Lay off's

[GRABBER]

Last week I got wind of upcoming layoffs at the plant I work at.

Today 15 jobs that I had pending were mothballed and 3 that I was in the middle of construction on got stopped.

I'm hearing that the plant I work at is going to have a construction spending freeze.

It might not be pretty.

Anyone else worried about their job?

[shelbyfestguy]

Rob,

I have two friends that have lost their jobs out of the blue.

By all signs, I will be surprised if the majority of us still have our same jobs this time next year. I don't belive we have even seen the beginning,......


Keep your fingers crossed and pray every night.


Kyle

[iceman]

it's pretty ugly out there. Most of my clients are not hiring. THe only exception is the healthcare space....which is my least favorite and smallest segment (until 2009). It is still my least favorite but likely not to be my smallest.

Many comapnies are laying off and a few (like Google) are laying off in areas and hiring in others but the lay offs are outnumbering the hires.

You are not alone in your concern.

[GRABBER]

This has many people at work very uneasy including myself. I prayed for 2 friends over the last few days and during that process realized that I need to look at my own situation very close. My wife and I talked this evening and put together a game plan....just in case.

[JonW]

We're desperately trying not to lay anybody off at my company, but I don't know how long we can hold out. There has to be an uptick in the economy that starts soon, or this nation is in for a very rough time.

[Spring Lil Cobra]

we laid off 6 (~3%) of our folks and paycuts for upper management. also, not merit increases for all in 2009. No one should think they are imune to this whole downturn.

cash is king...if you have any, keep it handy.

SLC

[Joe G]

Originally Posted by Spring Lil Cobra

cash is king...if you have any, keep it handy.

SLC

I agree 100%.

I've been increasing my "rainy day funds" for the past few months.

With our single income family, we're trying to prepare for the worst, while praying for the best.


Best of luck and prayers going out to everyone who is worried about their jobs.



-

[Boston Mike]

Yesterday was d-day for us. Our hedge fund went belly up in late November (no, we're not one of those that caused this whole thing either) on a bet on quality (bet for AAA commercial mortgages and bet against BBB rated commercial mortgages..........lost big, which makes NO sense). Our staff reduction was announced just before Xmas and yesterday was the day we offically said goodbye to 18 out of our 49 teammates. Sucked. I am fortunate for who I work for, as I am sure if I worked for a cold-hearted corporate firm, we'd probably be out of business entirely. Mr. P really treats us like a family (and those who were let go were well taken care of IMHO).

Best of luck and prayers to all.

[Mr. White]

I had a feeling last year where we (our country) were heading. My company was moving stuff to China faster than Obama can spend $100 Million on his Inauguration. Of course, we (management) were told to describe the moves as "for the best interest of the Company" when discussing with employees. I did not drink the Kool Aid then either, told them to stick a near 6 figure salary, went to Key West for the Holidays, and ultimately started the web sites. I have learned more valuable life lessons in the past year than in my prior career. The year has been tough, but a little pain builds character.

Although things are getting tougher and I may need to work a full time job on top of this, I do not trust the majority of large businesses. Many have enjoyed so many years of profits, they have little skill sets when it comes to saving. They will pull the trigger on a layoff of workers and still keep their top brass drawing large salaries plus bonuses. More Kool Aid.

Was mine the right decision? Probably not as far as things are right now, but I have my pride intact. I am convinced if I get up everyday and continue to work hard, everything will work out for the best.

[Boston Mike]

Originally Posted by MadMax

I had a feeling last year where we (our country) were heading. My company was moving stuff to China faster than Obama can spend $100 Million on his Inauguration. Of course, we (management) were told to describe the moves as "for the best interest of the Company" when discussing with employees. I did not drink the Kool Aid then either, told them to stick a near 6 figure salary, went to Key West for the Holidays, and ultimately started the web sites. I have learned more valuable life lessons in the past year than in my prior career. The year has been tough, but a little pain builds character.

Although things are getting tougher and I may need to work a full time job on top of this, I do not trust the majority of large businesses. Many have enjoyed so many years of profits, they have little skill sets when it comes to saving. They will pull the trigger on a layoff of workers and still keep their top brass drawing large salaries plus bonuses. More Kool Aid.

Was mine the right decision? Probably not as far as things are right now, but I have my pride intact. I am convinced if I get up everyday and continue to work hard, everything will work out for the best.

Tiles, my man........lots and lots of tiles!!!!!

[rpretzel]

It's a joke (kind of) around my company about the "Annual Layoff". It doesn't matter what shape the economy is in or how the company is doing, it seems they just like to shake it up every year or two. I've been with the company for 13 years and have never felt absolutely secure. We laid off about 200 people about 6 months ago. I'm still here...for now.

[Carnut]

My business has come to a screeching halt too.

