That was basically the message my wife got yesterday. She went in to work and by ten o'clock had left the building. Upper management took the whole week off so her supervisor had to lay-off her entire department by himself. And one last bit of joy, her supervisor told her that they knew they were going to dump her last Friday, but they made her come in on Monday so she would, "be more motivated to find a new job". Apparently it was a favor to her because people laid-off on Friday are less motivated to work or some such nonsense.

Now, because I am student again, we have no income as Christmas appoarches. She's looking and will probably find something in a week or two, but this is still a shitty way to start the holidays. It makes me very bitter towards a company that has two executives that live in other states and only come to work once or twice a week. These same executives have sent out bulk e-mail forwards proclaiming family values, but they fire five people at Thanksgiving. Real bastards in my book.

If anyone in the DC area knows any job hook-ups please let me know. We're doing the WaPost thing and career builder and some temp services. She has an MA in Theatre and is an union stage manager, has a paralegal certificate, and has worked as a recruiter. Thanks for any help that might come my way.

Sorry to hear about that...I hope that your holidays go well. Hopefully this can turn into a positive, life changing experience for the both of you.

Originally posted by JPhillips
If anyone in the DC area knows any job hook-ups please let me know. We're doing the WaPost thing and career builder and some temp services. She has an MA in Theatre and is an union stage manager, has a paralegal certificate, and has worked as a recruiter. Thanks for any help that might come my way.

Wow, that is SO far out of my world, its amazing.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Hope the wife finds something soon.

Good luck with everything.

Has your wife ever thought of teaching acting/drama at either the high school, college or community college levels? Just a thought...

what a fucking lousy time to lay off people.

I really hate when I see crap like that.
sorry to hear about it - good luck with the hunting.

That sucks. Here's hoping she finds something soon. Do you guys have any kids?

Glad they had some corpspeak ready to explain their actions (the coming in on Monday tripe).

Good thing those Executives weren't there to stand behind any of these activities. Just the kind of shoddy management I expect in the US today.

I did a quick search for Federal jobs in the Washington DC area. There looked like a couple that might be down her alley. Here is the link:

Job Openings (http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/jobsearch.asp?c4=&lid=696&lid=17514&salmin=&salmax=&FedEmp=N&sort=dt&vw=d&ss=0&brd=3876&FedPub=Y&caller=%2Fseries_search.asp&SUBMIT1.x=56&SUBMIT1.y=16)

Good luck, and hang in there.

Same thing happened to me a week ago. I'm still naming all my turds "Doug" before I flush them, after VeriFone CEO Doug Bergeron, who laid off over 5% of his employees a week after announcing a quarter of record revenue and profits.

I have a wife and two kids, and I'm the lone income. Oh, and I found out yesterday that any unemployment insurance money I receive will amount to less than half of what I was making.

Good luck to you and your wife. And may the bastards who fire people at this time of year rot in hell.

Thanks guys. FYI- We don't have any kids, so that helps. I don't know what I'd do with Christmas coming if we had a couple of kids. As it is I'm trying to put our nieces and nephews at the front of the line.

We aren't eligible for unemployment because she was one day short of the ninety days required.

Today my wife found out that the company dropped everyone to a four day week with of course a twenty percent pay cut. The bastards did this through e-mail.

WSU: Thanks for info.

Awwww, dammit. What f'n BS. That really sucks, JPhillips. Hopefully, things will work itself out soon. Don't forget to keep up the schoolwork, though. Don't waste your effort so far.

That's really odd about having her come in on Monday, though. Having had the "pleasure" to have been through one of these before, I was told that they prefer to do it at the end of the week with the idea that we'd have the weekend to cool down and not think of doing something rash.

Sorry to hear that JP.

I hope everything works out for you guys.

And they keep telling us how the economy has turned around. My mother's job informed everyone that there would be no layoffs, but pay would be cut between 20-60%. It's sad when you look at it as an asset that you don't make enough to show up on the radar for them to get rid of...

Buncha *ssh*les.

Keep your chin up, man. Things'll work out.

Actually, it's a well-known rule in HR circles that you don't lay off people on Fridays.

The reason is a tad morbid though - statistics show that people are more likely to commit suicide when they get laid off on Fridays.

I had my first 2 employers out of College go out of business, both about a year into each job. I was beginning to think I had a curse. The job I'm at now doesn't pay as much up front as the previous 2 but they have never had a downsizing in the 46 years of existence. I mean what good is it to make a great salary, but never have the sense of security to go along with it. Very sorry to hear about your plight, and hope all works out. I live in Baltimore, but use to live in D.C. so I'll keep my ears open.

I was laid off in the beginning of October and it was maybe the best thing that happened to me. I was lucky enough to receive a severence pay which goes to mid-December, but I took a few weeks to refocus, and now have a job that has the potential to pay me double what I was making (maybe more) within a year. It turned out for the best, and you have to look at it as an opportunity to improve your situation. It is easy to have a job and get comfortable in it even when there is better things out there.

Jobs are there, but you have to work at it. NETWORK! Best of luck to both of you.

Originally posted by JPhillips
And one last bit of joy, her supervisor told her that they knew they were going to dump her last Friday, but they made her come in on Monday so she would, "be more motivated to find a new job". Apparently it was a favor to her because people laid-off on Friday are less motivated to work or some such nonsense.

Didn't they learn anything from the Bobs in Office Space???

Seriously, that sucks big time. I'm sorry to hear that, and I hope she's able to find a better job soon.

Let me add my well wishes to you both and the hope that she finds something else better in the near future.

Originally posted by JPhillips
We aren't eligible for unemployment because she was one day short of the ninety days required.

I'm sure that was no accident by the corporation either. Asses to them.

Good luck to you and your wife.

SI

You say your wife got fired on her 89th day... hmm that stinks of rotten business practice to me.. they knew on the 90th day they'd be liable to pay for unemployment for her.. thats why they layed her off on monday.. so they could get that 88th day of work outta her.

What i'm wondering however.. is if the job she accepted was a temp. full time job.. and she accepted it without being told as such.. as thats fraud and can be pursued legally.. But most employer's feel safe doing this shit as they know most people can't afford legal representation..