"The company is closing in 18 months"

[SoCalDem]

This is what my 55 yr old friend was told last week. The company is sending his division to "Asia".

He experienced his very first panic attack shortly after the news-bomb was dropped.

He has been at this job for 18 years, and his wife does not work outside the home..(she may have to...soon)

For people who stay until "the end" , there will be a send-off bonus, but no real details as of yet. There is no company pension.

He was worried sick, until his friend told him to stop worrying about something he had no control over, and there were no other jobs to run to anyway, so he's resigned himself to the fact that in less than 2 years, he will be starting over at 57 yrs of age.

They are saving every penny they can, and getting dental work done, but other than that, they just hope that when the axe falls, the economy will be in better shape.

At first they thought that if they could sell their house, they might be able to buy a cheaper one (it's just the two of them now), but after expenses related to selling and the shitty market, they decided to just stay put, and perhaps rent a room out if it came to that.

[fasttense]

1. That's the exact same thing that happened to us in 2008.

With the exception that I worked outside the home and have a pension. We saved every penny, and we looked for any job. We cut expenses and found out no one would buy our house for what it was worth. We couldn't even get sales clerk jobs.

For the last 2 years we have been farming. It's been very difficult. It's hard work for very little money. Luckily we have health insurance but we can't afford dental or life insurance. We just barely make ends meet.

Here's to hoping we have a jobful recovery (opposite of jobless recovery) soon.

[SoCalDem]

2. 6 years ago it happened to another friend..only with 2 weeks' notice

She had been there since she was 18 yrs old.. It was here ONLY job..ever.. She was just shy of 50 when they shut down.

Why did they close? A company in Texas wanted some patents they owned & staged a hostile takeover.. Her boss was very apologetic, but he made some money on the deal and shut the place down. I think there were about 50 employees.

She was so depressed for a very long time, and I don't think she got another job (I haven't seen her in a while, since they did have to move away.)

[AnArmyVeteran]

28. I wish you and yours a lot brighter future Fasttense.

I glad you were able to save something and you got as much dental work done before you lost your benefits. All the best.

[xchrom]

3. it's that 'there are no other jobs to run to' that's so frightening. nt

[xchrom]

4. delete -- double post. nt

[old mark]

5. He is fortunate to have such long notice. The Hershey chocolate plant here in Reading, PA

closed completely several years ago with short notice. Several families had 3 generations working there, and many had several family members working there. They were all laid off permanently.

Hershey chocolate products are now made in Monterray, Mexico, are smaller, contain less cocoa and cost more.

mark

[ejpoeta]

6. he should consider himself lucky that he got that much notice.

this gives him time to tighten up finances and put his resume out there. he's got a good head start. it sucks, but it's better than finding out your job is gone in two weeks. I find it interesting there is a bonus for those sticking it out til the end. wonder how much that would be. is it worth not having a job? screw that. at least start looking. if you are still there at the end then get the bonus. if you find something else, go. thank god for a good head start.

my husband was working temp to hire for a couple of years at a place in buffalo. he found out they were laying people off eight months beforehand and was able to get another job without the gap. so even though being able to stay somewhere until retirement is the best scenario giving everyone the heads up so they can start looking elsewhere is at least something.

[DCBob]

8. No shit... my company gave us two weeks notice before shutting down.

Although there were indications long before, none of us knew for sure it would actually happen.

[exboyfil]

10. That bonus/severence at the end can become a millstone

I used to work in a plant in a small town in Iowa about 17 years ago. They decided to "consolidate" North American production and move most of the jobs to Mexico. Those who stayed until the transition was complete were going to get some sort of severence (don't know the details). Unfortunately(?) between things picking up and problems with the transition, they have had to stay around over a half year longer. The problem is that many had arranged for other employment after the original close date.

[TBF]

20. It is truly pathetic that someone is considered "lucky"

when they get notice of their job ending. Is this what we have come to? Why are we not fighting back?

[SocialistLez]

7. Who could work knowing in 18 months they won't have a job? question for the OP in text

On one hand I am glad they were given such a long notice but WOW!

What kind of company is this OP?

[SoCalDem]

9. They make vitamins. I am not sure exactly what HIS job is there

He said he's miserable, just knowing, but at least he does have some time to plan ahead. At his age, it's very hard to find a decent job though, and that worries him. The company said they would "flesh out" the bonus plan, and that may help him decide how long to stay.

When my son's company did that, he got a $46K "bonus" for staying..and then was "rehired" immediately by the company that bought them out & got a raise to boot..but that was 5 years ago.

[SocialistLez]

11. I'm not saying it's possible to find a new job in 18 months BUT

at least he has a job while he's looking.
That's the best spot to be in, IMO.

I hope he finds something more stable soon.

[Fumesucker]

13. Practically every construction subcontractor..

The whole point of construction is to work yourself out of a job and you never know when or whether the next job will be coming.

[txlibdem]

14. The whole point of construction, to put yourself out of a job

It sounds like you are implying that contractors do such a good job that what they build will last for decades, thus putting themselves out of work. I guess you've never seen "Holmes on Homes" on the TV machine...
:hi:

[Gaedel]

16. True for the mechanicals....

Electric, plumbing, and HVAC guys have continuing jobs on maintenance and repairs, but the framing carpenters, bricklayers, and trim carpenters need new construction or they starve.

[txlibdem]

19. My comment was only partially toungue-in-cheek

Of the 3 homes I've had built over the years I haven't been pleased with the workmanship on any of them. And that's just the fit and finish, I have no idea what's hidden behind the scenes. There are no craftsmen anymore, it's all about "slap it together and move on to the next one" mentality.

