PANIC!!! Lay-offs at my job!!

[PaulaSB12]

Good luck and here is a big



From friends in England.

 

[DebbieB]

Sorry to say it. Last one hired, first one out. You need to be factual.

That's not always true when you are talking non-union. I once went through a layoff situation and I was kept because I had more skills than someone who was hired years before me.

HR is one department that is the first to go since there is not direct contact with the customer. I work for a large insurance company and local HR departments were eliminated years ago. We now have a regional HR rep and a hotline for any problems.

As others have said, be proactive. Check with other departments to see if they have any openings you could be considered for.

 

[tvguy]

That's not always true when you are talking non-union. I once went through a layoff situation and I was kept because I had more skills than someone who was hired years before me.

HR is one department that is the first to go since there is not direct contact with the customer. I work for a large insurance company and local HR departments were eliminated years ago. We now have a regional HR rep and a hotline for any problems.

As others have said, be proactive. Check with other departments to see if they have any openings you could be considered for.

Same with my place. They did try to be fair, and offered cross training to everyone before any decisions were made about layoffs. But we lost the most experienced and longest serving person in one department because she had elected several years early to work 32 hours a week instead of 40 to spend more time with her kids, so that made her a part timer and part timers were cut first.
I'm overweight and was 50 when I lost my job, I was lucky, my skills were wanted elsewhere, and on paper, was unemployed 4 days, in reality, I was hired the day I was fired, but I had to take a drug test and fill out paperwork.

Now, as a person who started a threat earlier this week asking folks if their employers even had a HR department anymore, I think THAT is going to be your problem. HR is going the way of the milkman.

 

[waltsgirl]

It is not always the last one hired, first to go. Where I work, lay offs are determined by the last performance review that was conducted, and a weighting system. Length of service is part of the weighting but believe me I have seen people with 15 years of service get laid off while people with 5 years are kept and it is all due to performance.

 

[NewCrew42]

I just found out that they are going to start lay-offs at my job after the first of the year. The worst, they are going to start in my department first. I'm 42, overweight, and scared! Will I have a hard time finding a job because of my age or weight? I have skills but will that be enough? Someone please tell me there's no reason to panic........please.......

so sorry you are facing this!

 

[IMissEd]

At my husband's work, the people who lost their jobs weren't the newest hires, but the ones whose jobs were cut. This was with a union, too. Hugs to you, OP.

 

[tvguy]

It is not always the last one hired, first to go. Where I work, lay offs are determined by the last performance review that was conducted, and a weighting system. Length of service is part of the weighting but believe me I have seen people with 15 years of service get laid off while people with 5 years are kept and it is all due to performance.

We had a few incentives thrown in to get the longer serving (read that as highest paid) workers to leave. We had one guy 6 months short of 45 years with the company take the buy out, he had hoped to make it 45 years and retire. Incentives were offered to everyone over age 55 no matter how long they had worked for the company.

 

[manning]

At least it will be at the beginnig of the year. Because of that you will get your vacation pay. If the company is large enough you will be paid for two months from the date of notification, They have the choice of working you those two months or letting you go and paying you for those two months.

I got lucky when I got let go. My last day was Dec 24. When I went in that day to sign my retirement papers it was changed to Jan 2. That gave me an extra week pay and six weeks vacation pay.