Posted: 12/25/2009 8:34:26 AM EDT
|
'All I Want for Christmas Is a Layoff'
Why Some Workers Are Hoping Their Companies Will Let Them Go 
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––- http://abcnews.go.com/Business/christmas-layoff/story?id=9411010 COLUMN By MICHELLE GOODMAN Dec. 24, 2009 13 comments Font Size PrintRSSE-mailShare this story with friendsFacebookTwitterRedditStumbleUponMore I was at a holiday gathering earlier this month when I heard something completely surprising, especially considering how many people are out of work (not to mention holiday cheer). Share Part-time jobs are ideal when looking for a better gig. "Getting laid off before the new year would be a holiday gift," Matthew, a software project manager from Boston, told me over eggnog. "Morale in my department is nonexistent," said the exasperated employee, who's survived two rounds of layoffs this year. "Meanwhile, the workload grows and grows. I've been putting in 15 extra hours a week since the summer with no relief in sight. It's not like I can afford to leave though, not in this job market." Instead, Matthew, whose employer offers long-term employees a generous severance package (we're talking months and months), said praying for a layoff is his best option. Related WATCH: Offices Cut Back on Holiday CheerSo Much for the Office Holiday PartyThe Top 5 Worst Hiring Trends of '09But he's not the only one who views collecting unemployment checks and severance pay as the key to sanity and solvency. My inbox is sprinkled with e-mails from embittered employees who say they're hoping Santa gives them the old heave ho this Christmas. "Since [my] company started slowing down, I hardly have any work to do," e-mailed Jessie, a sales account manager who didn't want her real name mentioned. "It's boring, I've stopped learning and a lot of the remaining staff are feeling the negative atmosphere here." Like Matthew, Jessie's caught in a game of career chicken with her employer. "If I leave by myself, I don't get the cash," said Jessie, who says that she's eligible for several thousand dollars of severance pay if let go. "That's a big incentive to stick around." For the lucky few whose employers offer a generous severance, waiting for a layoff seems to have replaced writing the resignation letter. In this era of mass unemployment, you can't blame them. Between gouged paychecks and towering health care costs, personal savings are in short supply. And getting hired anywhere else can seem like a Herculean feat. 'All I Want for Christmas Is a Layoff' Why Some Workers Are Hoping Their Companies Will Let Them Go Font Size PrintRSSE-mailShare this story with friendsFacebookTwitterRedditStumbleUponMore Some disgruntled workers say that layoffs are their best option right now. (ABC News Photo Illustration)Brother, Can You Spare a Layoff? Jim Woods of San Francisco was one of these employees in waiting. But the commercial real estate analyst didn't just pine for a pink slip. He begged his boss to add him to the layoff list. "I asked to be laid off in December of 2008, two weeks after the first round of layoffs," said Woods, who in 2006 launched the organic beer company MateVeza on the side and was ready to concentrate on his business full time. "I was really nervous about how to frame everything. I said that I would not mind being part of the next round as long as I received a similar package to those that had left in November." Though his boss seemed receptive to Woods' request, the budding entrepreneur didn't get his wish until the firm's third round of layoffs this summer. "It was totally bizarre," said Woods, who received four months' severance pay (plus benefits) for his five years with the company. "People were congratulating me and offering condolences to those who were let go against their will. I almost felt guilty for celebrating my layoff." Related WATCH: Holiday Office Parties on the CheapWATCH: 'View': Office Party NaughtinessUnemployed to Overworked: Best Book GiftsNo need, says Karen Florence-McMullen, an executive career coach based in the greater Philadelphia area. "If I were an employer facing 10 people to lay off and one of them volunteered to go, regardless of the motivation, I now only have nine hearts to break," she said. But other career management experts warn that showing your cards like Woods did is one of those "don't try this at home" stunts. Sure, placing your head on the chopping block if the company asks for volunteers is perfectly acceptable, as long as you're confident about your future job prospects, said headhunter Nick Corcodilos, author of "How Can I Change Careers?" target="external" and host of AskTheHeadhunter.com, an online clearinghouse of job hunting tips. But, Corcodilos advised, "I would not step up and ask for a layoff if the company is not offering it. You'll brand yourself lazy or unmotivated or an opportunist. And you probably won't get a deal anyway." Ungrateful Whiners or Despairing Wage Slaves? If you're one of the countless Americans who's sent out hundreds of unanswered resumes this year, you might be scowling about all the hand-wringing over a job a person actually has. 'All I Want for Christmas Is a Layoff' Why Some Workers Are Hoping Their Companies Will Let Them Go Font Size PrintRSSE-mailShare this story with friendsFacebookTwitterRedditStumbleUponMore 'Sick of Living in Limbo' But being miserable in one's job is nothing new, as years of pre-recession polls conducted by organizations like The Conference Board and Web sites like CareerBuilder.com will attest. Even in flush economic times, many surveys have reported that one in two U.S. workers don't exactly feel warm and fuzzy about their place of employment. Factor in the stress, paranoia, pay cuts, morale killers and mind-boggling workloads that have gripped employees this year and you have a recipe for some serious job dissatisfaction. Related WATCH: Survival Guide for Young Job SeekersPooper Scooper? Unbelievable Survival JobsDeath in the Workplace: How to CopeIn a CareerBuilder survey of 4,300 U.S. workers released this November, 47 percent said their workload had increased in the past six months, 40 percent said their stress level was through the roof and 24 percent said they didn't feel one iota of loyalty to their employer. "Giselle," a marketing manager at a New York accounting firm, can relate. "Several colleagues and I are dreaming of a layoff," the self-described "abused temp" said in an e-mail. "Everyone is searching for another job, some openly. The firm is half the size it was in fall 2007. Clients aren't paying their bills, and we've lost some clients. Every day it's another psychodrama. "Today my boss and I were reviewing photos from our holiday party," Giselle continued. "One person enthusiastically had his hand up when he won a holiday prize. We joked, 'John X has an inappropriate reaction to his pink slip.'" As for Matthew, the software project manager who was dreaming of a downsized Christmas, he's retiring his hope for a golden parachute. "I'm sick of living in limbo, wondering whether and when my employer might cut me loose," he said. "I think maybe it's time to give up the layoff fantasy and make the most of the crummy job I've got –– at least until I can find something better." So no plans to tell his boss how he feels about the job? "Are you kidding?" he said. "That's what's known as resigning." |
|
"Since [my] company started slowing down, I hardly have any work to do," e-mailed Jessie, a sales account manager who didn't want her real name mentioned. "It's boring, I've stopped learning and a lot of the remaining staff are feeling the negative atmosphere here."
