Job Aggrevation

[Ovaltine]

Some of you know, I was laid off Oct. 2005. The same company asked me to return Feb 2006 in a temporary capacity, so I did. I felt some satisfaction that absolutely NONE of the jobs I had been working on had been touched in the 4 months I was gone. In April 2006 they switched me to marketing which reinstated my full-time status. I was a bit intimidated at this, since I have no real grounding in marketing, but decided (with the encouragement of a few of you) to think of it as a paid internship with benifits. I'm not sure whether I don't like marketing, or I don't like marketing for this company, but I was miserable after 4 months of it.

A few months ago, things were looking brighter for me, the art director demanded to have me back in the Graphic Design Department. I was very pleased. The company invested thousands in a new video studio, and the art director had me learn (through Lynda.com) all about Premier Pro 2, Encore, Audition, and After Effects. I thought, hey, if you want to pay me and make me even more marketable, great! I got to film a few videos with the new equiptment, finished one for the web, and almost finished a 90min one for retail when I was called into the Art Director's office and laid off again! No severence, no notice, just pack your stuff and go home.

It seems sales are down again, and the CEO decided to cut people. I can't imagine why sales could be down....it couldn't be that he had us trying to copy our competitor's products (a competitor who just laid off 30 people because THEIR sales are also slipping), or that people around there do things 2 and 3 times because their managers don't remember them doing the stuff the 1st time, or that certain managers are never there, don't respond to communications for weeks, and are the only ones who can approve things. It also couldn't have anything to do with the fact that while the vast majority of (young) people who buy our type of product are one-time only impulse buyers, we still try to cater to the "loyal" purchasers (old ladies), who may be loyal, but only buy in tiny quantities.

So the short of it is...I'm looking for a new job, again (preferably in a big city). I like having a job, I like working with people, and I'm good at what I do, it's the looking that frustrates me. Anybody have a lead on anything in Greensboro, NC? ;)

[Jackimalyn]

sorry to hear all that. can be frusterating. Im lookin for a new job as well :( good luck to ya

[Kool]

Man that sucks.

Ever notice how they always cut the art and production depts when sales are down. Never the mid management weenies who generally produce nothing. If sales are down your marketing dept should be ramping up.

[Ovaltine]

Yes, well, noone said they were smart. They just see that there are 4 people in our department, and don't bother to think that, maybe, they all serve a different, uniquely vital function.

I had a Japanese lady who was coming in this week to do the Japanese voice-overs for our on-line videos. The art director had to do them with her because I wasn't there and when do you think he's going to have time to edit those together with the video? I still haven't had time to finish the Spanish ones voiced last year.

As ticked as I am with them right now, I really do hope the company does get back on it's feet. And the art director is going to let me come in and print some stuff for my portfolio. (He was really ticked to have to let me go, he almost cursed! It was amusing.)

Thanks for the support.

Jackimalyn, good luck with your search as well.

[LeftBrain Artist]

Bummer. That happened to me once. 3 days notice. They asked me to come back - I declined. I don't make as much where I'm at now as I could in a corporate environment, but being in a smaller design firm has the distinct advantage that what you do is a source of revenue, and not considered an expense.

Check your state laws regarding lay-offs. When I got laid off - I was considered a full time temp - not quite a "real" employee. We were the first to go, followed by the other 1100 office workers a couple of weeks later. This violated a state law requiring employers to give 60 days notice of a business shutdown - a class action lawsuit ensued, and 6 years later after I'd almost completely forgotton about it (a few weeks ago) - got a check for 667 bones.

Nevermind, found it - its FEDERAL LAW:

Employees are entitled to be warned of large layoffs under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). Employers with more than 100 workers are required to give employees and their communities at least 60 days notice or comparable financial benefits (60 days notice pay) of plant closings and large layoffs that affect 50 or more workers at a job site. Speak to an experienced employment lawyer or contact your nearest regional office of the Department of Labor for more information. Companies must be careful when contemplating a substantial reduction of their workforce, and a representative from the Department of Labor can advise you if your rights are being violated.

Tip: Consider filing a lawsuit alleging WARN violations if you are terminated due to a large reorganization or downsizing (e.g., your whole department is suddenly axed) and are not given a reasonable warning or decent severance package. Speak to a lawyer for more details if applicable.


Copyright 1998 Steven M. Sack

[Ovaltine]

I don't know how many people were laid off. I'm not entirely certain how many employees we had probably close to 100 not much more. I know I wasn't the only one, but I'm also sure it was under 10. The ceo has already cut the office staff to it's bare bones, so most of the other layoffs were in the facory (you don't need people making, printing labels for, packaging, picking and shipping product if the product is not selling).

[budafist]

Hey, at least they paid for your training and you left with more skills than you started. Consider the job some downtime for training perhaps?

[Ovaltine]

Yes, it was fun learning all that new software, and when my boss was giving me the bad news, he even said he thought I could go into video editing if I wanted to. Appearently he thinks I'm really good at it.