OT I�ve been laid off

[Muad’Dib]

Well, it finally happened! I have been laid until May. Due too all events at my place of work, being canceled, due to the Coronavirus. So I won"t be doing any unnecessary spending. Have to keep all of my finances in order.

[Stokely]

Very sorry to hear that. I'm half-expecting that to happen myself. If not now, then most likely after the dust settles more.

 

I was just about to buy a Nord Stage, no way in hell I'm getting anything right now.

[GRollins]

Condolences.

 

You're not alone. The economy is not as strong as some would have you believe. My wife lost one of her jobs the day after Christmas* and the business is going under, even as we speak. It's been a bit of a drag and she's not taking it well. Then came the virus and she's on hold at her other job (like so many others), so that's weighing on her as well. Add to that the fact that she's a "people person" and isolation doesn't work well for her, and it's been a bit interesting.

 

But look on the bright side...you said you've been 'laid until May.' There are many who would be glad just to get laid on Saturday night.

 

(...okay, okay...lame attempt at humor...laugh with me or at me, your choice. I'll buy the next round to make up for it.)

 

Grey

 

*What kind of asshole lays people off the day after Christmas? Ebenezer Scrooge? I mean, really, that's just nasty, you know?

[Muad’Dib]

Thanks guys! Yea, this is just Temporary until business picks back up.

[Mighty Motif Max]

Sorry to hear that Paul. At least you know it"s not permanent. Others aren"t so blessed sometimes. Good luck!

[Mark Schmieder]

Sorry to hear that Paul, and I hope you can land on your feet soon.

 

I had never heard the term "temporary layoff" until it happened to me at end of day Friday. I'm not at liberty to talk about it in any further detail, but I don't feel I have a guarantee of re-employment once the stay-at-home order is lifted either, so I've had to start the weirdest job hunt in my life. I've never been unemployed, and will have to take money out of retirement to make mortgage, if relief isn't on the way. But as I don't depend on music performance for a living, that part of my life is a sad loss emotionally but has no economic impact of any note.

 

I imagine the majority of people on this forum are in far worse shape and have even less likelihood of returning to solvency when the dust settles. It is quite shocking how fast things have changed and are still changing, but I have generally refrained from talking about any of this stuff publicly as my general policy is not to say anything that might have a rub-off effect on other people I know or on a company or other form of business, as people will often read inferences into simple things that we divulge about what's going on in our lives and that can cause trouble.

[Tom Williams]

I've never been unemployed, and will have to take money out of retirement to make mortgage, if relief isn't on the way.

I hope you don't have to do that -- I had to dip into retirement twice in the early 2000s, and as a result will probably have to work until the age of 68 at least, before I can retire.

 

The first couple of times I was out of work I did not utilize my unemployment insurance. Eventually I learned to, and it made a huge difference.

[Piktor]

Really sorry to hear. Unfortunately, you won"t likely be alone either.

[ElmerJFudd]

If you"ve been following the curve as Corona cases increase - we"re not as authoritarian as China and relying on citizens limiting contact with one another rather than having the military roll in and quarantine whole neighborhoods. We"re looking at mid June before cases really start to fall off. At the height of it, our health care workers are going to be overwhelmed and we"re going to lose a lot of people. We"ve not seen anything really like this since 1918 and that generation is long gone. Yes, we"re medically/technologically in a stronger place, but we also have a lot bigger population than back then. I fear we"ve been in denial for weeks now and only now just waking up to reality.

[nursers]

Yes, we"re medically/technologically in a stronger place, but we also have a lot bigger population than back then. I fear we"ve been in denial for weeks now and only now just waking up to reality.

 

Sadly I think this is a very accurate statement

[Cliffk]

Really sorry to hear this, Paul. Hope things bounce back for you.

 

What this virus has brought home to me is how precarious our existence as a species is, and ultimately how insignificant our spats with each other are. I mean, a puny respiratory bug is taking us out like flies and making us soil our pants in dread. And I"m betting that there are stronger ones just waiting on their cue in future. At the very least, just hope all this instils some humility in us.

[Muad’Dib]

Well, I work in the Hospitality industry at a small company, that mainly does weddings and corporate events. I have help from my parents, and will file for unemployment. Fortunately for me this is temporary, but I know there are people who aren"t so lucky.

 

I want to thank everyone for your support in these difficult times, and I hope we can all work together. To support one another. I know social distancing is hard, but at least we have forums like this to get together in.

[nursers]

Exactly

[Muad’Dib]

Well, I filed for unemployment!

[Mr. Nightime]

Here in Florida, it can take a month before the unemployment kicks in. Hopefully the government will find a way to waive that for people that have lost their income due to COVID-19

 

I am thankful that I work in an industry where I still have a job. The company has transitioned more than 95% of the workforce to Work From Home, with many of us taking our work computers home with us.

