Layoffs / Finding Jobs (UPDATE: NEW JOB!)

[Moondog Wily]

This is why some suggest a massive commercial real estate crash is not only imminent, but also inevitable, at this point.

Can't wait to see those C Suite offices turned into homeless shelters! Or internment camps, depending on who gets elected next year!! I have been working remotely as an IT consultant for all but 2 of the last 27 years and love every minute of it ;~))

 

[la szum]

China has entire residential districts they built/financed in the Boom phase of their
super expansive economic growth that are not inhabited now, and some say, will never
be inhabited.

Proof that governments all over the world are neither omnipotent, nor omniscient.

 

[Jarick]

Acquired a new blue sport coat because wearing a full suit looked odd to me. Need a haircut too, then start drilling interview questions.

 

[laxu]

I get the feeling that I really need to get into a different job about twice a year and have been that way for about 4, almost 5, years now. I know the job is not doing my health any favors. I got a major reminder of that in February of this year when I went in for heart surgery and came out with two stents added to my body. I have been trying to not let the job tick me off anymore after that. I figure if they ever decided to fire me that would be my motivation to find a replacement job. I am in a pretty decent place financially and am trying to stockpile as much as I can as I get closer to a retirement age. I still have a good 9 years or so to go. I make decent money and that is the sole reason I have stayed with this job. Nothing about it excites me and nothing makes me want to excel. I just keep the lights on and make sure we are doing things by the rules.

You can also consider it like this: when you have a job that just pays the bills, you can hopefully "turn it off" at the end of the day and focus your energy on doing things in your personal life that give you meaning. At work you do a good job, but have no need to try to climb the corporate ladder or go above and beyond to prove your worth. That's less overall stress.

My biggest fear of switching jobs right now is that our economy is not getting any better. I saw some things the company I work for was doing that looked like they are preparing for a layoff at some point. They did a big one back in 2020. They seem to do one about every 10 years or so. I have been here 11.5 years. The company is making money so if they do a layoff it is solely to try to make as much with less people. We are still under heavier work conditions from the last layoff. I don't know how people can take on more work. I would love to find a job where I can learn a new product and spend my last leg of my career working on something that gets me excited to go to work each day.

The best time to change jobs is when you already have a job. So maybe you can see what else is out there and go do a few interviews. Best case you find something new and exciting (and maybe even better paid), worst case you keep your old job.

I was in a consultant role in my last job where I worked 100% remote. I don't mind being a consultant. I am still doing similar work today but for one company that has over 40 subsidiary companies. Before going remote the first time, I had remote employees so I have been on both sides of the remote work. I think that gives me a little bit different perspective than a lot of people on it.

I've been a consultant for something like the last 10 years. It keeps things fresh - while most of the stuff I do is just variations of the same, each company has its own dynamic, tech stack, challenges etc so it feels like changing jobs typically every 1-3 years. Usually my gigs end because the client wants to cut some short term costs so getting rid of consultants is a convenient way to do that.

The downside is that when you have a group of people you like working with, when your contract ends you lose that. So it's often a bit bitter sweet, even though you know the next project usually has good people too. Obviously this happens when you change jobs too, but for most people it's less often than for a consultant.

I had been about 70% remote even before COVID, so going 100% was not much of a change. The downside of fully remote is that you don't get to know people in the same way as when you work in the same space. With my current client we have some "everyone at the office" days every few weeks and I feel it improves the team dynamics - more time for stupid jokes and whatnot. Obviously if you hate your coworkers then it's not helpful, but in my experience in IT at least most people are cool.

 

[laxu]

China has entire residential districts they built/financed in the Boom phase of their
super expansive economic growth that are not inhabited now, and some say, will never
be inhabited.

Proof that governments all over the world are neither omnipotent, nor omniscient.

I read about the ghost cities in China once and it had some interesting challenges. People moved in, but then all the services (your grocery stores, restaurants, small businesses etc) were in the closest nearby city so you had basically nothing close by, so why would you live in an inconvenient place like that?

It doesn't help that many of these seem to be built fast & cheap so their long-term viability is an issue too. The whole "buy an apartment as an investment because loaned money had super low interest" hasn't helped either. I have seen it even in Helsinki, there are some new developments where the common areas in front of them where you have playgrounds, places for people to hang etc are poorly maintained because a good number of the apartments are owned by people who don't live there. Do there's less incentive for making sure the building and its immediate area is well maintained.

I expect the next thing is more office buildings getting converted to residential as people would rather work more from home rather than have a big office with lots of amenities.

 

[Orvillain]

you can hopefully "turn it off" at the end of the day and focus your energy on doing things in your personal life that give you meaning.

God I wish that were the case.

 

[DrewJD82]

Gratitude is as essential to me as breathing air these days. Great outlook, JD.

I hope saying that is not taken as a slight to those who struggle, or are struggling.

If it weren’t for gratitude, many of my struggles would have been all out failures.

 

[mavrick102000]

China has entire residential districts they built/financed in the Boom phase of their
super expansive economic growth that are not inhabited now, and some say, will never
be inhabited.

