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Just got laid off today, upon returning from a week's vacation, by my Fortune top 10 employer. Been with them since May of 2003, except for a 10 month gap in '16-'17 when I was also laid off by them. Felt fortunate to get rehired in Feb 2017, since I was 61...and they matched my former salary.
Soon to be 64 and my plan was to retire sometime between April 1 and August 31 of next year. I don't get the sweet severance as in '16 but I do get a couple months. Severance, plus six months unemployment, am thinking I can string this out nicely and ride off into the sunset almost as planned.
Frankly, I will be happy to give corporate America the finger. I am set this time (no pension, but me and the spouse have really good ss benefits and solid 401Ks). But that was not the case when laid off by other employers in '82, '97, and '03. The whole layoff thing gets tiresome. I feel for the younger generations who have to deal with the same garbage. It's hard to be loyal to an employer when they will dump you in a heartbeat just to meet some exec's budget, likely due to their own mismanagement.
Any other soon-to-be retirees encounter similar BS?
I never understood where that "loyal to your employee" came from, who had this bad idea to be loyal to their employee...
I have been loyal to my retiree health insurance and pension thus far. If not for that well. . . . who knows?
Be careful- unless you're protected by a contract, retiree health insurance can be taken away even after retirement. My brother retired around age 60 with a good pension and retiree health insurance, They got a letter in late 2017 telling them that as of 1/1/2018 they no longer had retiree health insurance. End of story. They've been paying ACA premiums since- last I heard they were $22K/year for DB and DSIL. Fortunately they have significant savings and live frugally. They don't qualify for subsidies.
I never understood where that "loyal to your employee" came from, who had this bad idea to be loyal to their employee...
It's common law, and dates back centuries, to feudal responsibilities. The employee has the legal responsibility to care for the employer's best interest, and can be sued or discharged if he fails.The employer has the responsibility to provide a living for the employee. In the days of unions, that extended to pensions and a sinecure until retirement.
Much of the system has broken down. Employers treat employees as a cost center, and love to put them on a salary so they don't have to pay overtime for 60 hour work weeks. They require non-compete clauses to keep disgruntled employees from leaving with their entire customer database and proprietary information. They discard productive employees every time their business model changes.
Employees pad their inadequate paychecks and benefits by stealing from employers. Latest stats are that employee theft equals 7% of corporate gross. This takes many forms. It can be kickbacks from suppliers, padded expense accounts, padded time cards, theft of inventory, or a host of other scams.
Re-establishing a loyal employee corps once the loyalty has been betrayed takes years, and probably costs more than eating the losses from employee theft. It's just a cost of doing business.
At the end of this month, at the age of 58, I will find myself laid off for the second time in three years due to medical office closures. In the first case, home office decided to consolidate several small locations by moving them all to Chicago. In the second case, our contract with the local healthcare system was not renewed.
It's hard not to feel disheartened when this keeps happening.
This goes along with my last post about everyone wanting to be their own boss. Some are "leaders", others not so much. They will be the ones who fail. Then what?
Well....you have to be doing something to fail. Obviously someone who doesn't make mistakes isn't doing anything, or damned little.
I've made lots of mistakes, sometimes the same ones twice. But I learned not to make so many, and not make the same ones over and over.
Being your own boss is not easy. I've never told anyone it is or was.
And the reality of it that people gloss over is the fact that you are still working for someone-the customer!
He/she's your boss. If your not selling something someone wants to buy, and not doing a good enough job that people keep wanting to buy whatever it is your selling YOU'RE OUT OF BUSINESS!!!!
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I like running my own business, and have been doing it too long to ever go back to being an employee. I'm not special in that respect by any means.
So far I've been fortunate. All the work, and all the risk. BUT ALSO THE REWARDS!!!
Not to pump sunshine up your butt, but be thankful you can work it out and get to your original plan. May cannot.
I was in high tech marketing and sales so it did not take me long to realize I had no job security. I had good jobs and made good money but I knew I would have to take care of myself for retirement. I was fortunate that my wife made good money and had an awesome state retirement.
At the end of this month, at the age of 58, I will find myself laid off for the second time in three years due to medical office closures. In the first case, home office decided to consolidate several small locations by moving them all to Chicago. In the second case, our contract with the local healthcare system was not renewed.
It's hard not to feel disheartened when this keeps happening.
I hate Ohio.
I am truly sorry -- it is very hard to get laid off multiple times especially at age 58. I know it won't make you feel any better but this happens all over -- not just Ohio. I really feel for the younger generation because they will be the victims also -- at least we had a stable job market when we started out. I am so happy to be retired and not have that worry anymore -- but I am 66 and just retired one year ago. Permanently out of the rat race.
Sounds to me like you're in a good spot to hang it up. I'd step away at this point.
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