Job Woes

There have been talks about possible layoffs where Sue and I work for months now, but not until this week has it been anything more than talk. I try not to let these things bother me because it is for the most part out of my hands, but after reading four news articles I am starting to get concerned.

Unless a concession is reached layoffs will begin on July 1st. The place that Sue works is expected to cut a lot of workers. That puts Sue at risk even though she has been there for 6 or 7 years. I’ve only been at this job for just over 4 years, but the cuts there would be big enough to endanger me as well.

Having one of us lose our job would be very difficult to work around. We could probably survive on one paycheck, but it would be very, very tight even with the kids not going to daycare. Two kids, a house and a car would be tough to support. Since both of us are in nearly equal danger we could both end up losing our jobs. That would be devastating. I’m not sure what I would/could do if that happened.

What bothers me most is that there are other easier and less devastating ways of saving money without the need to cut workers. The consultants that cost $100-$200 per hour would be the first ones I’d get rid of. They’re temporary (or at least they are supposed to be temporary) and took the job knowing that it had an end date; the only change would be that their contract would end early. Cutting one guy that makes $100 per hour would save more than two other jobs. Cutting somebody that makes $200 an hour would save about five jobs. Saving money by not buying copier paper (paper is becoming difficult to come by at my job) and laying off lower paid workers is not the way to save money.


One Response to “Job Woes”

  1. jessie Says:
    April 10th, 2009 at 6:04 am

    yeah, we’re seeing the same. the place where Chris works has closed a few locations completely as of late. my company has gone on a cost-cutting frenzy, but continues to employ contractors. the pisser is that when looking at full-time employee salaries we normally forget to include the cost of insurance and benefits. when you add those in, we’re actually more expensive than the contractors that they don’t have to pay those for. sad but true.