Anticipating RIFs and planning ahead

[Anonymous]

Anyone else anticipating RIFs and planning ahead? What are you doing?

I stayed late one night to go through my desk drawers, filing cabinets, etc. to clean things out, take some personal items home, recycle/toss things, etc.

I don’t want to take down photos, awards, etc. because I figure I can grab those on the way out the door or they can ship it to me.

I’m considering writing my name on the books that belong to me (rather than the org assume the books are theirs) and labeling things like the desk lamp and ergonomic chair that I bought myself.

I’m also going through my computer files to delete anything personal.

And I’m obviously updating my resume.

I know RIFs are coming, but there’s no way of knowing if I’ll be retained or cut. Regardless, I want to be prepared.

Anyone else?

Any other tips?

[Anonymous]

Anything you bought yourself should already be labeled, but yes do that. Take home anything so meaningful to you that you'd be sad if it was lost/stolen/broken in trying to get it to you.

If you keep makeup, shoes, etc at the office, cull that down to the minimum and put it in a tub or bag for easy cary, potentially by a stranger.

I keep an empty cardboard box under my desk in case I need to pack my things out.

[Anonymous]

What do you do about personal files on your laptop that can't be emailed?

[Anonymous]

I never unpacked from when my office got moved during Covid, so everything is still in boxes. Definitely not going to bother unpacking
now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you do about personal files on your laptop that can't be emailed?

Can you transfer them to a flash drive? I know some places won’t let you use a flash drive, but that’s what I did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anything you bought yourself should already be labeled, but yes do that. Take home anything so meaningful to you that you'd be sad if it was lost/stolen/broken in trying to get it to you.

If you keep makeup, shoes, etc at the office, cull that down to the minimum and put it in a tub or bag for easy cary, potentially by a stranger.

I keep an empty cardboard box under my desk in case I need to pack my things out.

I like the idea of keeping an empty box in my workstation, I could quickly throw anything in there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do about personal files on your laptop that can't be emailed?

Can you transfer them to a flash drive? I know some places won’t let you use a flash drive, but that’s what I did.

Technically not supposed to here

[Anonymous]

I’ve got ikea bags for toting and newsprint for wrapping fragile items (ceramic mug; framed pictures with glass) or for bundling small items together so they aren’t loose. I’m trying to think like a packer. While I have brought home things I don’t need, I’m still keeping stuff like makeup and other small items. The newsprint/packing paper will allow me to just dump, wrap, and throw in an ikea bag. I have a bunch of those bags from moving the kid into college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you do about personal files on your laptop that can't be emailed?

Why can’t they be emailed? Is it PII? If so, you may be able to either send it encrypted or password protect it.

When I need to send individual SF-50s to myself (received after I did the batch print/download of the entire eOPF), I use adobe. If you password protect the pdf, you should be able to email it to yourself. Another option is to use adobe to redact the PII and you might be able to send it then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you do about personal files on your laptop that can't be emailed?

Why can’t they be emailed? Is it PII? If so, you may be able to either send it encrypted or password protect it.

When I need to send individual SF-50s to myself (received after I did the batch print/download of the entire eOPF), I use adobe. If you password protect the pdf, you should be able to email it to yourself. Another option is to use adobe to redact the PII and you might be able to send it then.

And big LOL if you can’t email your personal files to yourself because of PII given that the administration seems to be sharing everyone’s PII…

[Anonymous]

I put items like makeup, brush, etc. in a small tote in a drawer so I can easily grab it on the way out. Rather than a box for packing, I have a couple big totes under my desk. I think I can grab the most important items in totes in one trip and anything else can be left behind for shipping.

The last time there was a RIF, those of us who remained got a kick out of what was left behind. Lots of “screw you” type things. One person left behind all the gifts/awards they had received over the years from the office along with a lighter and one of those gag gift memo pads prepopulated with a header along the lines of “I’m surrounded by stupid people.”

On the one hand, it was hilarious.

On the other hand, it was emblematic of why the person was let go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you do about personal files on your laptop that can't be emailed?

At mine, we're not supposed to email performance reviews so I printed them out.

[Anonymous]

You can always take a picture of docs using your phone.

[Anonymous]

Sharing personal contact info with trusted coworkers in case I am shown the door with little time to pack up so I can coordinate with them to get my stuff.

Saving examples of my work and other personnel files to a USB to take home.

Scheduling every medical appointment my family might need in the next year while I have fed health insurance.

Spending all of my FSA (you get full allotment on day 1 whether or not you remain at the agency for the full calendar year).

Cleaned out every piece of paper with personal info and leaving tote bags at work in case I have to pack up with short notice. Already brought home my heavy personal belongings like books, extra mugs, etc.

[Anonymous]

started looking into insurance on the exchanges to see what plans are available.