Why would anyone want to be laid off you ask? Maybe because layoffs have reduced staff by 20 or 30% and those who remain have to do a lot of extra work now?
Also, it could be that you've saved up enough money to be able to last for a year or two without working but you'd like to also get the benefits of being laid off (The gov pays 65% of your COBRA for the first 9 months IIRC based on a bill that was passed soon after Obama became pres) that you won't get if you quit or are fired.
Oh, and the problem with many of the suggestions presented in this article is that they could easily get you fired instead of laid off - and that would be worse than just quitting outright. Companies are trying to find every excuse possible to fire instead of laying off right now because it's a lot cheaper - no severance pay, no continued health benefits for a few months, less they have to pay in unemployment premiums.
The company where I work tried this back in the Spring: everything was great with your performance one week and then the next week people were called into the bosses office and told of their screwups going back a couple of years (stuff that had been considered water under the bridge) and then told that they'd better shape up or face "disciplinary action". Of course, what management was doing was preparing a paper trail to cover their rear ends so they could fire some folks and not have to lay them off. Fortunately, that hasn't happened (yet) - I suspect that management looked into the abyss early in the year and feared the worst. The problem, with this kind of action by management, though, is that it poisons the well. As soon as the economy picks up again and people feel that they can find a job elsewhere, they will.
Sarah,
I have been reading your articles for about two years now, and I've enjoyed pretty much all of them, but this one hit so close to home...I've had all these great ideas for starting my own online business for at least a year, but I'm not an IT person, and the web is not much a part of any job I can use my degree for. So, I figured it was a pipe dream...until I got laid off last Jan. Now, I'm under alot of pressure from friends and family to get a job, any job (like I haven't been hunting for a job in my industry all along!) But I feel like this is my one chance to 'make a go' at the business and life I want for myself, and that I'd be crazy to let it pass by without trying. The website isn't up yet, but I am making progress, albeit very slowly since I am having to learn IT things on my own...I am surviving financially for now, but there is a definite end date where I need to be successful or give it up. Anyway, thanks so much for this post. It meant alot to me to know that I am not the only one struggling with this.
-Tracy
I lean against the VAT for a whole variety of reasons. But the line item veto has been declared unconstitutional so I don't see that changing anytime soon...
Corporations have run roughshod over the American tax paying public for too long. Corporate taxes aren't collected, off shoring of jobs AND corporations to evade taxes is rampant. Transnational corporations are "hollowing" out the American economy. "Financial services" doesn't make anything to add to the economy; it's basically a betting casino.
And the US needs to get a robust industrial policy before instituting band-aid fixes, IMO.
That's funny, my husband said the same thing. However, when small children with small hands make one of these owls, it looks more like an owl. I had my class create these and they came out really cute!
The problem I have with a VAT is that it is a regressive tax and places a disproportionate burden on the poor. I think raising income taxes, especially on people with very high incomes is much fairer.
Where I live we have VAT at both the federal (5% GST) and provincial levels (7% PST). There is no GST/PST on food or rent and a few more essentials. There is also provision for a GST rebate for people with lower incomes, so that helps too. The rebate is calculated as part of filing your taxes.
I have also experienced this same disappointment with the QuickCam Vision Pro. Mostly because I am a musician and I want to record HD videos for youtube.
Supposedly this can record 720p... but even Logitech can't tell me what software can do this. I talked to them.
I am just glad that someone is actually saying these things out loud because people need to realize that, even if it's technically possible in some unattainable way that the cam can work at a much higher resolution, it's basically a lie because they never bothered to tell you how, or release some software or driver that facilitates it.
Before the Federal government gets a VAT there should be a balanced budget amendment and a line item veto in place. I believe the real problem to tackle is government spending not new sources of taxation. However, a VAT instead of income tax would be a very attractive idea. A VAT does ensure that everyone pays some taxes, thus making those who are forever pushing for more spending think twice because they may actually have to pay for services received.
Adam Welling from the Boston office was a fantastic agent. I got a hefty rebate on the overall commission, lowering the buyer's agent commission to an effective 1.25%, which was *very* well-earned. He helped me figure out a negotiating strategy that allowed me to end up saving 3.1% off the list price, and 9.2% off the original listing price, even in a situation with multiple bids. Adam handled chasing down all of my loose ends very effectively, including making sure every 'i' was dotted and 't' crossed for the contingencies. Besides all of that, he was very accommodating for the fact that I was relocating into Boston - we worked very similarly, with plenty of e-mail and phone contact, and as soon as I arrived in Boston for closing he helped me get settled in by picking me up at the airport, helping me move my bags into the new house, etc. He knew all of the local real estate customs (MA is very different from other states, especially CA where I come from). And rather than being paid directly on commission, Redfin pays bonuses to agents based on satisfaction so he had no incentive to steer me to higher or lower cost houses.
The sellers' agent well deserved his commission - after three months of showing the house to anyone while the sellers were at work, over at their new house, etc. and marketing the desirable aspects of the property, being there for every inspection and tour...
In short, I think that good real estate agents are well worth their money. I wouldn't use a full-service agent ever since I'm comfortable figuring out what I want to tour, but having an ally for negotiating up to closing is fantastic. We closed a few days ago, I'm in my new house, and couldn't be more delighted. Nickel and diming that last 2%-5% just doesn't make sense when real estate is so complicated - I'm hopefully only doing this process maybe every 10-20 years or so (or never!) from now on, but Adam closes pretty much a deal every 2 days and has plenty of experience and practice to save me from potentially very expensive pitfalls. I educated myself as well during the process, but I still wouldn't feel comfortable doing it on my own.
I live in the UK where it's hard to find dry ice in small quantities so I bought a can of Niceday air duster on ebay which uses co2 according to some medical website.
My dent was on the front wing beside the headlight, about handsized, max depth about half inch. I know the co2 on its own would probably not be enough, so first I inserted a football pump into a small deflated cheap plastic ball and squeezed it in behind the dent. I pumped it up until most of the dent was gone (the ball provides fairly evenly distributed pressure so gives a fairly good result on its own).
There were still areas of shallow dent, so I then did the hairdryer 2 mins then held the spraycan upside down and sprayed in 3 second bursts every 10 seconds. After a minute of doing this I heard the remaining part of the dent pop out. It's not absolutely perfect since there was a very rounded crease in the middle of the original dent but it's not noticable if you're not looking for it. I used about 2/3 of the can but the pop came after about 1/3rd. I just tried to see if I could improve further but that was all.
the fact that what happens to your neighbors will affect you. If you think that the banks will sell your neighbors home promptly, and that you will soon have new, more solvent neighbors, think again.
The following article, from the Huffington Post, describes a more likely scenario. The company that services the mortgage often lacks the authority (because the loan has been securitized) to agree to a sale for less than the full loan balance. Consquently, the property cannot be sold. No one will buy a property subject to a prior mortgage greater than the property's value.
Cadillac's innovative design and precision manufacturing it jumped to the head of the pack as a luxury vehicle from the beginning. