in reply to Surviving Layoffs

I got notice in the mail that I had been laid off. I was on vacation at the time and the notice got buried under the rest of the vacation mail.
Got back late sunday night
Monday morning I couldn't find my badge so as I'm looking around I see a letter from my employer.
The search for the badge stopped.

That was in early March. So far the savings are holding out mainly due to a good tax return. It hasn't helped that I've got a medical mystery as well going on. Though I suspect it's one of the reasons I was picked for the axe. So much for honesty with one's employer.

I think most of the advice has been given, but I'll repeat a few

  • Keep enough money around so you don't have to worry if your job is going to go.
  • An increase of stress for more than a couple months is not worth a potential amount of money.
    I went through a huge increase of stress for almost a year for a payoff. The payoff was 1/4 of what looked like a sure thing and I had a VP trying to kill my job the entire time.
  • While off, do those things you want to do.
    This last period, I've had time to do all those home improvement projects that have nagged me for the past year.

    • In terms of how long I've gone without work during other layoffs. 6 months, 1 week, 3 months, and 3+ months. That's over a 15 year period of time.

    In Section Meditations