 

I hope that the stimulus package that Congress is working on helps all those in need.

[The Real MC]

I'm working from home as one of the few lucky ones employed for an "essential service". I feel bad for the unlucky ones out there. It's going to be brutal.

[Michael Wright]

Although my wife and I are semi retired, it is unlikely that we will return to work until September. And of course any possibility of gigging is gone.

[o0Ampy0o]

So you don't have medical coverage now if you had it before?

 

At least now that you have been "laid off," whether temporary or not, you are eligible for unemployment insurance. Many people will be using any savings and/or retirement funds if they have those.

 

Some people are more fortunate. Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter have all said they will pay hourly workers their regular rate even if those workers have to stay home due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

[Analogaddict]

Sorry to hear that! I work as a teacher 40% nowadays - that turned out to be a good move since I"ve lost 100% of my live work and 90% of my sessions. Stay strong friends, this too shall pass!

[Mark Schmieder]

The unemployment site for California clearly states that Covid-19 based job loss will be prioritized and accelerated in its handling, as well as back-pay for periods missed between completion of the handling at their end and the first date of eligibility as filed.

 

I hope other states (hopefully yours) will also take this approach, but of course all will be overwhelmed with forms. Maybe they'll hire more staff to help with the handling though.

 

But that brings me to a statement of irony for the day, that a former girlfriend lost her job at an unemployment office during a belt-tightening at the government level, then had to revisit her former co-workers in a somewhat different role, shall we say. It felt to her like a walk of shame. But of course none of us should feel that way.

[Iconoclast]

I was 22 years old, married college student with 2 kids, working for an ice company and they furloughed me on christmas-f-ing eve. 1986.

 

Never forgotten that. I didn't tell anyone until after new years. It was pretty tough. Of course I had no health insurance (I don't think anyone really did back then!). I'd always worked since I was a teen. At the time I only had 7 classes to graduate so I just crammed them into one semester, borrowed $7000 to live on (my only student loan) and graduated in May then took a job cleaning pools until my "real" job started 11 months later. I've never been unemployed since.

 

Now I work for the airlines. Last month things were all coming up green. Luckily I got a record profit-sharing check for last year just 2 weeks ago.

 

Now, the airlines are in free-fall. It's estimated the industry will burn 10 BILLION in the next month.

 

Ironically, we're working hard at the moment as we fly jets out to park them in the desert and try to connect the broken parts of our greatly reduced schedule together. I think I'll be OK for April. Beyond that is anyone's guess. We'll either furlough or take greatly reduced work minimums in May to stay afloat, that's my guess.

 

Thanks to those jerks who laid me off back in college, I have a good rainy-day fund. But I can guarantee this year ain't gonna turn out the way I thought!

 

This will pass. It might suck and you might have to hold your breath longer than you want. But when it turns around, make sure you save up at least a couple months of cash...and toilet paper.

[Mr. Nightime]

I had a work from home job through a service that was contracted to Apple, so in essence I worked for Apple. I had worked my way up to Tier 2 iOS.

 

In 2017, my wife was hospitalized for 8 weeks. We were not sure if she would survive, as she was on a ventilator for 3 weeks. I claimed FMLA for those weeks, and thankfully, people were generous with the Go Fund Me I set up.

 

She got out of the hospital in early December.

 

On December 16 I was called into a meeting with 90 other people, Turns out Apple decided they needed to reduce the workforce, so all 90 of us lost our jobs, right before Christmas.

Made for a great Christmas.

 

To this day, with the exception of the iPad Pro I bought while I worked there, I will not own an Apple product.

 

But, as they say, when one door closes, another opens.

 

Less than a month later I started working for a company that is a call center for insurance. We were part of a program to find private doctors for veterans needed to get their disability benefits.

 

But, the day before we were supposed to really get started helping, the client pulled the plug. However, out of the kindness of their hearts, they gave us another week of training working toward getting a license to sell insurance.

 

During that week, their sister company in the same building needed a group of people right away for a program that was starting. This sister company is the call center for Ford Motor Company.

 

There had been 2 fatalities in the 2006 Ranger attributed to the Takata Air Bags, and Ford decided that was 2 too many, so they started a program where we would call the owners of the trucks, telling them to not drive them, and that the dealers would come get the truck and fix them, no charge, and if needed supply a loaner vehicle. I finished with the insurance portion on Friday, and started with Ford on Monday

 

I've since moved up in the company, working for Ford Parts.

 

I plan on staying here for a while. The insurance is great, the other benefits are nice, and they sent people home with their work computers so they could work from home and not miss a paycheck.

 

So, Thanks, Apple, for screwing me over so I could go someplace so much better.