 2 years ago when I got laid off. They waited until the beginning of January to tell us our store was closing. I worked at a store in the mall and the manager of another store knew me from coming into the store I worked at. She asked me to drop by one day and told me all about the job and I got hired the next day. That job was horrible and I lasted less than 8 months, but at least it was a job.

I am currently laid off again. I was working full time and an employee came back from maternity leave and suddenly I lost my job. The employee on maternity leave had said she didn't want to come back when her year was up but at the last minute she decided to and the owner of the company was not happy. There was only 2 full time employees and the other one had been there for about 5 years (I had only been there about 9 months) so I was the one who had to get laid off. I am trying to go back to school now. I am enrolled in a program that starts December 5, but I am still waiting to hear if my government funding came through or not. If it did they are paying almost $10,000 of my tuition and giving me $1600 per month for expenses until April when my unemployment runs out, then they are giving me almost $2000 a month. None of this has to be paid back so I am hoping it works out.

Well... if you're going back to school anyway, there's always nursing.

It probably depends on what area of the country you live in, but around where my mom lives (FL Panhandle) there's actually a shortage of qualified nurses with a work ethic. My mom is 43 and an RN, and she went from being a peon at her home health care (making medical visits to the elderly and incapacitated) company to running two branches, and she's always having to hire new nurses because she has to fire crappy ones.

It's not that they don't know the technique of inserting a needle, etc, it's that they don't want to comply with the rules, like paperwork deadlines and patient ethics and things like that, as well as getting to work on time and when you can take days off.

And the pay isn't the greatest, but it's something if you've got the the need.

I know, it requires a significant amount of school, but I just thought I'd throw it out there for anyone on this thread.

So prove my mom wrong... help sick people... be a nurse.

I am middle-aged and back in school.  I got to the point I couldn't physically continue to do what I was doing.  I'm taking medical coding and billing which also includes maintaining electronic medical records.  It's not something I would've chosen if the job market were really good but it's one of the few fields with growing demand that doesn't require at least four years of school and training. I'm beginning to think the only people outside of Wall Street that are making a lot of money in this economy are schools offering training especially in the medical field.