Two-week notice

[homer13j]

Tell me again why this bank bailout is a good idea?

<rant>The bank I work for (National City) weathered the storm by raising almost $7 billion from investors, while our competition did absolutely NOTHING and were handed billions of taxpayer money. We got nothing from the government and I thought that was a good thing...

Pittsbugh-based PNC Bank turned around and took those billions and bought us out. I was just informed that my services will no longer be needed by PNC and my last day on the job will be December 23. Merry #@ck!n* Christmas to me... </rant>

At least I now have an excuse for not buying anyone gifts this season.

[crptcblade]

Burn the building down

[wossname]

Sorry to hear that mate, that's a pretty awful Christmas present. Who knows though, maybe it's a blessing, not that I know what it's like to work in banking at the moment (I almost made a typo just then), but I can't say it would be at the top of my wish list.

I hope you land on your feet though. I got my present job almost exactly 3 years ago so I think Christmas is a good time of year for getting a new job in computing. Good luck mate

[techgnome]

How long were you there? At least you got two weeks notice.... I got 15 minutes (and that was after being there for 9 1/2 years!)... Hopefully they at least provided a severance package.

-tg

[Shaggy Hiker]

Buy people coal...then hoard it.

I'm only a little surprised that a company would be so cavalier as to lay folks off just before Christmas. Perhaps there is no really good time for the winter months, as you are either buying things, or considering buying things. Better to know in time to prevent purchasing things that you shouldn't pay for than later, once the bills come due. It's a hard blow, especially when you know you got the shaft from a company taking public funds to do the deed.

Are you staying put, or do you have the flexibility to look for work nationwide?

[homer13j]

I don't really want to leave Cleveland as it has the lowest cost of living of pretty much any major US city (because nobody else wants to live here anymore ). But I'm willing to go wherever the money is and the lease on my house is up Dec. 31...

I have only been with NCB for six months now so there will be no severance pay.

And I can always count on crptcblade for helpful advice...

[Shaggy Hiker]

I don't really want to leave Cleveland as it has the lowest cost of living of pretty much any major US city (because nobody else wants to live here anymore ).

And they never have!! Cleveland has been a joke for at least twenty years now.

From things you have said, I think you are probably pretty close on Cleveland having the lowest cost of living. There might be some smaller cities in the old south with lower cost of living, but there's always a reason for that. There are some places in New Mexico with REALLY low cost of living, but that's largely due to a serious lack of jobs. Still, it's an economic climate where flexibility is a good thing.

[homer13j]

Cleveland has been a joke for at least twenty years now.

Pffft. Try 40. The last time the river caught fire (and made national headlines) was 1969. It's been all downhill from there.

I got a few bucks in the bank so I should be okay for a while. So for now...

[kregg]

Take over his position:



Seriously, that's bad news. Hope things get better before or in the new year. And consider it this way, they'll always remember you since I gave them this plaque:

[Shaggy Hiker]

I haven't been near there except when I was in college twenty years ago, at which point, even the folks from Cleveland were making fun of the place...and you have continued the tradition.

The burning river really was a milestone.

[penagate]

Well, I'm not sure anyone could have predicted that. That truly does suck.

At least you'll have more time for racing.

[homer13j]

At least you'll have more time for racing.

Racing = Money
Money = Job
Job = ?

[Kasracer]

Sorry to hear that. The company I work for just closed one of two of our offices and finished the "first wave" of layoffs which included about 175 people (I believe we only have about 300-400 people or so). They obviously have an idea as to what other areas will be hit with the "second" and "third" waves but they won't tell us. So... I almost know how you feel (and may very well know how you feel soon ).

Welcome to socialist America

[Shaggy Hiker]

How is that socialist? Isn't it the height of capitalism to live and die by the market?

[Kasracer]

How is that socialist? Isn't it the height of capitalism to live and die by the market?

Yes it is but he was showing disgust with the bailouts (which is what my comment referred to).

[homer13j]

[FunkyDexter]

Sorry to hear that Homer. I've been made redundant a couple of times and it sucks. I was lucky in that it happened at time when the economy was solid so finding other work wasn't hard. Have you had a chance to see what the job market's like in your area yet?

[mar_zim]

Same here. I got another job but expecting to be kick off again since I'm the newer guy in the company. It really sucks when hit twice.

[techgnome]

mar - you might be surprised.... I was at the other end of the food chain (only one other developer had been there longer, and that's only by a couple months) and I got axed.... basically they trimmed the higher paid developers (two of us) to cut costs... now they are looking for an entry level developer that they can pay peanuts to...

-tg

[mar_zim]

Yeah that's sucks. They paid me well compare to the other longer ones here and it seems that the project I'm handling now is not that important and I'm nearly done...oh well maybe early next year a rocketing kick notice will slap in my face!

[mar_zim]

[homer13j]

Now that's disturbing...

Well, that didn't take long. I just got off the phone with a recruiter who says he has an opening I would be interested in with a mid-sized company with a small IT department looking to hire another .NET/SQL Server developer. Permanent position, decent pay, full benefits, and the only problem I see is a nasty daily commute way out to the far east 'burbs. But hey, I can always move.

I'll be talking to the head of the IT department tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed...

[Shaggy Hiker]

Go for it, that sounds like it could be pretty sweet. You hate your house anyways.

[FunkyDexter]

Good to hear. It also means that there's probably plenty out there so don't make my usual mistake of taking the first thing I can get and then regretting it. Sounds like that's a good 'un though.