Do you know anyone laid off for an extended period of time? What was their situation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are you kidding, OP? Months is the bare minimum these days. It’s brutal. Especially in your 40s or older.

So how are you supposed to support yourself or your family?

they don't care. "should have planned better. don't you know families are expensive?"

a friend got laid off from a tech job in their 50s during covid and has not been able to get a job since. still get interviewed occasionally but they are resigned to downsizing and living on what they managed to save.

Umm, you should always have an emergency fund for unplanned job loss.

Do you think any employer owes you a job for life?

no, but they've been applying regularly to jobs for years and still can't get one. no one thinks they are owed a job for life but it's completely demoralizing to not be able to land a job in one's industry for years at a time. and they have funds, but given that it appears that they will not be able to get another job again, they have to now leverage their brokerage accounts and savings to get them through to where they might be able to start also taking distributions from retirement accounts.

its also the difference between leaving something meaningful to the next generation as opposed to just covering their own expenses for however long they are going to live. And oh yeah, don't look at the market anytime soon.

the point being, when unplanned job loss hits in ones 50s, sometimes that's just... the last meaningful job. boom. and there are a LOT of such folks getting hit with that in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 68 year old brother in law got laid off in 2008 financial crisis at 51 and never worked a real job again. Did some Aflac type no sense to pretend to do something. To make matters worse his last good job was 2001 he lost in that recession. His peak salary was 2000 25 years ago at 43.

He “retired” at 65. Doubt he gets much SS

You sound like the IL from hell.

Seriously, the fact that you know this with this level of detail is kinda disturbing. Also you define all of your family by their jobs?

I know as my sister got cancer during all of this and she had to keep working through it as on her medical and she was bread winner.

He also after 2001 when took big pay took a balloon interest only mortgage cash out put money in market and guess what was a Bernie madoff type scam and lost all their money and equity in house and kids college fund.

My sister very bitterly worked till 65 and they had to relocate to a cheaper smaller house in a low cost area

His kids got burdened with student loans.

He actually had lawn service, got my sister a maid, babysitter in the 2003/2007 period before his Ponzi scene investment blew up.

The guy he invested with committed suicide as he also was pretending to have money to his wife and his wife also lost their home and savings.

I was mowing my own lawn, wife and I scrubbing toilets and he had a house triple my size back then. I always thought his parents were bailing him out. Never thought it was this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My entire field was laid off essentially overnight in February with the termination of USAID. There are now thousands of us with very similar skill sets - and overlapping networks - looking for jobs. It is utterly brutal. I expect it will take well over 6 months for people to transition to new industries or retrain. As to PP’s question about how you support your family…well, you can’t. I have colleagues who are now relying on unemployment and food pantries.

My (now) spouse moved from the private sector to humanitarian/aid sector right before 2008. Was laid off so went back to school and it took almost a year to find a FT role in their field. They had to move home with parents and it caused a strain. Their parents viewed it as a "failure" to move home. They took a lesser title and salary role, but worked their way up. In the meantime they worked multiple PT jobs including driving a (small) truck, doing laundry, etc.

For a variety of reasons we both left the field many years ago. We went back to grad school (again) and pivoted. My spouse could not get the role they wanted, so ended up in a completely different field, but is very successful. They are not happy, but we have a family and you gotta do what you gotta do. I am happier in my career, but make less $. There are trade offs.

Friends who have been laid off and they are being VERY picky in what they apply for. A friend was laid off in HR and only is applying for VP level even though they weren't VP level before. I have another friend who has no college degree but worked their way up from a warehouse position to a Program Manager position, was laid off and had to take another warehouse position elsewhere after looking for 12 months but only looking for PM level roles. I had offered to connect them where I work but they weren't interested.

You can't really be picky honestly. I went from a Director level to a Manager level then worked my way back up again. If I had only applied for Director level roles it would have taken me a lot longer. I was not too good to take a step down.

[Anonymous]

I agree. You can’t be too picky. My neighbor will only accept certain roles and he’s been unemployed for 15 months now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree. You can’t be too picky. My neighbor will only accept certain roles and he’s been unemployed for 15 months now.

This is what I wonder about certain people, to be honest.

I make about $200K a year. I work in a weird, kind of niche field that is typically in demand, but the higher salary jobs are harder to get. I regularly get LinkedIn messages from people trying to hire for roles making $100-130K. I’d totally be open to taking a job like that if I had to. Much rather be working, staying busy, and getting benefits. I tell myself I’ve made it work on $40K, $60K, $100K, all the way to my current salary (and I’ve only been working nine years).

I understand this would likely be different if you had really high fixed costs, lots of kids, high mortgage, etc.

[Anonymous]

Be willing to move. Don't tell yourself that you can't live in certain places for whatever reason. You can't limit your search to the DC area right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. You can’t be too picky. My neighbor will only accept certain roles and he’s been unemployed for 15 months now.

This is what I wonder about certain people, to be honest.

I make about $200K a year. I work in a weird, kind of niche field that is typically in demand, but the higher salary jobs are harder to get. I regularly get LinkedIn messages from people trying to hire for roles making $100-130K. I’d totally be open to taking a job like that if I had to. Much rather be working, staying busy, and getting benefits. I tell myself I’ve made it work on $40K, $60K, $100K, all the way to my current salary (and I’ve only been working nine years).

I understand this would likely be different if you had really high fixed costs, lots of kids, high mortgage, etc.

You sound like you don’t have children to support. I’m not “too good” to make $40k but my family can’t eat on that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. You can’t be too picky. My neighbor will only accept certain roles and he’s been unemployed for 15 months now.

This is what I wonder about certain people, to be honest.

