I guess I can finally exhale now...

[CoffeeCat]

I've spent the last two weeks feeling shell shocked. I guess I'm finally exhaling now.

All I feel is angry.

My husband spent the past decade working for a high-tech company. He survived six rounds
of layoffs during this time. The shrinking workforce at the company meant extra responsibilities
and hours for my husband, and he stepped up to the plate. He literally was working three
full-time jobs. He was the technical backbone of the company--solving all technical problems
and also managing a call and help center that handled client calls.

During the last two years--my husband did not have three hours off from his job. Can I say that again, so
you understand that am not exaggerating? He never had three hours off. He carried an on-call phone
with him all of the time--so those who worked under him didn't have to.

He got calls at 2:00 a.m., 3:00 a.m., while he was at the movies, during dinner time, during
our kid's soccer games, while we were getting ice cream or when he was sick. He never got a break.
We never got a break. He hasn't had a day off in two years. Whenever he took a day off, they
would call incessantly. He has three months of paid-time off built up.

Two weeks ago, his boss called. They're "restructuring" and "taking the company in a new direction".

Now hold on there, it's not all bad news, you see! My husband's boss said that my husband can keep his
job--but he must take a 30 percent pay cut, because they want to bring in someone else to manage his
area (younger and cheaper), and to do that, they can't afford to pay my husband his current salary. But
they still need my husband, just not at his current salary.

Did you catch that? They want to continue abusing my husband with a 24/7 work schedule and keep him
in the same job--but they want to, in effect, demote him and slash his hours TO A LOWER WAGE THAN
WHAT HIS STARTING SALARY WAS TEN YEARS AGO WHEN HE BEGAN AT THE COMPANY.

I am telling this story, because this is what happens when the corporations get personhood in this
country. This is what happens when companies see the leaders in this country treating companies
and profits as gold--and "We The People" like objects. The behavior from our elected officials is
a dog whistle to all corporations and executives--you can treat workers like dirt and abuse them
because it's just how things are done now.

When you love someone and they get treated horribly, it makes you angry. I'm angry right now. However,
we'll be ok. My husband is incredibly talented and a man of integrity and honor. He's the best person
I know. You know who I really feel sorry for and fear for the most? That young guy that they're
bringing in. Because that was my husband eleven years ago. They'll use him, abuse him and chew him
up and spit him out--until they, once again-- "restructure" and "take the company in a new direction".
Soon, this new guy will get the phone calls during weddings, weekend getaways, and school plays--and at
all hours of the night. And after he's a shadow of his former self--they'll shed him off too.

This is what we've come to. This is how we do business in America. This is how we treat people. This
is how we treat workers.

And please, I don't want pity. We will be fine. It's the entire country--and our entire middle and
upper-middle classes that won't be fine because this is an abusive, UNSUSTAINABLE model that will
destroy our workforce and wreck this country.

[Marrah_G]

1. Ugh

I hope your husband can find another job. Greed is killing our society.

[CoffeeCat]

3. Thank you...

He's all ready got recruiters calling him. I know I'm biased, but he's
a technical genius.

You're right--greed blinds people to so many things. But in the end, we all
lose.

Thank you for your kind thoughts.

[Marrah_G]

7. The recruiters calling is a great sign

Hopefully he can find one of those progressive companies that treats its employees right.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

28. He should already have had his resume out there

Because it sounds like he needed to "fire his boss" about 5 years ago.

Also, in my experience, recruiters are a good sign, but they almost never get you the best jobs.

Luckily, there are lots of technical resume sites out there.

- C.D. Proud Member of the Reality Based Community

[coalition_unwilling]

2. Is this a publicly-traded, i.e., on the stock exchange, company? - n/t

[CoffeeCat]

6. Yes, a mid-sized

public company with shares traded on the NASDAQ.

[coalition_unwilling]

11. Reason I ask is the company may be about ready to go in the dumper. I used

to work at a subsidiary of Tribune Corp (owner among other properties of the LA Times). Right before Tribune Corp went into bankruptcy, its bean counters tried several 'restructurings'. Didn't work and company still filed for bankruptcy. By that point, I was long gone and had already pulled my retirement funds out, so was able to feel a lot of schadenfreude.

