[JGatti]

After 9 months and no decent jobs I spoke with my supervisor last night. He informed me I was one of two people who had not been called back. Most likely because on paper ( thanks to him) it reads as if I am only qualified for doing 1 job in the plant. This pissed me off the night I was laid off and I told management that I should have been qualified on 5 other jobs I had learned over the final 4 months of work. I swore I would not go back to that place but know right now if there is a chance I have to fight for it. My supervisor told me he was going to have my union rep call me today so we can proceed with the process.
The whole situation chaps my ass because even though I have lower seniority than a lot of people, I am 3rd in line in experience in the industry on the floor. Only two people out of 110 have more time in a plant like ours. I fought with my supervisor for weeks leading up to the lay off to put me in the books but he kept his head in the sand and said I would not have to worry about the lay off and he wanted me to get a little more time training. Crap!
So now I wait for a call to return to a place that I despise, all for the mighty dollar. I told my wife though that this does not change our plans. The house gets sold, we finish school and move on with our lives. Grrrrrr I'm not looking forward to this. Anyone else ever had to swallow their pride and return to a place that jerked em around so bad you never wanted to go back, but due to circumstances had no choice?

[gnab gib]

When I got out of college, I got a PT job at a newspaper. When a new editor came in and made things miserable, I went out and found another newspaper job -- which turned out to be even more miserable. So with hat in hand, I went crawling back to the first paper, and they made me go through the humiliating process of filling out an application and interviewing, like I'd never worked there before. It was still a crap job, and fortunately, a new opportunity broke about a year later. I took it and never looked back.

I guess the moral of the story is that things will get better, and this doesn't have to be a permanent situation for you -- just something to pay the bills until something else comes along, or the economy improves, or both.

Good luck.

[MTUCache]

Yep... nothing more pride-swallowing that heading back to a place with your tail between your legs.

My experience wasn't nearly as bad as yours, but towards the end of last year the company I was at finally had stretched beyond the snapping point. My department went from 20 guys to 10 in the matter of a month. I felt lucky that I was in the 10 left, but I knew I was near the bottom of that ten, despite my qualifications... I hadn't been there long enough. As work slowed we started taking weeks off in shifts (with me getting more than my fair share). Eventually it became obvious that the axe was falling on me and a couple of other guys, but we still had to string it out for a couple of weeks and bank as much money as we could.

A week after I had been "unofficially" laid off (taking "unpaid vacation" was their term for it) they happened to need an extra hand for a few days and called me in. Felt like crap walking back in there knowing I was now an outsider, but I had to take whatever money I could get at that point. My unemployment hadn't even been set up yet. The guys I normally worked with were all happy to see me (mostly because they were waiting for the same thing to happen to them), but my supervisor's and the other guys in the office looked at me like they thought I was going to go postal on everybody. I didn't get any official walking papers for another six months, but they made it clear that they didn't think it was very likely they were going to be calling any of us back. I suppose I should feel thankful that they covered my health insurance until June last year until I had to switch to Cobra, but to be honest I haven't exactly been in a thankful mood until very recently.

That was a great pre-Christmas gift last year... the same one I'm sure many people around here got. The eight months since then seem like they've lasted a lifetime.

[sike0000]

There were a couple of times that I should have swallowed my pride and didn't. I still regret it to this day. I should have gone back and meanwhile pursued better opportunities.

I think you will thank yourself later on. They are taking you back, maybe not on your terms, but it is better than nothing. Use it to your advantage (ie paycheck) and move on.

[tjay]

before i got laid off from my office job a few years ago (worked there 7 years, greed took over and they outsourced all of our jobs) we all had a feeling something was going to happen. so i milked them for everything i could. worked through lunch, came in early, stayed late....trying to get as much overtime as i could. (was i really working during this overtime? haha....no). i also mailed as much as i could using their postage machine, sold a bunch of cd's on amazon and what do you know i paid for zero shipping. spent hours on the internet chatting with friends, paying bills, organizing my life.
i'm sure none of this was the 'right' thing to do. but i was rather bitter. they kept two people, the ones who had no health insurance through the company, and would work ridiculous hours and take on other people's jobs as they downsized. i did my best for that company, found them several ways to save money, went out of my way to make everything i touched better. none of it was noticed or appreciated. if they actually did reviews the biggest raise any of us got was a quarter. a what?! yes, 25 frickin cents. meanwhile the 'owners' of the company were putting denali's on company credit cards, having the company pay for family vacations to italy and writing it all off. greed, nothing but greed. the little things i did were a drop in the bucket to them, but sadly, made a difference to me financially. they laid us off right before christmas, cut off our health insurance immediately. see ya.

if i had to go back for some reason, i would again milk them for anything i could and try to leave them high and dry for something else if something came up. but if that happened i think i might have to kill myself.....the energy associated with places like that can drive you mad.

[MI-IRISH]

...you can have my soul,but never my pride

[YAZ]

Yep, it's all about the money.

As soon as ya take that crappy job, all of those resumes that you sent out and the time you took to do it will come to fruition.

Potential employers will come out of the woodwork begging you to join their team......

[Peter B]

Look at the big picture. It is a chance to start anew. There are reasons you were not called back. Try to rid your mind of the "union seniority" silliness that is so 1980's. Go back, bust your butt, and work like it is the last job on the planet. Work hard enough and display enough common sense in everything you do and eventually you may end up running the place

Originally Posted by JGatti

After 9 months and no decent jobs I spoke with my supervisor last night. He informed me I was one of two people who had not been called back. Most likely because on paper ( thanks to him) it reads as if I am only qualified for doing 1 job in the plant. This pissed me off the night I was laid off and I told management that I should have been qualified on 5 other jobs I had learned over the final 4 months of work. I swore I would not go back to that place but know right now if there is a chance I have to fight for it. My supervisor told me he was going to have my union rep call me today so we can proceed with the process.
The whole situation chaps my ass because even though I have lower seniority than a lot of people, I am 3rd in line in experience in the industry on the floor. Only two people out of 110 have more time in a plant like ours. I fought with my supervisor for weeks leading up to the lay off to put me in the books but he kept his head in the sand and said I would not have to worry about the lay off and he wanted me to get a little more time training. Crap!
So now I wait for a call to return to a place that I despise, all for the mighty dollar. I told my wife though that this does not change our plans. The house gets sold, we finish school and move on with our lives. Grrrrrr I'm not looking forward to this. Anyone else ever had to swallow their pride and return to a place that jerked em around so bad you never wanted to go back, but due to circumstances had no choice?

[JGatti]

Originally Posted by YAZ

Yep, it's all about the money.

As soon as ya take that crappy job, all of those resumes that you sent out and the time you took to do it will come to fruition.

Potential employers will come out of the woodwork begging you to join their team......

You hit that right on the head YAZ. I have an interview at 1:00 tomorrow.

[JGatti]

Originally Posted by Peter B

Look at the big picture. It is a chance to start anew. There are reasons you were not called back. Try to rid your mind of the "union seniority" silliness that is so 1980's. Go back, bust your butt, and work like it is the last job on the planet. Work hard enough and display enough common sense in everything you do and eventually you may end up running the place

I've tried that route PeterB. But how about this. I go back bust my ass, go to school and then work for myself. I like that picture better.