ErikW Posted July 3, 2003 Author Share Posted July 3, 2003 EricW asked in another thread: They gave you the boot on the same day as the notice? Yeah, that's the way they do it. It's not a real layoff like a big factory or something, it's just the spin they put on the termination. A real layoff means they might re-employ you at a later date. They have hired new people into positions they've laid off, which is a no-no. Not only do they give you the boot on the same day, your exit is supervised. No touching your computer. Somebody (your manager) watches you as you pack up your cubicle's personal items. I got to say goodbye to one person who walked by as I was packing. When I left my previous employer (after they gave us a good long notice) I reflected on the long hours over 7 years, with nothing to show for it. I didn't want to be in that position again. Now here I am, 8 and a half years flushed away with nothing to show for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 Eric, so sorry that you have joined the ranks of the unemployed. If that is the way that company operates you are well shed of them...really! That sort of thing indicates that the company is without ethics and is rotten to the very core. There is more to life than a job and money. People that work the 80 hour work weeks tend to end up building their entire self-esteem and self-worth based upon their job. Makes sense, they have NOTHING else in their lives upon which to build anything. Then when things go south they lose far more than their jobs...they lose themselves. I was on the workaholic track through grad school (also known as enforced slavery..."work these hours or you won't graduate") and continued on for another 4 years afterward. Then one of my closest friends hung himself in his basement. He had been doing 80 and 90 hour weeks for six years, travelling state-side and internationally constantly, often spending more time on the road annually than he spent at home and was making over $150K/year. He still felt like he wasn't working hard enough or providing well enough for his family. He left a wife and three kids under the age of 10. This brought me back to reality in one helluva hurry. I did some self discovery and realized that the woman I loved was about to leave me, my health was in the dumper, I hadn't touched any of my hobbies in years and I was drinking heavily to cope with the stress. This was five years ago. Now I work an average of 45 hours a week and I never let the annual leave build up over 4 weeks worth (sick leave is accrued separately and I have a ton of that so no worries there). I have maintained this policy for the past 5 years. Life has been MUCH better since. I still have the woman I love in my life. My health is vastly improved. I only drink when I want to, not when I need to and I have time for shooting and other hobbies. I guess what this long-winded response is saying is pretty much what others have said. Use this as a place to make a clean break and find out what is best for you. Look around you, often opportunity is right there, staring you in the face. Don't discount any opportunity when it presents itself. Most importantly of all...believe in yourself!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 Life is not about an 80-hour-week paycheck... It's all about BALANCE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhgtyre Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 Life is not about an 80-hour-week paycheck... HAH! I am on salary. The same paycheck for 20 hours or 80. Of course I would get my head chopped off if I tried to pull a 20. Oddly the same does not apply when they want "extra." -ld Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougBarnes101 Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 jhgtyre, I've been on salary most of my work life and it always seems to come the the same motto: Come early-Stay Late Get paid for 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeper Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 SigLady, How do you really feel about an 80hr work week? I hated working that much which was one of the reasons I left. (The other reason is that they made me leave ) I was mainly just trying to say that sometime they pick kids to do the work because they know they can abuse them. Working that much sucked. I liked my 40 hours per week with the 9/80 schedule. Every other friday off. Of course now that I went back to school my schedule is even lighter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 Employees should not be abused at ANY age......! PS--"Salary" suxx.....!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liota Posted July 3, 2003 Share Posted July 3, 2003 Employees should not be abused at ANY age......!PS--"Salary" suxx.....!!! Salary sucks when you see hourly types not having to put in the extra hours due to overtime pay issues. It doesn't suck when you need time off because you're sick or something else and your paycheck stays the same. Liota Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimel Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 Liota, you must work some place other than where I work. I am salaried and I can work as many hours as I want as long as that number is greater than 40. I have to take sick or annual leave when I want time off no matter how many hours I worked already that week. Several years ago I needed to take a week off to go visit my parents. I put in 63 hours in 4 days to get things ready to the boss' satisfaction so I could leave. And the week off still cost me 40 hours of annual leave. It suxxx.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 OK, the reason(s) I'm still working at my low-paying (almost minimum-wage) half-time office gig: 1.) Intelligent company / Engineers [OK, no jokes about engineers...! these guys are nice.] 2.) Sick pay. 3.) Vacation pay. 4.) Flexible hours. 5.) Simple IRA that I can mess with any time I want. (I recently did. Now it's back to earning interest.) 6.) Comfortable office setting with lots of windows and natural light. 7.) Free designated parking places on site. 8.) Bldg owner OK'd me a Handicapped space even tho my permit has expired. 9.) Small cash bonuses usually once a year. 10.) Small but satisfactory Xmas bonuses. 11.) Free pizza with staff meetings monthly. 12.) Internet access to mess with The Forum and my e-mail without too much guilt. 