If you hold any company stock in a retirement account and are vested, this might be a good time to 'restructure' your retirement account into non-company positions. At a minimum, iIt's your way of voting 'no confidence' in the executive leadership of your company, just like your spouse leaving is his way of 'voting with his feet.'

[CoffeeCat]

13. Great points...

...and helpful for others to hear that advice as well.

I'm glad you got out when you did and that you were able to protect your retirement funds. I'm sure
you felt a certain amount of satisfaction, that you escaped before the collapse and that you made the
financial choices that you did.

You really have to be smart and paying attention, to survive these days. You almost have to know
where all of the economic land mines are!

It's difficult to leave a job these days, given the current economic environment.

Kudos to you for your wise decisions!

[coalition_unwilling]

16. Much as I'd like to take credit for my wisdom, it was more due to

happenstance (and Bush and the Iraq War).

Funny story: I could see the writing on the wall long before this but, because I worked for the LATimes' subsidiary, I had access to their headquarters building in downtown LA to eat at the company cafeteria, use the gym, etc.

The LA Times was notorious for whoring for the Iraq War before it started and for the first year after it began. So even though I knew that the LA Times and its parent Tribune Corp were little more than walking corpses, I stayed on there so that I would have access to the company facilities for my anti-war purposes.

I used to go to the cafeteria every day wearing 1-2 peace sign buttons to get it in the faces of the LATimes' editorial and support staff.

Two colleagues and I would demonstrate right outside the headquarters every day after work with anti-war signs for drivers getting onto the 110 Freeway.

Times executives found out and threatened us via our boss if we did not stop wearing our Times' badges. So we stopped wearing the badges and started using signs that said, "The LA Times does not support this protest." However, the words 'LA Times' were huge with the corporate logo and the words 'Does not support this protest' were minuscule :) Result was that most drivers probably thought the LA Times opposed the war and Bush :)

The subsidiary restructured me out of a job there but not before Operation Shocking and Awful had been revealed to all sentient beingss as the war crime and crime against humanity it was and is. And they conveniently restructured me out before they filed bankruptcy.

I've always taken that as a sign that my anti-war protests earned me some excellent karma :)

[TBF]

4. Excellent essay -

and I hope your husband looks around on the side and tries to find something new. That is the good thing - for him personally he is still employed & that is desirable to other employers.

The bad thing of course, is that you both have worked very hard (I know, I am the at home wife doing everything else while my husband works all the time) but it feels like being punished when you have to take a pay cut. We live the same way - blackberry is always on.

And we are so much better off than many people in this country, that is what really sucks. Your last sentence says it all - "unsustainable model that will destroy our workforce and wreck this country".

[CoffeeCat]

8. There are some silver linings here...

...and that's what I keep telling my husband. In the world of layoffs, we are really in a
good situation. He's still employed and will begin looking. That's a blessing. He's got
a big chunk of paid-time-off coming, and they are legally obligated to pay it. We're savers
and we've prepared for something like this. So we will be ok.

I'm a stay-at-home mom too--but that's almost an untenable choice these days. This "new economy"
makes that choice scary. I'll be working, as a result of all of this--because one salary is just too risky.
Didn't used to be the case, but now it is.

And I do count the good things. I know things could be a lot worse. That's why I'm worried. My big
problem is how workers are treated. They're objects to be used, and then they're practically treated with
disdain when the higher ups decide to be even more greedy. This is about all workers and how
people are working more hours for less pay--while benefits are being slashed.

[TBF]

17. I agree -

I've been thinking of going back now too, my youngest is in pre-K this year so next spring I'll start looking.

And completely agree re status of workers. We used to have unions in this country so owners had to be more careful. After 30 years of conservative rule, however, that is not the case anymore. The strong unions are gone, differences in the workplace palpable, we are on our own again.

[global1]

21. Watch That Paid Time Off Money......

I've heard of companies finding ways to renege on that. They find ways to do that and don't care if you challenge it. Their pockets are deeper and they usually win.

