In spite of stimulus money, I may get laid off anyway

The BBQ Pit
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Basically, my employer, VTA, is losing $50 million in funding even with the federal stimulus coming in. I don’t know if I’ll have enough seniority to survive looming layoffs. I’ve been there for a year, and worked with people who have been there for decades.

I just moved, and pay more rent than I used to. The idea of losing my job any moment is not an appealing one. All I can really do at this point is frantically throw together a safety net before I get the ax and get a head start on job searching JUST IN CASE I lose my job.

Life sucks :mad:

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Sorry to hear the news. Sending lucky thoughts your way! Hopefully you won’t be one of the cuts!

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I’m sorry to hear it, Inc.

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Don’t panic just yet. Maybe they’ll make the old-timers offers they can’t refuse, maybe they’ll shrink by attrition, make other cuts here and there. Of course preparing for the worst is a wise course of action regardless.

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Here’s what you should do:

1.) Start slashing any and all expenses that you possibly can.

2.) If you have any medical issues you’ve been putting off (say, a trip to the dentist), get them done now. A general medical check up would be a good idea in any case, so that you can better manage your health if you’re going to be spending any time without health insurance.

3.) Trackdown all the various aid agencies which could help you were you to be laid off, and the moment you get laid off, start the process to getting that aid (it take take up to 45 days or longer to get foodstamps, the sooner you start, the sooner you’ll be able to get them if you need them, and be prepared to have huge amounts of documentation with you when you apply for foodstamps).

4.) Do you have any repairs to your car (say you’re going to need new tires in a few months) or apartment that you’ve been putting off for one reason or another? Might want to look at getting them taken care of now. (Don’t worry about cosmetics, but that leaky faucet will turn into an expensive repair when you can least afford it.)

5.) Take inventory of everything you have. Decide what you can live without, what can be sold on eBay/Craigslist, and what you really need.

6.) Start writing and rewriting your resume now (one should do this ever few months anyway), and have multiple versions, each one tailored to different kinds of positions that you could fill.

7.) Find and bookmark all job related websites.

8.) Look what your educational options are. Can you pick up some extra certifications quickly? They’ll make your resume look better as well as open potential networking options.

9.) Keep a diary about what you do at work, this will help you remember things when it comes interview time.

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Thanks for the advice, Tuckerfan. I guess one reason the news jarred me so much is that 1.) I just finally paid off my credit card debt, meaning all the reserves I might had were going into paying off the debt, and 2.) I just moved, with the new place being more expensive (though given that utilities/internet/etc are included only marginally so) and also had to spend money on various things I needed. But I really like the new place and it would really suck to have to move back in with my parents because I can’t afford the rent while I’m unemployed.

The Bad:
-No safety net, most of my income had been sunk into paying down CC debt so I wasn’t throwing money away on interest

-Only worked for them for about a year, which means my seniority is low enough for layoffs to be an issue. Anybody there 8+ years only has a loss of overtime to worry about, not their job.

-Probably need to replace my car before the end of the year, before its age makes repairs no longer cost-effective

The good:
-Based on previous layoffs, I’m near the ‘cutoff’ meaning I might get lucky and barely scrape by in a layoff, or if I was laid off I’d be among the first called back. By contract we’re given priority for getting our job back if there’s money for more drivers

-Even though our transit agency’s farebox take is lower than many others (like MUNI) a significant portion of people that switched over to transit during the last gas hike have stayed loyal even when gas went down. I’m predicting gas will jump up again this summer, and I always felt that high gas prices= job security for my line of work (driving a bus).

-We had gotten a new contract RIGHT BEFORE the economy tanked, meaning that during these hard times we will still see modest raises which will really help many of us. If I keep my job in the next year you better bet I will be hoarding every penny :o