SHTF - When stuff happens... Job Layoff!

Well it is always interesting and amusing to read the headlines from the main stream media.  They tell us how the economy is continuing to improve.  They tell us that jobless claims are down and people are happily employed if they want to be.  People are out buying cars at a new record pace.  All is good in fairytale land...

However anyone who looks beyond those fantasy spin stories sadly sees the truth.  The number of people employed is at a low dating back to like 1980 or something insane.  Last time I checked the population has increased by an enormous amount since that time so to have so few people working is shocking.  Look at the numbers that the fortune 500 companies are reporting and the seedy underbelly of it all is that in order to make their numbers or beat the numbers that Wall Street expects means massive cost cutting everywhere...  Off shoring work as fast as they can to improve profit margins and to stay afloat.  This allows them to continue the fantasy that everything is fine.  If they cannot offshore the work they push for illegal immigration where people have no rights, are slaves, and work for less than the legal citizens of a country since they don't have to pay social security, medicare, medicaid, income taxes etc.  What a sweet deal right?  The companies get off free and the illegals get to be treated like slaves.

In some ways I can see the point of trying to legalize all these immigrants.  You make them legal, and get them paying taxes.   You put off the day of reckoning for Social Security and the other social programs for a little while longer as you get a flush of new money.  However it will not be met with applause by these companies who have been getting a free ride on the back of labor.

The other thing that is shocking is to see just how many of these companies are also resorting to tricky and underhanded ways of getting rid of employees without it hitting the restructuring cost bottom line.  You see to layoff people they have to budget the cost of severance, benefits etc.  If the employee has been there for a long time this turns out to be a lot of money.  Also if your close to retirement they want you off the books ASAP.  The reports are all over the place where we see very creative ways to dump employees without having to pay those massive severance checks.

Here are some of the ways I have personally seen recently.  The suddenly bad performance report from out of nowhere.  Suddenly you get your annual performance feedback.  Suddenly it is bad.  No warning, no feedback.  Suddenly if there were any annual bonuses your frozen out.  Any annual cost of living increases or pay increases your frozen out.  And in many cases it sets the stage for the layoff.  You have a substandard performance report they can let you go for no cause.  Or if they are feeling generous you might get a small severance that is half or less of what you should have had coming.  The employee really does not have much recourse when this happens.  If your close to retirement they want you off the books bad.  That severance package would normally be expensive, but now they suddenly have a "half off discount" to dump the employee due to the bad performance report. 

The other trick that is being used is to offer the employee to be put on a probation period for 30-90 days.  During that probation period you will be given a list of tasks, objectives, and things you have to do that goes above and beyond your day to day tasks and workload.  If you agree to enter this probation period they have you sign an agreement that the company can let you go for any reason should you not be showing them progress and meeting all of your objectives that have been outlined.  In other words you forget to dot an I or cross a T and they can fire you, and you get NO severance!  Again the company is off the hook, no hit to the bottom line or restructuring cost.

The last and most interesting thing about all of this is that I really started hearing about this a few years ago.  That there was a quota for bad performance reviews.  That there had to be a certain number of bad reviews within each organization.  Sorta like a cop told he has a quota of tickets to write to make his numbers.  Same thing is happening across corporate America.   The tricks are vast, and the methods are highly questionable. 

If your caught up in this web of twisted thinking don't feel bad.  It is happening all over. 

Layoff's happen in this sick economy:
All I can tell you is to do your best to be prepared for it by learning how to live frugally.  To put your plan and preps first.  Be ready the best you can to live off of the things you have stored and the things you can grow and produce yourself.  Minimize your expenses and be ready the best you can.

I just came face to face with this reality this past week when my employer decided to move my job to Brazil and the job opening they promised to replace my offshore job was eliminated in the latest round of cuts.  The company has witnessed declining revenue for the last 18 months but the bean counters dress it all up to look really good.  So Wall Street buys the nonsense.  In the mean time the company has resorted to the under handed methods described to get rid of people.  I my case I personally battled through several of those situations personally and I managed to do the impossible and meet all the demands and get off of the hot seat list.  Most do not get off the hot seat as they make a mistake, don't put in the insane hours, and do the impossible to keep their jobs.  I managed to do that.  But in the end it didn't save my job.  They had to give me a good performance review, but still replaced me with offshore resources.  

This wasn't a small layoff this time around it was pretty big.  It made the headlines all over the place.  What it tells us is the economy isn't anything we are told.  The job market isn't anything like what they are saying.  Looking at the job options right now is almost non-existent.  So all I can do is get back to work learning some new skills and making myself marketable the best I can.  I hope if your facing this you have taken the best steps possible to be sustainable and live off of your skills, resources, and work.

Prepping is a double edged sword:
While I believe prepping is essential there is a double edged sword to it all.  If you put everything into prepping then be ready to live off of your preps.  If a layoff comes down the pike and you have invested everything in your preps then what you have to live on is unemployment.  Those extended unemployment benefits ended in 2014 so no more 99 week unemployment benefits.  That means your back to whatever  your local state offers.   In my case it is 26 weeks max with no extensions from what I can tell. 

So what did you prep for?  If you spent all your money on guns, ammo, and things that make you grin and giggle then you might have some difficulty making it through your layoff period while looking for another job.  Of course you could sell some of that stuff to raise some cash so there is some side benefit to that, but is that really what we prepped to do?  Sell our stuff off in a SHTF situation?  I don't believe that is the case or why did you invest in it to begin with?

If you have not faced this situation yet let me just say that you need to prioritize the essentials.  What is essential that you have?  How will you get it when your job goes away?  The economy goes sideways?  There is a death or horrible event in the family?  Plan accordingly...  Invest in the essential.  Water, food, food production, tools, and skills to help you through whatever might come your way.  Minimize your expenses to the best of your ability so that even if you had to flip burgers full time you could some how make ends meet...  That is saying something... And I hope it is your goal...

If you stay employed with a decent job while being frugal you will quickly figure out that you have more funds to put to work prepping for more of the essentials.   Do miss an opportunity to learn now, and live this way now.  It will make the SHTF situations much more easy to deal with and sets the pattern for smart living that can be self reliant and self sustaining.   Just know that the stories we are told these days are completely a story to keep the masses from getting worried.  You should be worried, and you should be prepared.  That is why we call this blog the Be Prepared Channel.

For now I am putting out feelers with people I know.  Working on my Cisco certifications, and prepping my garden, water catchment system, and setting up our vermiculture bin in the next few weeks.  All moves to get on top of this layoff mess and come out a better person in the end of it all. 

If you know of anyone looking for a hard working IT guy give me a shout!

Take Care and God Bless,
Longsnowsm