Wanna hear a story?
About sixteen months ago, Old Abe and I BOTH lost our jobs. We were ok financially, but when the COBRA bills started arriving I decided I'd rather have employer-subsidized healthcare. So I went back to work, landing two jobs within two weeks of each other. I say two because the first one was not a good fit, and the second one just dropped into my lap to replace the first.
Today, I learned that my contract as a consultant is not being renewed next week. Under normal circumstances, my employer would keep me "on the bench" until the next gig popped up. But in this economy, circumstances are far from normal.
Just yesterday, a coworker of mine was officially laid off after residing "on the bench" for a while. There are just too many of us who are without gigs to keep paying us. Now that it's my turn, I'll be asked to use up the balance of my paid time off, and when that's exhausted I'll be released to the unemployment line.
This particular gig has been painful for me, and I don't regret losing it specifically because it's taken a big toll on my emotional well being. But not having anything kind of sucks. Ok, no....it doesn't KIND OF suck, it sucks a lot. I have been out online looking for work for a week or so now, and I can tell you that here, in Seattle-land where the recession was kind of late in arriving, the job market is all but nonexistent in my field of work. This time last year, I was doing as many as six interviews a day. This year, I can barely find postings for my role, which is relatively common and usually in demand.
I'm not sure where we sit financially yet. I think we'll be ok for a while, although the insurance thing is going to be ugly.
This bites. Laid off twice in less than a year and a half. I guess it could be worse though. Keep your fingers crossed.