Proof that governments all over the world are neither omnipotent, nor omniscient.

China's ghost cities were nothing more than keeping the populace employed (happy) and manipulating their currency, until they could put more controls in place for their subjects.

Bring the rural populace into the cities where they can be hooked, observed and controlled.

 

[Jarick]

Just confirmed the virtual interview this Wednesday. I have not done a virtual job interview so hopefully all goes well.

 

[Jarick]

And now a second company requested interview, so that's Friday. Lots of prep work to do this week.

 

[Jarick]

First interview went well, company wants to quickly arrange a second in person interview. Fingers crossed as it seems like a really good mutual fit.

Will be excited to have this all behind me, I've barely been able to get much rest and relaxation or do things like play guitar the last several weeks.

 

[megametal7]

When i lost my badge that was wake up call for me… i was very comfortable in my job and i was lazy to expand and better myself…

Then boom… i had no choice but to find something as i had family and financial commitments…Stared to hop between jobs and found it very hard to be employed again as I worked self-employed so many years….

Start looking for things you can do and meanwhile study new trade if you can….

Good luck!!!!

 

[pipelineaudio]

There's such a huge shortage in all markets right now, blue collar white collar whatever. Yeah a lot lot lot lot lot of fake, overvalued nonsense filler jobs at the tech boxes are gone, but those were a cokplete joke and the justifications for most of them even existing were laughable. Programmers are as needed as ever, just not programmers as in "this is my job at google, at 12 I show up to the coffee bar, then go to the sleep pod, then go to the cattery" yeah, that shit is gone

and good riddance

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Yeah I need a new job. I don't get paid enough for what I put up with. 8-5 with no break until about 1:30 and I'm lucky to get a chunk of 15 minutes to myself.

I work at a "preschool" that used to have a great system, but somewhere along the line the system broke down and it's been a whirlwind of shit.

My second daughter is on her last year and I don't have a compelling reason to stay much longer, problem is I don't have any complete skills to speak of outside of music, audio, and kids so I'll have to either train or get a degree while trudging on with the current job. I feel stuck.

 

[Jarick]

Interviewed with a different company today and while I didn't expect much, it went really well actually. Got along great with the interviewer and the role is a continuation of work I've done previously.

He indicated they'll likely schedule a follow-up early next week, so if that's the case I may have two second rounders Monday/Tuesday. Also asked how far along I was with other companies in case they need to expedite an offer.

Fingers crossed!

 

[la szum]

This guy is great. I swear no politics here. Just straight up demographics, and how they
impact labour forces, markets, and economies around the world.




It's also factually and historically represented, so that one can slice through the rotten
cheese of disinformation and rampant nonsense.

I find this kind of stuff super interesting. His arguement is that we are basically in a New Era
of tighter labour "markets because the largest generation (Boomers) is retiring/retired and
cannot be replaced by subsequent generations with smaller numbers. In short, the number
of workers lost through attrition is greater than the numbers available to replace them.

It also suggests that we are all going to have to wait longer for everything, and get used to it.
From getting food in the Restaurants to getting new tires on your Car, every thing is going
to take more time, and we are going to have to be more patient as a result.

 

[la szum]

China's ghost cities were nothing more than keeping the populace employed (happy) and manipulating their currency, until they could put more controls in place for their subjects.

Bring the rural populace into the cities where they can be hooked, observed and controlled.

I wonder how accurate that is, since one of China's biggest issues is food production. You can't
export it all, and you can't force all the rural farmers into the cities to be surveilled.

I think it was less nefarious and more about sheer speculation, and trying to force economic
growth through investment-----even bad investment.

 

[Jarick]

Had my second interview with company A and it went well. Established a good connection with the peer supervisor and with the hiring manager, was able to provide direct examples to questions they asked, and related to most of their pain points. Culture seems very good there, really focused on career development which is something I've never been able to get at my company. They indicated they would make a decision quickly, so hopefully I hear some good news tomorrow.

Company B also requested a second interview today so trying to schedule that as soon as possible. It's more familiar with what I've done previously but likely not as much long term potential. It would have been perfect for me five years ago, not sure about today. It would be nice to have options though.

 

[Jarick]

Recruiter said an offer should be incoming Company said they were holding out for a really good candidate and I seemed like the perfect fit.

Now gotta figure out if I want to wait for the second job to play out or just take the first one (assuming it's a good offer). But it seems almost like this was destined to happen given how fast everything fell in place!

 

[Jarick]

Accepted the offer at my preferred company, they were really excited and wanted to move quickly and so did I. It's easily a company I could see working at for the next 10+ years or finish out my career. Lots of opportunities because it's bigger and more mature than my current company and they are very focused on career growth to retain good employees.

Going to a holiday party at my company today, then will reach out to my manager to put in my resignation notice. I feel a little bad because they are going to be really screwed, but it's 100% on them in terms of how they handled the situation. So many really good people were let go and they didn't even bother communicating to everyone what was happening. I'm still notifying people that my manager was terminated weeks ago.

This has been a really interesting thread now! It's crazy to go back and read in real time what was happening and how quickly everything moved.