Job Hunt Update
My husband, who was scheduled to be laid off this month from DHL, has found a new full-time job. The pay is 20% lower than what he has been earning and we have to wait two months for the health benefits to begin. And that’s just the beginning of my rant.
DHL was offering a severance package of two months salary and benefits after the separation date. After five years of service, I think that was a terrible offer, but at least we had that much to cushion the blow.
After enduring several frustrating months of hubby’s job search, I was beginning to worry that the current state of the economy was going to be the end of our healthy finances. I calculate that we have three to four months of living expenses saved; that’s more than most people have in the bank, so I’m pretty proud of that emergency fund. Add to that the two months he would receive in severance, and we would be okay until the end of the calendar year. Not too shabby.
The new company interviewed my husband twice over a period of six weeks. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry to fill the position, so I was surprised when they finally offered him the job and said he had to start immediately if he wanted it. Hubby asked if they could wait three weeks so he could finish his time at DHL and receive his severance package. No, he was told, they needed someone on the job immediately and if he wasn’t willing to jump ship now, they would simply call the next guy on the list of candidates.
It took them nearly two months to interview candidates, but all of a sudden there’s a rush to have the new person begin. Just in time to screw us out of nearly 10K of severance compensation.
Add that to the decrease in salary and we are 30K in the hole. Plus, we have to continue our health benefits through COBRA for the next 10 weeks, which will cost us another two grand. Fuck!
I’m glad that my husband did not have to go through the stress of finishing out his time with DHL without a job offer on the horizon. He has been unemployed before, and it’s not easy for him. His sense of self worth is tightly connected to his career (typical guy!) and he so enjoys his line of work.
But why do things never seem to work out in our favor? The randomness of the universe needs to throw us a bone every now and then, damn it! As always, things could be worse but they could definitely be better.
End rant.
DHL was offering a severance package of two months salary and benefits after the separation date. After five years of service, I think that was a terrible offer, but at least we had that much to cushion the blow.
After enduring several frustrating months of hubby’s job search, I was beginning to worry that the current state of the economy was going to be the end of our healthy finances. I calculate that we have three to four months of living expenses saved; that’s more than most people have in the bank, so I’m pretty proud of that emergency fund. Add to that the two months he would receive in severance, and we would be okay until the end of the calendar year. Not too shabby.
The new company interviewed my husband twice over a period of six weeks. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry to fill the position, so I was surprised when they finally offered him the job and said he had to start immediately if he wanted it. Hubby asked if they could wait three weeks so he could finish his time at DHL and receive his severance package. No, he was told, they needed someone on the job immediately and if he wasn’t willing to jump ship now, they would simply call the next guy on the list of candidates.
It took them nearly two months to interview candidates, but all of a sudden there’s a rush to have the new person begin. Just in time to screw us out of nearly 10K of severance compensation.
Add that to the decrease in salary and we are 30K in the hole. Plus, we have to continue our health benefits through COBRA for the next 10 weeks, which will cost us another two grand. Fuck!
I’m glad that my husband did not have to go through the stress of finishing out his time with DHL without a job offer on the horizon. He has been unemployed before, and it’s not easy for him. His sense of self worth is tightly connected to his career (typical guy!) and he so enjoys his line of work.
But why do things never seem to work out in our favor? The randomness of the universe needs to throw us a bone every now and then, damn it! As always, things could be worse but they could definitely be better.
End rant.
posted by Patricia at
Thursday, May 07, 2009
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