13.) We're busy little civil engineers and it looks like we won't fold up our tent anytime soon. And in Eugene, Oregon, this is a LOT of asset in one job--believe it or not. And I've had (much) worse. We design sewer systems (and other stuff) so you KNOW we'll be in demand forever. Oh, I'm sorry... Was this the "Hate" thread........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasag93 Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 Sorry to hear about your misfortune Eric. I hope you find something soon. The US ecomony seems to have fallen on hard times recently. We are always looking for good help here in Texas(construction), not your specialty but 40 hrs, insurance, 401K, payed holidays, and vacation...And we are very gun friendly. Good luck, TXAG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3quartertime Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 The word work SUX!!! Poverty sux even WORSE!!! I wanna be Vince Pinto when I grow up!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liota Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 Liota, you must work some place other than where I work. I am salaried and I can work as many hours as I want as long as that number is greater than 40. I have to take sick or annual leave when I want time off no matter how many hours I worked already that week.Several years ago I needed to take a week off to go visit my parents. I put in 63 hours in 4 days to get things ready to the boss' satisfaction so I could leave. And the week off still cost me 40 hours of annual leave. It suxxx.... I am military. The benefits are pretty good from that standpoint, but I make up for it with the 16-hour days. Ugghhh! They don't dock your pay for time off. Thank God for that! If they did, the number on my paycheck would resemble a little doughnut. Come to think of it, I have received the doughnut shaped pay amount a couple of times from them... Pooey! If you owe them money because they overpaid you, you get a zero paycheck. If they owe you money because they underpaid you, it will take weeks or months to get the money from them. Better to save that rant for next Friday. The torch is ready and so is the lighter. The annual leave program from the US military is another one of those things that deserves a rant of its own. They give us 30 days of leave a year. "30 days of paid vacation" says the brochure (sucker sheet). What they don't tell you is that if you take from Monday of one week to Friday of the next week, it's 12 days of leave you spend, not 10. They figure you work 365 per year and you get your leave figured appropriately. On top of that, if you don't spend your leave in one year, you can only carry over 60 days into the next year. Anything in excess is "use or lose." It makes your commander look bad if you lose leave, so the unit harrangues you until you take your time off. Even though your work is past due, because you have to "do more with less." Arrgghhh!!! Next Friday... Liota Liota Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liota Posted July 4, 2003 Share Posted July 4, 2003 OK, the reason(s) I'm still working at my low-paying (almost minimum-wage) half-time office gig: 6.) Comfortable office setting with lots of windows and natural light. 7.) Free designated parking places on site. WINDOWS??? You have windows??? That must be sooooo cooooool! I dream of windows at work... Designated parking, too!!! Where do you work and can I come there, too??? I hate coming back from lunch and having to park a mile away from my building, literally, because the flippin parking lots were designed for 1970's personnel loads!!! Alex wonders why I never want to move my car during the day. Liota Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratochief Posted July 5, 2003 Share Posted July 5, 2003 (edited) Don't feel bad man. Your not alone Edited December 27, 2005 by Stratochief Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Love Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Hang in there Erik- It's amazing how you can devote a big chunk of your life to a company that turns around and dumps on you in a heartbeat. I'm sure you'll wind up better off once you've settled into something else, hopefully soon. I quit my drug-rep job 10 yrs ago to go back to school- still got a year left, and broke as hell. The worst thing is I lost so many years of shooting development. Do what you gotta to advance your career, but don't quit shooting. Money can be replaced (I think), but lost time on the range is gone. Really, best of luck, it'll all work out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted July 7, 2003 Author Share Posted July 7, 2003 Well, at least it provided some fun at my match today. Stage 2, Executive Washroom... start position: strong hand holding tip of pen to Notice of Separation on desk. Stage 3, Empire Building... start position: both hands holding cardboard box of personal effects you cleaned out of your former office or cubicle. You should have seen ShooterGrrl throw the box! Pity the H.R. flunky who has to give her a pink slip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Sounds like the 'Typewriter Toss', an second-story event at the Office Olympics (a popular promotional event in the 1980s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vluc Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 You should have seen ShooterGrrl throw the box! Pity the H.R. flunky who has to give her a pink slip. No...don't kill the messenger!! Most often it is not HR's fault, and the messenger bears the brunt. The HR rep who accompanied the COO when I was informed my position, and the division it was in, was eliminated, I could see how nervous she was. In this case, i had helped get her promoted into the slot she held several years prior and we had remained friends throughout. So i made it as easy as possible for her, helping her through, laughing and enjoying the moment. In it's own bizarre way it was fun. And she still sends me position listings for other slots in the company...not that any have panned out!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted March 13, 2007 Author Share Posted March 13, 2007 I just accepted an offer. No more "funemployment." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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