Bad news for a lot of my friends and acquaintances. This week, their company laid them off.It's happened before -- this is the fourth or fifth round in a year or two. I've lost track.
But this one was absolute carnage.
So I wrote each of my friends who are leaving a note, with a small offer to help. I don't know what I can do, I don't know if I can help them find work, but maybe, maybe I can. Or someone I know can. Who knows.
It was a reverse asking -- the kind where you gain by giving, that is.
Gained: Hope these people will pull through, hope the cuts were a blessing in disguise, hope I might at last help someone professionally, after being helped so many times by so many others.
And you, reader, have you been affected by the economy, job-wise? If you were laid off recently, did you find it was for the best? Perhaps escape from a crumbling institution, a pressure cooker, a chance to refocus? Or was it the worst thing imaginable?
And if you weren't laid off, what's it like holding a steady job while people left and right are losing theirs? Is this idea of "survivor's guilt" a bunch of media hype, or is it real? Is it harder for those left behind, or the departed?
My hours have been cut almost in half. That would be okay because I do other things and am glad for the time off. But I was supposed to get a small raise and that's been nixed. I'm just glad I don't get health insurance through my job or it could be a nightmare. Though paying nearly $900 a month for two with a $3500 deductible each is pretty infuriating. National Healthcare Please! (Signed by formerly escondido123)
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