[Skidmore]

5. My son-in-law has a similar type of

job and has survived several bouts of layoffs too. He works outrageously many hours and is subject to being called at any time of the day or night.

Many industries are like this now. Lean and mean. Burnout factories and the chances are that you are unlikely to be producing anything more tangible than frustration in this "service economy."

[redwitch]

9. I am so sorry for him and all who are dealing with this.

This has become the new way to do business in this country. I hope he can find work for a more humane company.

[malaise]

10. This is candidate Mitt Romney's model

It's how he rose to power.

You have me in tears

[Lone_Star_Dem]

12. Disgusting and all too common.

I wish your husband the best of luck in breaking away from this abusive company.

I'd like to point out that I'm not expressing an opinion regarding your husband, he's a victim in this situation. What I have found myself wondering for almost the past decade and a half is, how have we, the American workers, let ourselves be led down this path? I suppose it was by inches and we didn't realize how far we had gone until it was too late.

Best of luck to you and your spouse on a happy resolution to your current situation. :hug:

[CoffeeCat]

15. I think people are scared...

After the 2008 crisis, people were afraid of losing their jobs. So, the endure more abuse, more
hours and more responsibility (for less pay) because they don't want to be out of a job. They
hang on to what they've got.

2008 was a wake-up call. Many realized they had unsustainable debt, or that they bought too much
house or that they hadn't saved enough, if something should happen. It seems that people have been
trying to create a safer financial position for themselves--and play it safe by keeping their current
job--while trying to save and pay down debt.

Thanks for your kind and supportive words!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

23. I understand the fear of being unemployed.

I share it and as a result I've been putting up with things which would make my grandfather's head explode if he were alive to see.

He was a union man. He fought for safe working conditions, a living wage and workers benefits. He would never have stood by and let himself, or his fellow workers, be placed in a position where they literally lived in constant fear of their employers dismissing them out of hand. Especially not for the sake of maintaining massive corporate profits. He would have organized and fought back. Which is why in his day employers were forced to respect their workers needs and desires on a scale not heard of today. Today, we've somehow let the vast amount of power shift away from us - the workforce - into the hands of the corporations who employ us. It's not something which took place overnight, or even in one generation. It's been going on for decades and many of us were too busy surviving to notice.

[lapislzi]

25. Fear of unemployment is the dominant paradigm in my marriage

My husband lives in another state, much too far away to commute; too far even to enjoy anything but a weekend or so a month.

I have a great job. He has an okay job, but he's afraid to leave it. Because it's a scary thing to be a 50-year-old man without a job.

[Pacifist Patriot]

14. I understand not wanting pity, will you accept some sympathy and empathy?

I'm on pins and needles because my husband is positioned where yours is. He's been with his company since 1999 and we've lost count of the rounds of layoffs he's survived. He is in a "non-traveling" job yet spends half of his time on the road. Forget getting a call during a soccer game, he's not within 1,000 miles of the field. He too is doing what used to be three full-time positions.

What makes me nervous is the company is chief-heavy and Indian-light. They protect their own and while my husband is liked and professionally respected he's not part of the inner circle. They'll drop him for a cheaper model if it means saving the job of one of their church buddies they appointed to management with no skills or experience. He and a handful of other people carry that company, but I don't trust their management staff to realize it.

My husband says he feels safe, but I honestly don't know how anyone over the age of 40 can feel a sense of job security these days.

[CoffeeCat]

33. Thanks for your kind message...

I appreciate the support. It sounds like you understand very well--and that your husband
is living the same experience as my husband.

I wish the best for ALL of us, as our country endures this nonsense. So many great, talented
people are being treated like objects and it's not fair.

Good luck to you guys. :)

[trof]

18. He's lucky he has you.

During my working years we went through similar situations.
My wife was a ROCK.
Still is and so are you.
:hi:

[CoffeeCat]

32. I'm trying....and your post...

...is a good reminder that I need to continue doing that. It's easy to get
upset and afraid.

[jberryhill]

19. Why I got out of engineering...

It's amazing how common this story is.

[graywarrior]

20. Self delete

Oops, sorry.

[one_voice]

22. My heart goes out to both you and your husband...

not from pity, but understanding. First let me say I wish your husband the best during his job search. The fact head hunters are calling is a good sign!

