Layoffs, downsizing, retrenchment, whatever you call it

[darkenedsoul]

Well, had my 2nd interview (walk-in) since being laid off almost a year now and didn't get it. The recruiter said something along the lines of the job changed. Well, 1 person is in the running, another in the pipe for interviewing but I was no longer under consideration for it for whatever reason. I just hate that. Especially being out of the interview loop as much as I am..... But I move on/push on. I put in for about 7 jobs this week of which one a friend is also submitting me for employee referral for the same place I've been trying for MONTHS to get into (close to home, easy commute, etc...). But they are slower than snail tracks it seems or they are inundated with resumes/referrals.

Either way, I'm depressed/mad/angry/pissed off about this whole thing. The employers are being super picky on what they want which is what is killing me at this time. I don't have Java/C++ coding background, nor do I have test suites (Winrunner, Loadrunner, Silktest, Selenium, QTP, etc...) since we developed the stuff in-house at all the places I have worked at.

But I will get something at some point, else I'll put my place on the market and move to florida and become a cabana-boy! 

Mike

[Wayne Higgins]

Florida is warm, houses down south are cheap.  The pay sucks, but it's all relative.  I mean, if you make $100k in California, you aren't doing well.  If you make $30k in St. Pete, you're doing ok.  Nobody is rich anymore.  At least, no one I know.  No earth quakes, not nearly as many wild fires, no snow, no salt on the raod to ruin your car, cost of setting up an LLC is low (if you want to be your own boss), and as I keep telling my cousin in DC "Hurricanes aren't really that bad, just don't try to ride a motorcycle in one."

[Alan Imberg]

I'm sorry to hear of your plight, Mike. The economic good times is seeming more and more like a distance memory.
The job market in Cincinnati stinks as well. I've had to be the inflictor of grief as part of the managment team for our facilty. I've had a hand in laying off 13 people in the last year and it sucks more than anything I've experienced in my working life. And as the saying goes: "There, but by the grace of God, go I". I know it could be my turn at any time.

[cromag]

Keep plugging away at it, and Good luck!

I anticipate attempting to return to the ranks of the gainfully employed in a year or two, and it looks pretty grim here in NJ.

[darkenedsoul]

Well I've had some other stuff come up but nothing has panned out yet. I had a phone screener today which I hope leads to a walk-in. Not thrilled for the commute *but* they subsidize the parking at at least one of their buildings = cheaper/monthly. Busy company, making money, actually giving raises and bonuses (latter on par with prior to the downturn!) and sounds like it'd be a definite challenge and a lot to learn. All running on linux (Debian) and get a linux desktop and laptop (mac/windows) for email/browsing. I am hoping I get a walk-in. I was a bit rusty but think I did well enough talking to the hiring manager for one of the 2 positions. We shall see hopefully this week. Also put in for several jobs at Dell (Equallogic in Nashua, NH) but nothing has come of them yet (they are f-n slow....) and have referrals for them as well internally. But we'll see, they are still being really picky on skillsets, i.e. you don't have stuff on preferred/desired you probably won't get contacted is what I am seeing/experiencing (I have most of the rest of the job description stuff).

Mike

[1000snakes]

Positive thoughts coming your way for a fulfilling outcome to this endeavor, Mike!
Peace, Kirk

[Seren]

Good Luck Mike,

In the UK public services taking a pounding - councils considering huge levels of job cuts - less services (but as ever more and more people needing them)....

I think I am in a reasonably safe job, but in the last 6 months it has become more and more pressured as we are expected to do more and more in the same amount of time.

[michael sandler]

"Do you ever notice that the people who make the lowest wages have to wear uniforms?"

Yes, I have noticed that, with notable exceptions like Generals and big name Motown acts. A uniform can be a source of pride or a source of humiliation. Cops are in the middle, as they take pride in their uniforms even though they don't make tons of money.

I wonder why you have to wear a uniform if you work at Taco Bell. My guess is it's branding. They want everything in the store, including the appearance of their employees, to promote the brand. A uniform is like a little advertisement (even though you're already there; marketers and brand managers never let up).

Just guessing. I have no fast food experience.

MikeS

[mgriffin]

I don't think uniforms for low-wage jobs are meant to cause humiliation, at all.  Well, maybe at Hot Dog on a Stick.  Uniforms are a way of getting the company's public "face" to bear the brand imprint, the colors.  It's a way of having a sort of dress code, and ensuring a certain sort of presentation up front.  What do you think people at Taco Bell would wear if they were allowed to wear anything they wanted?

