The Official Forum Cartel Unemployment Thread

Well, I just finished explaining to my two boys that Mum's work couldn't afford her any more so now she gets to stay at home all the time. They loved it!

At least the company gave me a nice big package . . . and I do love a nice big package

So my obligatory question is this: who else is in the same boat? Or am I rowing alone?

-P

I'm an at home mom. Trying to change that though.

It's a big leap.

Good luck on your new beginning.

So far I've only had to take a paycut. Because of my position it's more likely that the business would fold up before I would be laid off (but that is a very real possibility), but we have had 2 rounds of layoffs so far.

I work part time, at home, (job actually takes place in SL, customer service and such)

Looking for full time outside of the home work, but not much luck.

So odd. Here it is the U.S. unemployment rate is at 8.5% or so and my state is around 8.5% and my husband is trying to quit his job to find something 'less stressful' and he is a lobbyist.

Go figure. I can't talk him out of it either.

Rough roads ahead for sure.

I really wish he would wake up.

LOL. I hear unemployment is pretty relaxing

I work for government and in government you can't damn near get rid of anyone, even the ones you want to get rid of - so my job is probably safer than most. My husband has survived a few rounds of layoffs, but he works for Sun Microsystems and they are trying to be bought, so who knows what will happen if they finally succeed in that.

I've been on disability for 3 years and am likely to continue for another couple of years. It's not the same as being laid off, but I am home all the time living and loving life in SL

In this regard, SL can literally be a life saver. It so much helped me get up and working again after 3 years. Unfortunately mine was with no accompanying disability.

As far as work, my job should be safe for about a year or so. Still keeping fingers crossed just in case though. For those that do loose your jobs, I'll say a few prayers. Add Marianne to the list, she was one of the first to loose her job a while back. In case worse comes to worse and anyone is forced to cut the cable connection, I know from past experience that it helps to at least log into the forum every now and then from a local library.

EDIT: This did get me thinking thou. Just completed the bunny survey for a chance to win a region for a year. Put this in "other" for what I would do with the land:

"Divide into 512 lots for a place for people to call home who still have a network connection but who have lost thier jobs in these perilous times. SL helped get me back on my feet after a 3 year convalescence. Amazingly good stuff to rebuild/keep up self esteem."

My housemate has had his hours cut to part-time, and in his industry it's really rough right now so he had to accept that rather than being laid off.

I am fortunate enough to still be working full time, but I'm currently making about half of what I'm used to. I'm working for a software startup, which is always risky even at the best of times, and lately it's been a monthly struggle just to get enough income to pay my half-salary. The company owners themselves (the only other employees at this time) are getting next to no pay, and one of them is currently working full-time elsewhere just to pay his own bills.

Last year, between my wife and I we managed to make enough $USD from Second Life content to help pay some of the household bills on occasion, but lately our in-world sales have dropped like a rock and we might perhaps make enough to order pizza a couple times a month. The economy sucks in both lives


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Oooh -- Briana! My job is killing me, literally I think, but now is not the time to start over. I've been exercising and meditating to relieve stress. It's working somewhat.

Anyway, it's none of my business, but best of luck to you.

And to you, Parvati.

I quit my job last monday, and I feel better than I have for years. I have no idea what I'm going to do next, and only have cash reserves for about 3 months at my current location, the economy is in the toilet, but for some reason I've never felt more positive about what will happen.

If anybody knows a (preferably) small company that needs someone to work on initial stage prototypes, let me know.

The company I'm working for hired me as "part time". 30hrs a week. BUT- they DO pay mileage, which sweetens the deal. HEH! $938 for just two weeks of driving around including expenses like parking & tolls.

Sure I'm killing my car by putting 900-1200 miles on it a week, BUT the job is easy, I dont have anyone looking over my shoulder, and I'm pretty much left to do the job on my own.

The whole plant where I work is being shut down in stages from May through September. Not sure what I will find for a job, but I know it won't be anything like the shitty place I work now lols.

This sounds lovely. Hope you win (and then expect to be flooded with applications!).

There's rough times ahead. Even I can't find meaningful work these days. I'm in the process of migrating out of my own job, and the prospects aren't pretty.

Fun thing is I /liked/ my job, but the resident BOFH* made it more than a bit stressful to work for. To the point it was making me physically ill and causing all kinds of wonderful problems.


So for those thinking industry contacts and a few advanced degrees will save you... nope! I'm just as stuck, just as broke, and just as desperate to get a leg up in a really bad economy.


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* For the non-techs, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BOFH should redirect you to the right page.