My husband was out of work for a year, he finally found a job in Sept '09. He still with the company. He has his phone all the time too. Not 24/7 like your husband, but close. His stops ringing at about 11 p.m. and starts again around 4 a.m. He gets up everyday at 3 a.m. gets to work around 4:45-5:00 and gets home between 6 and seven at night. At which time he's on the phone, computer, etc.

He works 7 days a week. When he's not in the office--Sunday--he works from home. We don't really go out anymore because he doesn't have the time. I've taken over all the yard work, I do all the house work, pretty much all the care for our two dogs--he feeds them in the morning.

He hasn't had a raise since he started, the bonuses he was told he'd receive for meeting certain goals don't happen, as they continued to move the goal posts until eventually people stopped asking about them. Mind you the vp's get bonuses on the backs of my husband and the others are that do the same job in different states.

They've made it clear that they should consider themselves lucky to even have a job in this economy, so no one complains.

My husband also has a lot "time off" built up, but he'll never take it. Even if he gets a half day off, he's on the phone and working from home.

This is becoming the norm for far too many companies. People are disposal and are treated much like cattle, when you can't give anymore your kicked to the curb.

My husband worked for a company years ago, pretty decent sized too. I'll never forget when I got sick the owner took him aside and told him, family is the most important thing, and he could take whatever time he needed to help with my illness, his job was safe. Those kinds of jobs/people are long gone.

I truly hope your husband finds a company that values his talents and him as a person. There are some out there, they're just few and far between.

Good luck to the both of you!

[Tennessee Gal]

24. Too many corporations or small company owners never learn

the valuable lesson regarding treating employees well. The better you treat people the harder they will work for you. That is a simple fact.

[sinkingfeeling]

26. Yes, and I'm old enough to remember back when labor was an equal partner with capital.

[JoeyT]

27. K&R

This is why the bastards love high unemployment. It means you can screw your workers progressively more. I just finished looking for work in a bunch of cities near me and the wages being offered are absolutely criminal. The response is always "Well, people should be GLAD to be working no matter what we pay them!".

At this point I'm almost ready to see the owner class go too far and accidentally bring it down so we can start over. Yeah it will suck, but it's going to happen anyway. At least we'd have a shot at building a better country or countries.

[tridim]

29. Don't get me started on the IT industry. I have been used and abused for a decade.

I'm now just starting to realize that I am suffering a form of PTSD after losing my job and $34,000 contracted back pay. I start to feel physically ill whenever I write code.

[CoffeeCat]

31. I bet you do have anxiety....

...about your job. Anyone would. That's your body telling you that it doesn't want to go back there. Can you
blame yourself??? Your body and mind are very astute and trying to protect you. I know what you're enduring.
My husband is experiencing the same things. The stress is just horrendous.

You are not alone and so many others are going through the same thing. I hope you are able to process the pain
of that experience--and get angry about it and grieve about it. Then, you can move on and continue doing the good
work that you do. You are obviously very talented. Not everyone has those skills. It takes a special person
to be a true tech nerd, for sure! You guys are a special breed. I know, I married one!

Best to you...you deserve peace and happiness and to be happy at your job. You did not deserve what happened to
you and I hope great things for you in your future! :)

I've learned a great deal about stress and trauma in my day, and PTSD is a highly intelligent, biologically based
coping mechanism that is essential for survival. If you're attacked by a lion--your body will react if it thinks
about lions, or if you're ever near a lion again. That's biology sending you warnings--to keep you safe and to help
you process the experience and learn from it. PTSD is essential for survival. So...don't think you're defective. Your body
and mind are in survival mode--and if you process that pain--your mind will calm down and realize you've learned
from the experience, and you'll be just fine.

[tridim]

35. Wow. Thank you for that.

:hug:

[uponit7771]

30. www.dice.com, tech jobs are better now than 2 years ago.

[ibegurpard]

34. you're not alone

I encounter this constantly.
Almost everyone I call on the phone in my place of business is understaffed, stressed out and explosively on edge.
I really wonder how much longer things can continue to go on this way.