[jkn]

Hypnos t-shirts, of course.

[mgriffin]

Speaking of which, we're going to make new Hypnos t-shirts soon.  But that's for another thread!

[Wayne Higgins]

You know, I'm the one who said that and I wear a company t-shirt to work.  Actually, it beats spilling acids and reagents on my own clothes.  I started buying the Faded Glory jeans at Walmart for  $8 a pair because it doesn't bother me when I put holes in them after a couple of months.  Ironically, they are the only jeans I buy anymore.

When I worked for Dominos Pizza (5 years?!?!), everyone had to wear blue pants.  It was the main requirement for being hired.  We had such a hard time getting drivers that one of the stores that I worked at (Garland, TX) was across the street from a Goodwill.  He would give a new driver $4, tell them to go get a pair of blue pants and that they could pay him back at the end of the night out of their tips.  It was actually a fun job: robberies, muggings, drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, ect.  The hours were long, though.  Put my ass back into college, that's for sure.

[michael sandler]

I don't think uniforms for low-wage jobs are meant to cause humiliation, at all.  Well, maybe at Hot Dog on a Stick.  Uniforms are a way of getting the company's public "face" to bear the brand imprint, the colors.  It's a way of having a sort of dress code, and ensuring a certain sort of presentation up front.  What do you think people at Taco Bell would wear if they were allowed to wear anything they wanted?

Jeans and a T-shirt. I agree that the uniforms are not intended to cause himiliation, but to the person with a Ph.D who can't get a job in his field and has to make a living asking rude customers, "hot sauce or mild?", the uniform can be a tangible symbol of their professional humiliation. Which is, of course, subjective. If you are happy just to have a job, you won't feel humiliated.

MikeS

[mgriffin]

If you think people at Taco Bell or Burger King would dress acceptably if allowed to wear their own clothes, then you haven't worked in retail or food service.  Most people in those jobs view it as extremely short-term, don't have the slightest respect for the company or the manager, and they'll get away with as much as they can.

I worked at Blockbuster Video right after college and the dress code was as specific as it can be without being a provided uniform.  You had to wear a light blue dress shirt with long sleeves and khaki dockers or equivalent "casual dress" tan/khaki pants, but you had to get your own.  This was too hard for some people, even with a very specific code.  They'd show up in a shirt that was dark blue, or short sleeved, or had a white collar, or no collar, or holes in it.  They'd show up in brown pants, or white pants, or tan stretch pants (just the girls in this case), or khaki shorts.

If you told Taco Bell employees to wear jeans and a t-shirt to work, you'd have to send a bunch of them home every day when they showed up in jeans full of holes, or covered with graffiti, or in a tank top or halter top or a t-shirt that said "fuck the cops" on it.  It'd be half anarchy, half orgy... sort of like public high school!   

 

[Wayne Higgins]

Here's a good uniform story for you.  The absolutely wonderful human being Wayne Huizenga bought Turtles Records.  A cd/video store.  He mandated that all employees get their hair cut if they wanted to keep their jobs.  After everyone got their hair cut, he closed all the stores.

[mystified]

At the library, we can wear jeans if they are "nice". That results in a lot of amusing interpretations.

Also, we have to wear "nice" shirts. Some people choose their very best T-shirts. Others wear nice button-down shirts with collars.

[mgriffin]

Library ain't Taco Bell!   

[Wayne Higgins]

nor do they serve food.

[1000snakes]

I witnessed all kinds of workplace fashion statements while managing a couple of Tower Records/Video stores in Sacramento during the 80s and 90s!!! Hair came in all of the colors of the rainbow and the clothes were pretty outrageous. One of my employees delighted in flashing her nipple piercings! Yikes!!!!
Peace, Kirk

[LNerell]

Back in the 1990s I worked at Philips Media, it was a pretty relaxed atmosphere, like you could set your own work hours and even including what you could wear to work. That changed a bit when one of our temp employees decided he wanted to wear his favorite pair of jeans to work everyday, the ones that he had worn so much that they didn't have any bottoms. All I can say is at least he wore clean underwear.    After a couple weeks of him showing off his skinny ass the company put a stop to it and other similar attire. Including what my girlfriend at the time, who use to parade around the office in nothing but a body stocking.