No one can predict the future. Nor can you perfectly plan your life so no mistakes every happen. For example when we moved cross country, if you had told us my DH would lose his job within 3 months we wouldn’t have moved. We also would not have bought a house. But we made the best decisions we could with the information available.
Interestingly our neighbors had just bought their townhouse and a week after closing the man lost his job. They relocated when he got another job offer. This was after living in the area 10 years and finally deciding to buy. Also he had been with his job for 3+ years. So there is no guarantees in life. No guarantee the job you thought was secure is. Or that you won’t move within the next 20 years.
What brought this about? Our friends in San Diego recently were laid off. A very close couple were expecting their 3rd child in June and now they paying for Cobra because she doesn’t work and he provided the income and insurance. Could they have predicted 6 months ago he wouldn’t be employed? No. Hence they choose to have a child now.
Life’s so unpredictable. Even with money in the bank, it will be tough. Cobra is expensive, potential medical bills could ruin them, but unless you are self-employed, can you really know an implosion at a company is coming?
I guess right now the best thing to do is try to keep your job. And if not, keep in touch with contacts in case you have to find another job. Really keep up with networking.
So where is our economy going? I have no idea, all I know is since I’ve left college many of my friends have gone through layoffs within the technology/biotechnology industries. Great money when employed and not so good when not. And there appears to be no pattern. Only keep on looking for a new job and be willing to move.
And make choices you can live with even without a job, because it could end up that way.
7 responses so far ↓
1 cinzea // Apr 29, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Good advice. Thank you.
2 chris // Apr 30, 2008 at 1:51 am
The moving becomes a bit more difficult when both spouses are employed in higher paying jobs.
It’s so much easier with what I call a throw away job being held by one of the spouses. Throw away jobs are jobs that can be easily replaced because there is always demand for the work to be done.
Sadly, too many of those jobs do not provide for financial reward, personal satisfaction or personal growth.
I’ve been reading that maybe we’ve hit the bottom. I’m not so sure. I really believe that we have a few more years of the real estate downturn and that will ripple into other industries and points within the economy. It may even begin affecting areas that so far have avoided a downturn.
But the ability to call on friends, mentors and other industry peers as well as being flexible will be very necessary in the near future and possibly forever.
3 dogatemyfinances // Apr 30, 2008 at 1:08 pm
I don’t understand why anyone just sits in their cubicle, assuming it will last forever, which I guess people do. I’m always out networking and talking to people. I know that if my job imploded I could get a high-paying job within a month.
Especially if people depended on you, like a stay at home wife, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t protect your income with a safety net, a network.
4 Jim ~ mydebtblog.com // Apr 30, 2008 at 3:29 pm
If you think about it, most jobs cannot last the test of time like they once did. The job I have now is neither my first nor my last. I’m a programmer right now, but could easily break into other fields. I get paid for what I know, not what I do. Learning new skills and always keeping your eyes open for new opportunities is fundamental to advancing a career. People who are apathetic and lazy just sit in their cubicle and hope the job stays around for years on end.
Income is one thing (we’re never paid enough right?) but life is also important. From buying a house, having a baby, changing jobs is a cycle of life. I work to live not live to work.
5 Barb1954 // Apr 30, 2008 at 7:47 pm
I really take offense at the “sitting in a cubicle equals being lazy” attitude expressed in the comments above. Not all of us have jobs that involve sales or moving about and meeting with others during the day. Some people have jobs that require them to focus on the task at hand and work long hours doing a great job. I was a book editor and worked 50-70 hours a week to meet printing deadlines. One does not edit books by not sitting in an office or cubicle and working on the text in front of you. Whether they work in a private office or cubicle, a medical lab, or on the road, most people work damn hard at their jobs, and most jobs end through no fault of the employees. Please don’t assume that everyone’s life is the same as your own.
6 Jim ~ mydebtblog.com // Apr 30, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Barb1954 I don’t have to assume, there are many people who sit/hide/sleep? in their cubicle and avoid work. They’re constantly trying to find ways out of work and shifting assignments to other people (like myself) so they don’t have to do it. That is apathetic and lazy, and a lot of people do it every day. You picked one line out of my post and twisted it into something offensive.
For the rest of those who also happen to work in a cubicle, office, lab, whatever the case may be they are actually working. There’s nothing wrong working hard, as long as you’re working smart. I know exactly what it’s like to grind out an assignment, put in overtime, and meet deadlines. My point is learning new things never stops and you should never feel content where you are working, because the job could be gone tomorrow through no fault of your own.
7 LivingAlmostLarge // May 9, 2008 at 12:15 am
I guess life is just not easy or always fun. People seem to have fabulous lives but not everyone can make ends meet.
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