I work for a large government consulting firm. I’d been saying for ages that if the contract was not renewed at the end of March, I’d stick a fork in it and retire.
In January or so, we were told it would be extended up to 18 months. Cool.
Around then, I scheduled major surgery for next month, that will have me out of office for at least 4 weeks. Well, “office” is “my daughter’s bedroom” but still…. My supervisor was even making plans for coverage - brought someone new in to start learning the ropes.
4 weeks after that happened, most of us were told that we were being rolled off. I knew there wasn’t going to be work there for me past June or so, but still, the rolloff was sudden. I really feel sorry for that new person - 5 weeks on the project and BOOM.
Because I have the surgery, with good short term disability coverage, I’d been planning on getting a paycheck for at least 2-3 more months - so that fork is going back in the drawer temporarily. Plus: I took 11 days vacation in March, and if I were to leave now, I’d have to pay some of that back.
So now I’m on the bench and hunting for a new project. And I will have to tell them “sounds GREAT but, yanno, I’ll be on medical leave for a month”.
I’ve actually got an interview next week for a position that is 100% up my alley. What it ISN’T, is 100% work from home. A 28 mile commute, possibly with tolls, in the DC area.
Sigh. I almost wish they’d lay me off - might get enough severance (I’ve been there for decades) to cover me through June.