I almost sprayed wine on the screen reading this.

FWIW, I'm a freelancer so I have a real bitch for a boss. I wish she'd fire me.

As I mentioned on another thread recently, I was laid off the day before thanksgiving '08.

Our company laid off all the casual workers and moved the permanents from afternoon to dayshift due to a drop in orders, though it hasn't got any worse, and I'm probably the safest person on site for a job. But share prices seem to be climbing here, so hopefully we are at the bottom now, at least in Australia anyway.

my RL biz at a bit of a low.. as i make stuff ppl can buy mass produced for way way less..
my partners work cut down from masses of overtime and night shift to just 6 days daytime this month.. kinda a big blow.

but there are rumours that the north korean rocket/missile fiasco has made the NIKKEI rise.. so who knows.. it can only get better... i cannot imagine things worse than this.

Hee.

Oy the job issue......

Right now I'm looking. I was bartending until we relocated last summer.....good gig...it was at an Air Force base.....(the first time I ever bartended....lol beats the hell out of a cubicle)

My fiancee is a former Navy EOD (explosive ordinance disposal) diver and he does contract EOD work now which means he's away from home more often then not. The good news is it's extremely stable (sadly, there is enough ordinance in the US alone to keep even our great grandchildren employed for life....but we don't have kids so....)
Anyway.....it's been difficult for us since we bought the house. The area we're in is nice.....but the job market (for me) is pathetic.

I would love to switch gears and not go for the customer service oriented jobs I've had in the past....but my resume screams customer service/insurance so I actually started going for my state LH&A Ins. license. (somebody shoot me lol)

It's been great having the time to settle into our home and do all the fun domestic stuff.....but that's pretty much past us now and my fiancee would dearly love to NOT have to be away so much. But I probably would not be able to match his income in the near future, if at all, for that to happen. He could easily sustain us on what he makes....but that's not the agreement we have.

The shitty part is....I HAD a good job the month we bought the house....worked at the same office as my sister. Her boss literally made a position for me because of my background........but they are so utterly disfunctional at that office (something my sister has coped with for years and we both knew her boss could easily change his mind on a whim) Anyway....after 2 months......and the two owners literally never having proposed an actual plan of action for my job.......and then the decrepid computer they had me on....crashed and they didn't want to get a new one. Yeah....that's really brilliant after calling me a 'Customer Care Representative"....having me meet all the clients and give out my card and let them know I'm their 'go to' person..........then I can't access my company email.......truly.....they are morons. So....two months in they decide my position isn't working....give me 2 weeks more pay and say "sorry, we weren't prepared for this" Idiots. LOL My sister is still fuming about it......but I knew the risks going in LOL And screw it....it adds to my resume.

So...basically.....if I can't finish that best selling novel in my head.....I'm in perpetual job hunt mode.

I'm in the marina business so I feel your pain. Fortunately we're privately owned and as such we have the ability to control costs in a way I never saw in my former Corporate life. Only had to lay 2 people off this spring, and now that people are remembering that they own boats we will be able to bring one of them back, I hope. We're literally going day to day calling potential customers and scrounging for service business but are managing to get by...fingers crossed. Good luck to all of you! Jackie.

I've been rowing that boat for over 18 months now, so pull up an oar.

Four days before my 11th anniversary I was given a 3 month severence package. My feelings were very hurt. But after working in the insurance industry, specifically managing disability claims for almost 20 years in retrospect I am glad it happened. That company was beginning to do a lot of claimants wrong and it was unethical. An example, they tried to make me push a 91 year old claimant off claim. Yes you read right 91 years old. She only was getting $647.60/month and 2 months of benefits left in a 12 month limited benefit. Lord, I agonized over that poor lady.

It was in the winter time and I had a nice long rest. Two weeks before my final severance check I landed another job processing medical claims. I LOVE it. I don't talk on the phone as a matter of fact the phone on my desk is purely IMO for decoration purposes. No more denial letters, surveillance, listening to people's problems, verbal abuse or feeling that I was personally responsible for their outcome. See, I was one that really cared about my claimants.

I could've gone to work for another company making what I was making and doing the same thing. With my current job, I took over 20K cut in pay. But, I haven't been this happy in a long time. I haven't missed that money at all. However, my current employer radically reduced their workforce and now it is about 30 of us left. I was lucky to have been hired on the profitable side. The last round of layoffs was on 3/31. With each round of layoff, I felt like I was reaching the final four in survivor.


Say... those that are on disability and your disablity carrier is telling you something crazy or something you don't understand about the policy provisions, im inworld I may can help you.