She should get off her ass and do some self-development activities to make herself more valuable to her employer. The more busy she is doing the right things, the less she'll notice the "negative atmosphere". 
|
|
Quoted: these turdbags must of have never sacrificed a damn thing to pray or wish for a layoff... What if they know their company is fucked and they just want to get out while there is still a severance package? My old company went belly up around March-May of this year. It was due to the financial services industry eating massive shit after lehman bros died. The big shot executives plowed through $5 million in venture capital without earning a single cent in profit, that didn't help either. I got let go in Feb, in the 2nd round of layoffs. At least I got something. My boss told me to get to the bank and cash that check RIGHT EFFING NOW or it will probably bounce later. The ones that stayed until the end didn't get shit. We all knew the place was screwed. Everyone was sitting around all day with nothing to do. For the last 2-3 months I did nothing all day except surf the Intarwebs. All projects were on indefinite hold. The Broker-Dealer people had nothing to do either. All the managers were openly talking with each other on what they had planned next and a few talked about teaming up to start their own businesses. There's nothing wrong with hoping for the best outcome in shitty situation. |
|
I can relate to that the way work has been lately. More responsibility with no raise, forced overtime, lazy office employees and sales that do not research what they are selling.
Management attitude is pure DOOM. I want to just say give me a damn package so I can get the hell away from their depressed ass. |
|
It would be funny if it wasn't pathetic. The idea that someone would choose to be laid off to get a big ass
severance package is ludicrous. The companies that do this aren't doing themselves or anyone else a favor and people who get these kinds of severance packages are a definite minority. Just another symptom of the dysfunctionality of american business today. |
|
We had a couple rounds of lay-offs at work. They give 60 days notice (which was really just GTFO and here's 60 days pay), then a severance of basically 2 weeks wages for each year worked at the company, plus health insurance then subsidized COBRA, for that whole period, and then you get your normal unemployment after that. So if you had 10 years there, you basically got 6 months pay before you even need unemployment. If you have a 6 month emergency savings already, you're good for at least a year. The first round of layoffs, I took a relocation instead. The second round of layoffs, it was about 3 months of limbo before anyone actually knew what was going to happen. I used that time to apply for other jobs, plan some cheap vacations if I became unemployed, and did some math to see how long I could last. Between the 60 days notice, my severance, my savings account, and unemployment, I could have easily made it a year, maybe a year and a half if I was cheap. After a couple months of not knowing what was going to happen, having a couple job possibilities, knowing I had some money saved up, and planning a couple road trips and visits to friends... I really didn't care if I got laid off or not. I was looking forward to some free time, and I knew it wasn't an immediate SHTF. I may have changed my tune when the money started running out, but for the short term, being "funemployed" sounded great. And anything was better than THREE MONTHS of not knowing. I was lucky and got to keep my job, with a relocation back to where I started from, but I was a little disappointed I didn't get the time to take those vacations. I know a few guys who already had jobs lined up... they took their layoff with the 60 days notice - aka 60 days paid vacation - and their severance(cha-ching!), then started the new job after the 60 days was up. And by getting laid off, they avoided a relocation which included selling their houses for a $100k loss. I know it's not typical, but layoffs aren't ALL bad. |
|
Had a friend last year find out her office in San Diego was going to be closed and the work consolidated into Orange County. She had a chance to take a layoff package but decided to stick it out (bird in the hand and all that). Spent the next couple of months wrapping things up for the shut down and near the end was offered a position in Orange County. Total bitch of a commute but things being ugly in the job market, she took it. Showed up the first day of work in her new location only to be pulled aside and told that they're laying people off there as well... and she didn't have a job anymore. Oh, and by the way, you should have taken the severance package a couple of months ago, because there isn't one now. Nearly a decade of busting her hump for this company and they played her like a fiddle, dumping her ass on Dec 31st last year. |