<p>I am very drunk now so forgive me if anything does not make sense.</p>
<p>The bad news has finally come, 1st by the holding company CEO, then the business line CEO and then our manager. There will be elimination of positions starting ASAP and our group will be effected. Don’t know when and what is the %. However, the manager has asked every one to write up reports on their projects.</p>
<p>Our particular product line with 2.5 technology FTE has been performing pretty bad lately. I am pretty sure someone will get the “pinkslip”. What could one do now?</p>
<p>In this ecomony, finding a decent paying job could be very difficult. Especially for someone at my age. </p>
<p>We have some reserve which could last us for a while. The medical insurance will be the #1 consideration. </p>
<p>Last time I was laid off, DW was working. This time around, I am the sole bread earner. </p>
<p>I guess we would stop paying mortgage - see if we could get some of the bail out benefits. Whatever happend, it is not the end of the world.</p>
<p>Dad II, now is the time to update your resume and the list of contacts, join Linkedin and network like crazy. I feel your pain because I’ve been in your shoes. My field of work, biotech, is not particularly known for job stability. Can your wife go back to work and bring in some income while you are looking for a position? If you willl be getting unemployment benefits, it does not make sense for you to flip burgers since your benefits wiull be reduced by the amount you earn. But your spouse’s earnings do not affect your unemployment pay. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that you get to keep the job.</p>
<p>I am sure it is a stressful time for you right now, not knowing the fate of your job. We know several people who are going through this too and sruggling to stay afloat.
We own our own business , and that doesn’t guarantee any security for us…the more the economy keeps spiraling downward the less customers will come our way.</p>
<p>It is an anxious time for many. Keep everyone in your family informed…all need to plan accordingly. Good luck. I am so sorry you have this worry.</p>
<p>Why worry? Wait until you actually get a pink slip because if you do not get laid off, all these emotions are for naught. BTW, in CA, you get 57 weeks of unemployment.</p>
<p>^Our local wine distributor said that he had a great holiday season. He could barely keep the sparkling wines in stock for the holidays. People stayed home (personal wine consumption) rather than go to restaurants.</p>
<p>Get your resume ready and make contacts…just in case. And also try to bank any money that you might think of spending in a discretionary fashion (that would mean no extra purchases, vacations, dinners out, new cars, new electronic “gadgets” etc). Get a budget going and stick with it.</p>
<p>I agree…any way that Mom II can get some additional work (I seem to recall she works part time)? This is the time for everyone in the family to pitch in and help.</p>
<p>I agree…lay off the booze. It’s also a costly item.</p>
<p>Do your work, do it well. The sad thing is you have to realize that if you are doing your job well, and your company lays folks off, sometimes it is for reasons out of your control. Regardless…you want to maintain a good relationship with your superiors as you may need them for recommendations later.</p>
<p>Also some large companies also have severance packages they give to employees if their jobs are eliminated. You need to get your human resources materials out and find out YOUR company’s policies.</p>
<p>Almost everyone I know is employed in the auto industry, so I understand what you are going through, Dad II. There is no longer any HR in H’s company (unless you count the people who exist solely to explain what happens to you now that you have been laid off or bought out …). Cuts are made to departments, and you could be the very best employee around yet get cut. It’s a sad fact of life in these parts. </p>
<p>H and I have discussed it. If we had to move in order to find employment, we would … but houses are not moving, and S is a junior in high school. We would probably have to do a long distance thing - H where there’s work & me/S here for awhile. It would be awful. It’s a frightening economy. My sympathies for your predicament.</p>
<p>Well DadII, you are always there to add punch to our days! I think there is a career in sarcastic, irreverent blogging waiting for you. In these tough times we all need somewhere to go for humorous banter. And it’s a job I think you could do drunk!!</p>
<p>I wouldn’t stop paying the mortgage. You could lose all of your equity on the house. You are only paying around 1000 for housing, you couldn’t get anything cheaper than that. </p>
<p>One advantage of being middle age is there is a lot more room for negotiation when it comes to a package. I am over 40, asian and female, so HR really doesn’t like to deal with me. Ask for additional health insurance (get one extra year), see if they have a personal counselor at their out placement center you could work with, ask for extra severance pay. I wouldn’t sign any document until you had a chance to read it over. Do not call your boss names on your way out, you’ll need him for reference. With all the cut back, often work still needs to get done, your firm may be interested in having you as a consultant. It happened to me last time I was let go. My firm called me up 2 weeks later to ask me if I could help out (they didn’t realize my application was mission critical), so I charged them double for the same work.</p>
<p>I think he was planning to continue to live in the house without paying the mortgage. It can take some time for the foreclosure process to run its course in our state.</p>
<p>DadII brings up a point though–in order to make use of federal help, you have to be not paying on your mortgage. How many people who are close to the edge will choose to quit paying on their mortgages to get the help?</p>
<p>I’m not sure the mortgage help is going to folks with regular low rate, and lower payment mortgages. It’s going to folks with subprime mortgages or folks whose houses are now worth less than they were when they were purchased. I don’t think Dad II fits either of these profiles. Banks are still foreclosing on folks…but they are also willing to renegotiate a payment plan to prevent foreclosure. That is the kind of thing that will help IF Dad II gets laid off. Remember, right now…this is in the speculation stage.</p>
<p>Plus…I would think that Dad II would be eligible for some kind of severance package (you need to check into that Dad II).</p>
<p>And look into the possibility of borrowing against those fully funded retirement accounts for the purpose of dealing with your house only.</p>
<p>There is no bail out for individuals now. The only thing banks are willing to do is to lower your rate. But if you are out of a job a bank wouldn’t be as willing to do that, especially if you have a lot if equity in your house. The could sell your house way below market and get their loan paid back.</p>