I hope something happens soon

[Mr. White]

Everything will be OK now. Pelosi and crew pushed through the other $350B and are routing some to B of A to help payoff their purchase of the failed Merrill Lynch.


B of A and Team will then turn around and help us all. Whew! Just in time!

[Orf]

I started working full time for my dad in 1990 - part time before that. When he passed away, I became the "big cheese". In all of that time, I have noticed that our business trended between 6 to 9 months ahead of the general economy. About 15 months ago, I noticed the beginning of a long down turn in our business. It's still going on for us.

Being a very small company - 4, including me - has made it somewhat easier to make changes to adjust for the slowing business. Mostly by slashing compensation for the officer - me. Since just before Thanksgiving, I have been considering what I call my "nuclear option", which consists of laying everyone off and setting up my office in my basement. The savings in health benefits and payroll taxes alone almost make it worthwhile. Of course the stress would probably take years off my life, and I would miss out on a lot of quality time with my daughters. I don't want to do that unless I absolutely have to.

I have noticed an increase in inquiries for our products from potential new customers. In general, from the time we quote product, until the order is placed, is between 6 months and 1 year. This hints to me that our business might be poised for a turn around by the end of 2009, and possibly as early as this summer. That also tells me that a turn around in the general economy is at least a year away.

Now this perceived up tick in inquiries might just be me being cautiously optimistic, but it has put my "nuclear option" on the back burner for now. My outlook for the general economy in 2009 isn't so hot, though.

[Mr. White]

Good points. As long as the Govt. continues to intervene in the markets, we are in for a wild ride.

[GRABBER]

Originally Posted by Spring Lil Cobra

we laid off 6 (~3%) of our folks and paycuts for upper management. also, not merit increases for all in 2009. No one should think they are imune to this whole downturn.

cash is king...if you have any, keep it handy.

SLC

Good advice Richard.

Looks like the sun will be out this week end.

[GRABBER]

Originally Posted by Joe G

I agree 100%.

I've been increasing my "rainy day funds" for the past few months.

With our single income family, we're trying to prepare for the worst, while praying for the best.


Best of luck and prayers going out to everyone who is worried about their jobs.



-

More solid good advice.

I need that.

[GRABBER]

Originally Posted by Boston Mike

Yesterday was d-day for us. Our hedge fund went belly up in late November (no, we're not one of those that caused this whole thing either) on a bet on quality (bet for AAA commercial mortgages and bet against BBB rated commercial mortgages..........lost big, which makes NO sense). Our staff reduction was announced just before Xmas and yesterday was the day we offically said goodbye to 18 out of our 49 teammates. Sucked. I am fortunate for who I work for, as I am sure if I worked for a cold-hearted corporate firm, we'd probably be out of business entirely. Mr. P really treats us like a family (and those who were let go were well taken care of IMHO).

Best of luck and prayers to all.

That sucks butt !!

[GRABBER]

Originally Posted by MadMax

I had a feeling last year where we (our country) were heading. My company was moving stuff to China faster than Obama can spend $100 Million on his Inauguration. Of course, we (management) were told to describe the moves as "for the best interest of the Company" when discussing with employees. I did not drink the Kool Aid then either, told them to stick a near 6 figure salary, went to Key West for the Holidays, and ultimately started the web sites. I have learned more valuable life lessons in the past year than in my prior career. The year has been tough, but a little pain builds character.

Although things are getting tougher and I may need to work a full time job on top of this, I do not trust the majority of large businesses. Many have enjoyed so many years of profits, they have little skill sets when it comes to saving. They will pull the trigger on a layoff of workers and still keep their top brass drawing large salaries plus bonuses. More Kool Aid.

Was mine the right decision? Probably not as far as things are right now, but I have my pride intact. I am convinced if I get up everyday and continue to work hard, everything will work out for the best.

My mother in law does the books for a few big companies around here. She's a CPA consultant. She is seeing companies laying off the 15 - 20 year guys because they pull bigger wages and perks then the young 2-5 year employees. She was surprized because she used to work for some of those companies.

The 15-20 year employees did not see it coming and were taken off guard. They thought they had "seniority".

[The Bone]

I have been through this before when the dot com boom was happining. We had people from all over the country working here overtime was off the chart. I got burnt out working so many hours. Then all of a sudden nothing layoffs were every where I even got the ax.
Now that I am retired I dont have to wory much but I do worry about the stock market because that is where my pension is. My 401k just lost 50,000 in the last 6 months.
I dont know If I will ever recover that much money. I even stoped spending money on things I concider fluff like car shows and the Birthday Bash.
The car my wife drives is about to turn over 200,000 miles and I told her to baby it.
We cant afford a new car now.
It is nice to see that those at the top willing to take a cut in order to save there workers.
I hope everything works out for everyone here. Things can only improve it just may take some time.
Art