Whew. This story about my first experience with a corporate layoff has grown to 6 entries. Well, that's really not surprising as it was an eventful and formative time for me. Really the biggest surprise is that I didn't set down in writing, except for a few emails to friends at the time, my thoughts about it until now, so many years later!

At the ( Read more... )

My 6-week odyssey with getting laid off from a job years ago culminated in The Day of Truth (previous entry). The actual moment of truth was surprisingly brief. But the... denouement... lasted the rest of the day.
Moving Out
After receiving formal notice of my termination in a morning meeting with my new boss- who both met me and fired me in the ( Read more... )

Recently I've been writing a small series about a time when my work colleagues and I knew a layoff was coming weeks in advance (part 1). We partied and slacked (part 2). Except I wasn't certain I would be laid off- though I did stack the tea leaves (part 3). After six weeks it came down to the Day of Truth.
The Day of Truth
The Day of Truth came. It ( Read more... )

Recently I've been writing about a situation years ago when my work teammates and I slacked for 5 weeks knowing a layoff was coming. As I noted, though, not all of us knew we'd be laid off. I was one of the people for whom it could go either way.

During the weeks my team slacked waiting for the ax to fall, other teams were abuzz with speculation and ( Read more... )

In a recent blog I recalled a work situation years ago when my team and I knew we were getting laid off well ahead of time. Well, not all of would get laid off (plot twist!), but pretty much all of us knew we'd leave the company one way or another when the ax fell.
What, Me Worry?
"Aren't you worried?" my friends and relatives asked. I really wasn't ( Read more... )

A recent discussion elsenet about bosses who expect you to work after firing you reminded me of a situation I faced several years ago. This was sort of the reverse of that, though. Teammates and I enjoyed a semi-vacation because we knew we were getting laid off weeks before it was official.

I was working at a major company, a name brand absolutely ( Read more... )

Earlier this year I wrote about the job delivering newspapers I had as a child. In that blog I posed the question, "Was I even making minimum wage?" I determined I was paid well below minimum wage. That finding soured my view of the job in hindsight. That's bittersweet, though, because as a child age 10-12 I thought the newspaper route was great ( Read more... )

Zip. Zilch. Zero. Nada. That's why my stock in one of my old employers is worth. It's a company I worked at for 7 years.

I mentioned yesterday that my present employer bought a company I used to work for. Well, they got a good price for it. Good for the buyer, that is. My old company was bought out for much less than the amount of cash the venture ( Read more... )

Two months ago a company I worked at for over 7 years was acquired. It was bought by the company I currently work at ( Read more... )

After writing my recent blog about the Earning-Saving-Growth path to financial independence I thought about the series of jobs I had when I was younger. I definitely started earning money at a young age, beginning with an afternoon newspaper route when I was 10. As I thought about that compared to my next job, working in a fast food restaurant at ( Read more... )