One of the funny things about hiking out in the wilderness is that when you crest a peak or ridge a brief window of cell phone coverage presents itself and the build up of several text messages and phone messages sudden arrive (If you are aware of this, you can also use the opportunity to supply people with updates like "Hey, we are still alive").
Thus it was I found myself on Saturday evening when we were camping on snow a message from my coworker that my soon-to-be former employer had updated their accrued time off policy. As of that day (12 May) no accrued time off would be paid to any employee upon their departure. Apparently the "Use it or lose it" policy was now a standard thing, not just a one time practice.
And yesterday, the company put out their Q1 financial statement and business report and noted at the bottom of the report that they were investigating "strategic options". For those that may not be familiar, that is code for "sale or reverse merger", a sort of "Hail Mary" which usually precedes bankruptcy.
In other words, my "layoff" is now kind of a blessing.
It is a blessing in multiple ways. It clearly gave me the fact that I needed to investigate a new direction. It allowed me to take my PTO (instead of now, where planning to draw down all my vacation would potential delay my start time at my new employer). It spares me the challenges of working at a company which is is the process of dying - if you have never worked at one, it can be a very depressing environment: people are now effectively incentivized to find a new job now and start just disappearing, there are no real projects going on but just the shut down of existing ones and hoping (vainly for the most part) for some sort of unexpected good news.
That does not really clear anything else up, of course. I still do not have another full time position (second interview is today); on the bright side, I complete my training (on-line and in-person) at my part time job next week so at least I have something (not to underestimated in this economy, to be sure). The job search has not improved in any real sense of the word: rejections continue to trickle in and the positions I see listed are not, for the most part, things I can apply to with a serious sense that it will result in a position.
But it does strike me as ironic that this unexpected layoff has, in a way, prevented a far more stressful situation from manifesting in my life.
God remains in control. It is just difficult to see sometimes when I am only looking at what has happened, not what is upcoming.
Yah, that looking into the future is bit tough, otherwise you could lay bets on which team wins the championship in each sport. Your layoff was a bit of the boot in the butt TB, good luck on today's interview.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, it is not a great outcome. I feel even worse for the people that are still there, because now they may not even get the benefit of a 60 Day WARN act - given the now size of the company, people could be let go in dribs and drabs with no severance and no PTO.
DeleteThanks for the good wishes!
God is in control. My blessing for the day. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Michael. As smart people have pointed out, it is all a matter of perspective.
DeleteAt least looking back through my personal experiences and those of others close to me, if a company lays off a significant portion of their staff suddenly and not part of a seasonal shift, it is already dead and just trying to delay it as long as possible. None of those companies are still around anymore.
ReplyDeleteEd, I would concur. This is partially just a facing saving measure to try to preserve what value remains until something comes through. In my experience at least in this industry, those rescues are few and far between.
DeleteGood Luck and prayers up.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much.
DeleteGod IS in control. I try to remind myself every day.
ReplyDeleteAnd our economy will not improve until our government actually cares what happens to the little person who put them there so they could line their pockets and take care of themselves.
Sorry. Bit of sour mood, I guess. I really am thankful.
Good luck, TB. :)
You all be safe and God bless.
Linda, I have to remind myself as well.
DeleteLike a great deal of industry, government has become accustomed to easy money. That time is ending. A lack of funds has a great ability to focus the mind where all the resources in the world will not.
(hmmm, I think I said this on an earlier post . . .)
ReplyDeleteYou did indeed, John. I am a tad impatient to see the full outworkings.
DeleteI love this. It's a good example of God causing all things to work together for good. Being able to see them is an exercise in growing our faith.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, it is. To John's point above, I am often too impatient to see the full outcome of the events. As you point out, I need to recall these things for the future.
DeleteIt is very good to read your perspective on your current circumstances, TB. You're ahead of the curve, I think.
ReplyDeleteThank you Becki. It has taken me far longer to get here than it should have, though.
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