"I really gotta pee but..."

Friday, May 22, 2009

"I don't want to walk past Jones."

His office was in the hallway to the restroom, and he was packing his box. I noticed this after receiving an hour-notice meeting announcement from the President of the company, titled "Organization" with no explanation in the body. This happens on the Friday we're supposedly closing down at three o'clock to start the weekend early.

There were only three who lost their jobs - twenty or so more were transferred to other areas of the company. There are maybe 40 of us left.


Memorial Day Weekend...hello summer (and Xanax.) This makes four rounds of survival, and I'm starting to feel a little queasy.

by Still Employed at 2:20 PM  |  0 Comments

Temping in today's economic environment

Sunday, May 3, 2009

I just read this story from CNN about a man who landed a temp job after being laid off from a pharmaceutical company. It is a great example of another way that being employed today is like walking on a ledge.

Temp agencies are so great for keeping at least some money coming in, and for the possibilities of gaining full-time work through a job they help to fill. The stress of not knowing whether the job will last or whether you'll have to continue going from one temp position to another is there though, especially knowing that a temp agency is probably the best bet you have these days. Also, there is the added worry of not having 401k, insurance, vacation and sick days - even if a temp's wage is close to what they had before being laid off, the added expenses of being ill brings that wage down even more.

In this story, the writer finds all sorts of advice for Mr. Clay about how to make an impression at the office so his chances of being hired on full time are greater, and they also have an interesting bit about how much money a temp worker needs to have in savings. Contract workers need 12 months of living expenses banked, says Orr. Even if Carl gets a job with AstraZeneca, he'd need three months' expenses by January to cover that 90-day furlough.

I have heard that everyone should have anywhere from three months to six months of savings in case of a job loss - one year? That makes the most sense, but how many people have that much in a savings account? How can you build up that kind of savings (or something close) in as short of time as possible, just in case?

Are you able to stash a little money from time to time to build a safety net for yourself and your family? If so, how do you do it?

by Still Employed at 6:50 PM  |  1 Comments

What the hell was I saying?

Saturday, May 2, 2009

My last post was about the larger mission we lucky employed people have these days. We have to work harder for less because if we don't, there will be even more of a chance that our company will fail.

I'm now calling BS on myself.

When the only mission that a company has is to stay afloat, with no other goals for the future, it makes it really hard to justify working all effing weekend on stuff that will probably be put off for another month or so because there is a new shiny idea that will help us survive. At least until the other ten bright and shiny ideas shove that one into the trash heap - and come to find out, they're all trash.

It is really hard to justify working all weekend when more workers than managers were laid off, and the managers are too busy managing their shiny ideas to pitch in and actually do the work that will keep the goal of staying afloat alive.

We have to have a larger goal of how we're going to stay afloat, and working on miscellaneous crap that ends up not being used for that goal just adds to the sense of failure. Personally, I want to work for something - I don't want to just work for a paycheck. I definitely don't want to give up family and relaxation time to work only for a paycheck.

I don't want to work for a company who only wants to survive. I want to work for one that wants to be the best.

by Still Employed at 10:17 AM  |  4 Comments