New running post (I'm out of work in the W economy)

[Omaha Steve]

This will be a kicked running post. Tell us your or your significant others "I'm out of work" story. Update your post as needed.

[Vincardog]

1. They sent my industry to India. Now they are crying that they can not find COBOL programmers. TFB.

[OhioChick]

13. My Industry is in India now, as well.

They recently laid off the sales staff at my company. I know what that means.....:scared:

[NMDemDist2]

2. I have been underemployed since we moved 20 months ago

I tended bar three nights a week for a year, and just got hired on to work the summer at the National Park.

my hubby drove truck for a year after 20 years in IT and now is working a union job at a gov'ment installation but is still working blue collar, no call for his education

:shrug:

[Systematic Chaos]

3. Sure, I'm down with this...

I've been out of work since last November due to cellulitis infections on my legs. I got my short term disability through the company where my wife and I both work, and that lasted for 3 months. While I was in the process of applying for long term disability, my job called me one morning to say that I had been terminated because I had missed my return to work date, even though they were well aware that I was still unable to work. I was hospitalized shortly thereafter, and my wife got the insurance shifted over to her just in time or else I wouldn't have had any insurance. By this time my infection could only be cured with IV antibiotics and a hospital stay.

While in the hospital I found that I was also ineligible for unemployment because our employer told them I'd quit. Bullshit. And on top of that, they only give an 11 day window to appeal which I wasn't even aware of until I got home and looked up the information online, long after the 11 days were up. Finally, the long term disability was denied because of a pre-existing condition clause. I had been previously treated for type 2 diabetes, but not cellulitis in and of itself. Listening to the choice words my wife had for the lady from Matrix Direct when she called and found that out gave me a good smile, which is nice because lately those have been few and far between.

I'm still in no condition to work at this time (though I am getting better, slowly), and there will be no help forthcoming with the piles of debt I have and can't even dream of paying, because we're obviously rich on my wife's $11-and-change hourly pay, and besides even though it costs $320 a month, we have insurance already.

If we lose everything, we get to say goodbye to our four wonderful cats and everything but the clothes on our backs and a couple carry-on bags, and off we go on a Greyhound bus to Pensacola, Florida to live with my mother-in-law. She's a wonderful woman, but also a problem drinker and has a boyfriend who's dying of cancer.

Life is fucking great!

[wellstone dem]

4. Have you tried applying for social security disability?

If your disability has or will last at least one year total (one year from when it started, not one year when you apply) you may be eligible. pm me if you have questions about Social Security Disability.

[Captain Angry]

5. Job sent to India in August 2006.

It was brought back to somebody in the USA in May 2007 when they found out that the very nice people in India would have a hard time doing what somebody with 15 years of experience was able to do. Furthermore, thanks to export customs issues, they couldn't even do the job if they were able to since they couldn't be sent the equipment that they might need to work with.

A little research at the company found that the manager who made the decision to outsource the job made a massive bonus for doing so and had no business reason to kill the jobs. He only did it for the bonus. So they let him go. On his last day, he tried to lay off more people because his bonus clause was still in action.

The net result of firing me and then promoting somebody to take my old job when it came back cost the company several times my old salary. BUT, the new guy gets paid half of what I made. So maybe it was a good investment for them.

I took the opportunity of being laid off to go back and finish my Bachelor's degree. Unfortunately, with the economy kicking butt, companies are canceling requisitions rather than creating jobs. So, when I graduate in a few weeks, it will get really interesting.

[tech3149]

6. I quit working in 2001, not because of Bush but the state of business.

I spent the previous 15 years trying to keep a small family business from destroying itself. I couldn't count the hours I spent on my own time trying to develop training plans, practices, information management, or just trying to give the customer what they thought they were paying for. I watched no end of the most qualified employees leave the company because they didn't feel they were being respected as a valuable member of the organization. I couldn't take arguing with manufactures that we represented to get information to solve problems with their products, only to find out a year or so later that they knew of the problem but wouldn't confirm it because of policy. Another manufacturer policy that drove me nuts was providing just enough information to put the products in operation, but never enough to understand why things didn't work even when you went by the book.

I grew up in the working world with an international company that gained its reputation by providing the best product and service in their market. At that time I was proud of my association. I felt honored that my customers weren't just pleased with their purchase but more than satisfied with the service they received. I took the opinion of my customers to be the final judge of how well I did my job. I didn't need a pay raise to make me feel better, I just wanted to know that my employer and customer valued what I was doing for them.

My ex ran a retail book store back in the 70's for a Canadian company. After leapfrogging in a short period from being a sales clerk to store manager, they offered her a buyers position in NYC. After much discussion, I agreed to give her the chance to "spread her wings" and show what she could do. The company was run by the MBA idiots that think they don't need to know the market, just make the numbers work. That was down the tubes within a year. From there she went to a family owned outfit that had a lock on their customer base and a strong relationship with a major retailer. She spent seven years convincing them that it cost less to pay and treat valuable employees what they're worth than replace them and retrain the replacements.

I'm trying to truncate a life of experience into a few paragraphs that someone might read. What I think is most critical to understand is that employees only have a job because they make a profit for the employer. If the employer is too stupid to recognize the value of the people working with them, that's their failure.

I won't work for anyone again that doesn't consider me a valuable and necessary partner in that enterprise.
I am not a slave and I will no longer be a stooge.

[Omaha Steve]

7. Kick

[Omaha Steve]

8. Kick

[Omaha Steve]

9. Kick

[Omaha Steve]

10. Kick

[Omaha Steve]

11. Kick

[Sanity Claws]

12. Me too

I wanted to change industries after being extremely unhappy in my current profession. As part of the change, I moved to another city because I would have a better chance of getting a job there. Unfortunately, I still have not found anything and I've been looking about 10 months.
I am very well educated and have been very surprised at how difficult it has been.