Scoob's company is laying off 27,000 people and they re-instituted their early retirement program. The program allows those employes who qualify and think they are at risk for being laid off the option to voluntarily leave the company and receive an extended severance.
Anyhow, Scoob and I talked about it and given how unstable things have been at his company and what seems like constant reorganization lay offs, we decided he should apply for the early retirement. He applied last Tuesday. The application window closes this Friday and we're not sure when they will get back to him letting him know if his application was accepted or not and, if accepted, when his last day will be. If he is accepted, he cannot go back to work for them for at least 24 months.
For now we're working under the assumption that Scoob needs to find a new job.
On Thursday I got a call from my boss. What I thought was going to be our regular weekly check-in turned out to be a call with HR on the line notifying me that I was being let go. There is no ambiguity in my situation—my last day is July 13. I'll get 8 weeks severance.
It was a shock, but overall I am okay with it and now I'm feeling pretty positive about making the necessary transitions at work and finding my next adventure. For me, it sort of feels like the next logical step—we physically left California, sold our home there, and now it's time to let go of the jobs and finish our transition to North Carolina. If that makes sense.
But that doesn't change the fact that now we're both out of work.
So we did not go to the National Hollerin' Contest last weekend as planned. Instead, we stayed close to home, worked on our resumes, updated our LinkedIn profiles, started scouring the job boards, and shopped the malls for interview clothes for me. I didn't have many professional office clothes to begin with and what I did have just doesn't fit right after my surgery.
At a minimum, we know that I will continue to work with my employer, albeit in a part-time freelancing role. At least it will be work and generate some income for a while.
As much as I have enjoyed working in publishing, I have always known book publishing typically does not pay competitive salaries. And since we're worried that any new job Scoob finds will involve a pay cut, I'm going to branch out and see if I can't get hired on somewhere where the pay is better, although I have seen a couple of jobs at at locally-based publishers that I am qualified for—there are actually more publishers in the Raleigh–Durham area than I realized. We'll see. I'll put in applications. We're also getting our contacts at at tech companies to put our resumes in front of people.
I'm confident we will get through this—things may just get very lean for a while.
At any rate, that is where we're at. All good vibes, prayers, and juju are welcome. And in that vein, this week's Musical Monday (on Tuesday) (again)…
The Future's So Bright
timbuk3
timbuk3
I study nuclear science
I love my classes
I got a crazy teacher, he wears dark glasses
Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing all right, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades,
I gotta wear shades
I've got a job waiting for my graduation
Fifty thou a year -- buys a lot of beer
Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing all right, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades
Well I'm heavenly blessed and worldly wise
I'm a peeping-tom techie with x-ray eyes
Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing all right, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades
I study nuclear science
I love my classes
I got a crazy teacher, he wears dark glasses
Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing all right, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades
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