will be dumped

[shootingstar]

Working through several scenarios. Tell me of your experiences..

[Crankin]

Sorry, Shootingstar. What are your ideas?

[emily_in_nc]

That's a bummer. There must be other places where your skillset could be put to good use? Hoping you'll land on your feet! Will they give you a severance package, I hope?

[shootingstar]

I have a good friend who has voluntarily and faithfully phoned me nearly daily as a check. At first, I wasn't totally aware of this pattern. She works for the same employer but totally different dept. I do have 2 trusted people who care deeply and talk with daily. (The other person is my partner..)

Cycling my baby rides because I'm recovering from neck muscle strain, helps. Still, I'm probably in deep denial how much stress this causing. When I am deep denial, I tend to get very sleepy. My body signals to me.

[smilingcat]

Terrible news indeed. I see layoffs and termination of position as a failure on the part of the management or those who are responsible for the employees. And as an employee, one should never blame themselves for this type of termination.

You asked, "How did you deal with this?"

When I was let go, it was because of retribution from in-house (between two division) political fight in a multi-national company. We lost. Those in charge were laid off, I call it being fired. Yes I was angry. Came home did something nice for myself, a treat of sweet and a very large cup of chai latte. Went for a walk thinking what I did wrong...

Then I took stock of my situation. How much I had saved? mortgage left. What was my burn rate (how much I spent per month) and how long will it last. Do I want an another job. It was bit tough even on the tail end of 2008 crash and especially for someone fairly high up, older and making lots of money. I was "over qualified" for several positions I applied.

Revisited my thinking and decided to move to a place where cost of living was cheaper, people were much nicer, a place with lot less stress and people who had more things in common with my way of looking at life. Worked out the numbers (finance) and decided that I could retire. That is what I did. That is in the nutshell.

So after you come out of the fog of the bad news, LOOK FORWARD, THINK OF WHAT YOU WANT TO DO, WHAT YOU LIKE, PLAN WHAT YOU WANT TO DO, CHECK TO MAKE SURE ITS POSSIBLE AND ACT ON IT. Don't let yourself stagnate in what was in your lifestyle.

[ny biker]

Good advice, Smilingcat.

I've been laid off three times. The third time was on my current job. We are government contractors, the contract ended, the new one was awarded to someone else. So we were all laid off from company A and then hired by company B a few days later. The stress and uncertainty only lasted one weekend, which happened to be the weekend I went up to NYC to do my first century ever.

The first layoff for me led to a period of unemployment. I actually hated my job at the time; the company I was working for was a horrible, stressful place to work run by a crazy person who screamed at people until they ran out of the room crying. So I was relieved when they re-organized and eliminated my job. I immediately came down with a bad upper respiratory virus that left me exhausted for about a month, no doubt a reaction to the stress of working for an abusive lunatic from 7 am to midnight for days on end. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do next and so I signed up to take a night class that was an intro to IT project management. I liked the class, took several more and learned web development. Along the way I got a temp job doing secretarial work so I would have a little income. I did end up running through my savings but after several months I was able to start a new career. The first job in the new career involved half the salary of my previous job but I liked what I was doing and no one yelled at me.

It was all a long time ago, but I think the important things were: keep to a schedule, get up and get dressed every day, maintain contact with supportive friends, family and colleagues. I did cut back on expenses since I didn't have much of an income for a while and the classes I took were not inexpensive.

The second time I was laid off I wanted another job in the same field and was able to find one within about a month. The hard part was not giving in to desperation. I interviewed for a few jobs that I knew I would not be happy with, either because of the location/commute or the type of work, but it was hard not to pursue them knowing that I couldn't afford to go for very long without an income.

For both the first and second layoffs I was lucky to have one or two very supportive friends who encouraged me without being judgmental about what I wanted to do. It was important to filter out some other "friends" who thought they were being helpful but really were just overly critical and negative.

So I think overall the important thing is to take care of yourself, physically and emotionally. Bike rides, other exercise, eat well, rely on those people you can trust.

And of course we're here for you, too. Good luck.

[shootingstar]

For the past decade, I've become a somewhat boring person --fashion-wise. Just 6 days before I was given this negative news, I had just bought a $80.00 dress shoes on sale. I already had 2 prs. of dress shoes (1 pr. 10 yrs. old while other 3 yrs. old), now I do really need? 10 yrs. pr. will fall apart probably next yr.

Thankfully mortgage paid off last yr. What is slightly daunting is need to work longer (am not at retirement age) because nowadays healthy people live alot longer and therefore there needs to be enough $$$ to live. However, I look to my parents who have lived low-income nearly all their lives plus support a large family...but parents never took any trips/vacations beyond 1 day roundtrip drive. They were incredibly frugal...which probably affected some of us in a good way....as adults in spending habits.

A good friend of mine close to 80 yrs. died suddenly early this winter...which puzzled me since there was nothing to indicate a heart /cardio problem. She retired at 65. A few years later, she sold her condo and rented instead for past 8 yrs. Unfortunately she hinted she was running out of money. This is an university-educated single woman who had middle class professional income jobs all her life.

Smilingcat you're right -- even a general plan is helpful. I'm not (yet) as brave as you yet.
NY bike- I've been unemployed/in-between jobs 3 times in past 3 decades before this latest. In the last time, it was a challenge to limit myself to just 1 coffee per day and snack. No clothing purchases and nothing else to treat myself.....except occasional haircut (I had to look good for interviews) and lots of long bike rides for 2 hrs. daily. Yes, health, a regular routine to get out of bed is needed.