My next home will be built with my own two hands so I know it'll be done right. My "Holmes on Homes" comment was not meant as a slam against all contractors or all construction people but rather a statement that you will never know if you had a skilled and honest craftsman or a fly-by-night moron doing the work. You'll never know what you've got hidden behind the pretty drywall and paint. Some of these guys leave huge gaps, live electrical lines hanging inside a cavity, hidden structural problems, water infiltration, etc., just timebombs waiting to go off and either cost you tons of money in the future or actually cause loss of life. Now that I have seen all the ways contractors cut corners and cover up their failures with a nice coat of paint and spackle there's no way I'll let one of these people work on my home.

[Gaedel]

24. After I built a house, a guy down the street was building one

I told him that by the time he was finished he would want to line up every single subcontractor who did work on the house and shoot them.

When his house was complete, he told me I very correct in my call.

[Fumesucker]

25. The job goes almost every time to the lowest bidder..

Like practically everything else in America these day it's a race to the bottom and if you don't join the race you don't get the job.

Just bidding a job is a significant investment in time and resources, it's easy to miss something on blueprints and lose a ton of money on the job, in fact the more you miss on the blueprints when you're figuring the bid the more likely you are to get the job because the lower your bid will be.

Craftsmanship is dead basically because the great majority of people don't want to pay what being a true craftsman entails in terms of effort, time, tools and materials, they go for the low bidder and then are shocked that the low bidder is not the best craftsman.

In many places the construction industry has essentially been taken over by undocumented immigrants, I don't blame the immigrants but the end customers and the contractors who want everything done for the lowest possible price.

I've done carpentry, electrical and painting as a professional and I've been around the rest of the trades enough to have a good idea of what's entailed, construction is all about solving problems one after another and while jobs are all similar each one is unique and you have to coordinate with all the other trades involved. If the main contractor is incompetent, which a great many of them are, it doesn't matter how good you are at your particular trade, the job is going to be a clusterfuck at best and often it's worse than that.

People want to pay Yugo prices and expect a Mercedes product, it doesn't work that way in cars and it doesn't work that way in building homes either.

[JoeyT]

26. Hear hear.

And then the bastards that want to pay 10 bucks an hour for an electrician or framing carpenter find out they got *exactly* what they paid for, they rage at the profession as a whole. Then they go hire another one for ten bucks an hour.

It's impossible to convince most people that it's better to spend 30 bucks an hour to have it done right the first time than have to have it done five times and it still won't be right.

[txlibdem]

27. The old "you get what you pay for" argument?

Unfortunately, the lowest bid is only 10% less than the median. The highest bidder(s) are just ripping you off and won't do any better than the mid-priced ones. And none of them will be quote/end-quote "craftsmen" by any definition of the word.

I agree with you that the GC sets the tone for the job site. Less quality in the materials and workmanship equals more profit for the GC. The subs get squeezed or replaced with illegals who may or may not be even qualified to swing a hammer. I've observed that the other illegals will coach the unqualified and cover up their mistakes, which is good for them but bad for the homeowner potentially.

All I need is a copy of the code book and I'll be building it myself. If I have to hire a sub I'll be watching their every move.

Besides, being your own GC saves you 25% to 30% even if you subbed out all labor. I plan to do most of the easy stuff myself, forms for the foundation, ICFs, carpentry, roofing incl trusses, electrical rough in, and some of the plumbing, so I should save even more.

[Fumesucker]

22. I've never done residential new construction..

Commercial and industrial work is done to a good bit higher standard most of the time.

Not to mention that repairs and renovation is basically a whole different ball game than new construction, it takes a considerably higher skill level and often a lot more tools than just straight new construction.

Trying fix someone else's screwups after the fact is usually much harder than doing the job in the first place.

[JVS]

21. It's good to know, because it lets you get resumes out without being unemployed.

[zipplewrath]

12. He's off to a good start

No one would envy him. But he does have the advantage of time. Without knowing what his skill set is, it is hard to suggest much. There are "career counselors", a poorly named service for a guy that is 55. He's not looking for a "career", he's looking for work for about another 10 years.

He needs to do a full skills assesment, even for skills he's never been paid. He needs to look to competitors, suppliers, customers, etc. to see if there is something he can bring to them. Consulting is a possibility as well. And the really hard decision, it may require a significant relocation. Especially if it means they can move to a location where it will be cheaper to own/live. Retraining is also a consideration, although I'd be concerned about running up too much of a bill on that. "retraining" in a field that is closely related to his existing skills. Something that won't take alot of classes or time.

[galileoreloaded]

15. Welcome to the land of the 99's.................n/t

[Dappleganger]

17. It's happening all over.

Every week I hear someone either in our neighborhood, in the grocery store or the hair salon discuss their major layoff (either their's or the spouse's). Interestingly, the ones who find work the fastest work with their hands. The ones with degrees are still looking the longest.

[cags]

18. Thats happening to my friend, and she has been forced to train her departments replacements in india

[Javaman]

23. But hey! the recession is over and has been for almost a year!!!

This, sadly, is the new normal.

Cheerleaders at the end of the empire.

I feel for your friend. I'm 47 and hanging onto my job like grim death. Doing everything I can to make myself more "marketable". We have slowly been downsizing and all have been charged with taking on many rolls. Tasks that we were never trained for, have no experience doing or in our job descriptions, yet we do them to hold off certain lay off fears.

The republicans don't need to destroy SS, they are doing it by age discrimination. They lay off enough of the older workers, the stress alone will kill these folks, thus decreasing the SS rolls.

If I didn't have dark sarcasm/reality type humor, I would have none at all. It's the only thing that keeps me sane.

Peace to your friend.