I make about $200K a year. I work in a weird, kind of niche field that is typically in demand, but the higher salary jobs are harder to get. I regularly get LinkedIn messages from people trying to hire for roles making $100-130K. I’d totally be open to taking a job like that if I had to. Much rather be working, staying busy, and getting benefits. I tell myself I’ve made it work on $40K, $60K, $100K, all the way to my current salary (and I’ve only been working nine years).

I understand this would likely be different if you had really high fixed costs, lots of kids, high mortgage, etc.

You sound like you don’t have children to support. I’m not “too good” to make $40k but my family can’t eat on that.

I do not and completely understand. I guess for me it would come down to, am I making more than what I’d need to pay for childcare costs. Because isn’t even $40K better than what you get for unemployment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. You can’t be too picky. My neighbor will only accept certain roles and he’s been unemployed for 15 months now.

This is what I wonder about certain people, to be honest.

I make about $200K a year. I work in a weird, kind of niche field that is typically in demand, but the higher salary jobs are harder to get. I regularly get LinkedIn messages from people trying to hire for roles making $100-130K. I’d totally be open to taking a job like that if I had to. Much rather be working, staying busy, and getting benefits. I tell myself I’ve made it work on $40K, $60K, $100K, all the way to my current salary (and I’ve only been working nine years).

I understand this would likely be different if you had really high fixed costs, lots of kids, high mortgage, etc.

You sound like you don’t have children to support. I’m not “too good” to make $40k but my family can’t eat on that.

I do not and completely understand. I guess for me it would come down to, am I making more than what I’d need to pay for childcare costs. Because isn’t even $40K better than what you get for unemployment?

You’re asking if it’s better to offer the doorman $2 rather than $0 when the cover charge is $5. I guess, but you still ain’t getting in.

[Anonymous]

My 46 yr old husband got laid off about a week ago. It was unexpected. This thread is depressing.

[Anonymous]

I was unemployed several years ago for close to two years and ended up “settling” for lower seniority than I had previously. Also moved across the country. People here act like these kinds of things (settling, moving, extended unemployment) “isn’t normal” when it very much is, though it does absolutely suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. You can’t be too picky. My neighbor will only accept certain roles and he’s been unemployed for 15 months now.

This is what I wonder about certain people, to be honest.

I make about $200K a year. I work in a weird, kind of niche field that is typically in demand, but the higher salary jobs are harder to get. I regularly get LinkedIn messages from people trying to hire for roles making $100-130K. I’d totally be open to taking a job like that if I had to. Much rather be working, staying busy, and getting benefits. I tell myself I’ve made it work on $40K, $60K, $100K, all the way to my current salary (and I’ve only been working nine years).

I understand this would likely be different if you had really high fixed costs, lots of kids, high mortgage, etc.

You sound like you don’t have children to support. I’m not “too good” to make $40k but my family can’t eat on that.

I do not and completely understand. I guess for me it would come down to, am I making more than what I’d need to pay for childcare costs. Because isn’t even $40K better than what you get for unemployment?

You’re asking if it’s better to offer the doorman $2 rather than $0 when the cover charge is $5. I guess, but you still ain’t getting in.

The reality is you have to cut expenses. Too many people try to continue their prior standard of living with no income coming in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also the most annoying thing is when people are like ‘DoorDash! Uber!’

Many people were making mid to six figures when they got laid off. Many do have a nest egg but at some point it will run out so they are looking hard. Doesn’t make doordashing or dog walking a good use of a former lawyer’s time

Well, have them use their head then. I worked for low wage my whole life. It was a challenge at times to pay all the bills, but I made it.
I have every penny I ever made and then some. Being the master of your money is available to everyone. The new investment banks and the apps have made managing money and personal finance piece of cake.
But also, you don't see me turning down Doordashing, dog-walking, or waiting on tables. You also don't see me out of work, panicking, or NOT getting calls from former employers monthly.
I can downgrade my life by June and have two jobs by tomorrow. Flexibility is a super power, but so are mental and physical health. Use them to your advantage as long as you still have them.

I agree with you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree. You can’t be too picky. My neighbor will only accept certain roles and he’s been unemployed for 15 months now.

This is what I wonder about certain people, to be honest.

I make about $200K a year. I work in a weird, kind of niche field that is typically in demand, but the higher salary jobs are harder to get. I regularly get LinkedIn messages from people trying to hire for roles making $100-130K. I’d totally be open to taking a job like that if I had to. Much rather be working, staying busy, and getting benefits. I tell myself I’ve made it work on $40K, $60K, $100K, all the way to my current salary (and I’ve only been working nine years).

I understand this would likely be different if you had really high fixed costs, lots of kids, high mortgage, etc.

You sound like you don’t have children to support. I’m not “too good” to make $40k but my family can’t eat on that.

I do not and completely understand. I guess for me it would come down to, am I making more than what I’d need to pay for childcare costs. Because isn’t even $40K better than what you get for unemployment?

You’re asking if it’s better to offer the doorman $2 rather than $0 when the cover charge is $5. I guess, but you still ain’t getting in.

The reality is you have to cut expenses. Too many people try to continue their prior standard of living with no income coming in.

No sh!t, but you are failing to understand that once you have kids to support there really is a floor to your expenses. Asking why a mother of three living in Bethesda doesn’t just go work a shift at McDonald’s by day and drive Uber at night is, to be blunt, stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree. You can’t be too picky. My neighbor will only accept certain roles and he’s been unemployed for 15 months now.

I’m not really that picky. I wasn’t even making 6 figures when I was laid off, and will be fine with less. I mostly want the health insurance. But once you’re in your 40s, they don’t want you for the more junior level roles.