uscbigdawg Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 So now that I've finished my time with Uncle Sugar (full time), I've returned to the world of architecture. It's nice. I only have to cut my hair once a month now (stupid ARNG), I can show up early, late. Leave early or stay late. Whatever. As long as the job is done and a day's work is done it's all that matters. However, I did have to relearn a harsh lesson about business. A couple of months ago we did a house cleaning which was fine. They needed to go. This was different. We lost 14 good folks in a firm of 85(-ish). We've been pretty lucky based on who our clients are, but unfortunately the odds just stacked against us far too much to be able to fully hold back the carnage in the building industry. Compound that with the morons that run the State of California, and well...it's just too much to ask anyone. Of the 14, I didn't know many, but one is a good friend and it's tough to watch a guy pack up knowing he's got a home, a family and now no check. It's not the first time I've had to go through this and won't be the last, but it's just really a lesson I could have gone without having to visit again. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atbarr Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 CYA! A.T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XRe Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Yeah, this current state of the economy really sucks in a hard way My company is getting ready to layoff a rather large chunk at the end of this month, and this is not one of those "dead weight" type of things - we already dumped most of that in the past few smaller RIFs... Here's hoping I've still got a job in February... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 At the end of the day, I'll be alright. I'm already activating Plan B. When it was just me, this kind of thing would have been easier to handle as when it's just you, you can work it out, make money show up, whatever. Now that I have my fiance, her needs come before mine and well...that's the hard part. So while I'm still strongly entrenched into the biz, I may go to greener (or at least more concrete) grasses for the sake of stability. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intel6 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 (edited) Triple tap, damm, what happened? Edited January 7, 2009 by Intel6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intel6 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 (edited) Double tap Edited January 6, 2009 by Intel6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intel6 Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Rich, You can always go work at the Jelly Belly Factory! Neal in AZ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltraTen Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 Were having the same problem, guess it's just the sign of the times. All of our dead weight went a little over a month ago, and I can see another round coming next month. I'm safe for another couple of rounds. Some times it's nice knowing too much. Hope everyone out there keeps their job. On the plus side though.....more time to shoot................... or practice anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Miles Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 I went through the scarey situation of being laid off many years ago. Asked my ex wife to marry me the night before I found out about my being jobless. I have to say that being laid off changed my whole mind set about how I would handle my finances for the rest of my life. I became rather strict with my money. Never turned into a screaming tightwad but ALWAYS knew where the ball was. Worked for Manpower for an income as well as a way of keeping my sense of worth to my family. Ex worked for the government so she was always employed. When I did go back to work I started saving from day one and never dipped into my 401k or ESOP. Doing that allowed me to retire comfortably at age 57. About a year ago I saw so much financial pessemisim that against my financial advisors advice I bailed out of the market completely and went to total cash. He has since told me that I was smart to do so. NO SH!T!!! Now I'm mildly worried about my son, daughter in law and two grand kids. Mildly because they both have their Masters degrees (EE & MBA) and work at Sandia National Labs here in Albuquerque. Through Gods good graces if they were to lose their jobs I am in a comfortable enough position to write a check for their house so they and my grandkids will always have a place of their own. Time will tell. Good luck to all who face losing a job in these scarey times. Been there, done that! CYa, Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD Niner Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 (edited) Our engineering/procurement/construction firm is also being affected by the global economy. It is one of the largest such firms in the world with 24,000 employees and does many mega-projects and thousands of smaller ones every year. We’re in everything from water treatment to transportation to electronics to oil industry logistics support. We work literally on every continent including Antarctica. Even with all this diversity, we are being forced to cut staff. We have had multiple large projects put on hold or canceled altogether. Even our work for the United Arab Emirates is being impacted as a result of falling oil prices and reduced demand for the micro-cities we are designing. As a result, we are going into 2009 very lean. My group’s budget is being cut by 40% which, of course, means a significant RIF. Since I lead the group the buck stops with me and the final decisions are mine. As others have noted, any dead wood is long gone so those people that we now need to cut are both terrific employees as well as top quality people. I can’t begin to convey how difficult the emotional stress caused by these types of decisions is on the supervisors as well as the rest of the team members. In the last month I’ve had to lay off people that I’ve worked side-by-side with for over 20 years. More are to come in two weeks and I expect that yet more may be required as we get further into the year. I’ve lost track of the number of sleepless nights I’ve had and know that more are on the way. And it goes without saying that my job is no more secure than the jobs of those who work with and for me. My shooting is the best outlet for the frustration I’ve felt nearly every day in the past few months. The economic pressures and resulting challenges we face as a country and world can sometimes be overwhelming. It’s good to know that we have a great community here to help dampen the tension and pain a bit. Edited January 7, 2009 by XD Niner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritinUSA Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 We've been having rolling layoffs at my company now for the past 21 months. It seems we lose someone every 1-2 months in my department. There are rumours of another big layoff coming in the middle of January, and soon mandatory working in the office (no more work at home). So I'm stressed about all that. Then I get home to my apartment and my lousy, no-good, scum-sucking neigbours think it's okay to crank up the volume on their music so I have to sit here wearing ear-plugs all evening. And some dopey cat has decided to crap on my deck. I am profoundly depressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 On a side note...what's the odds of having a BE'er with the login name, "whatmeworry" followed by XD Niner's avatar of Alfred E. Newman? Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XD Niner Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 On a side note...what's the odds of having a BE'er with the login name, "whatmeworry" followed by XD Niner's avatar of Alfred E. Newman?Rich Yeah, everone I know says I'm a dead ringer for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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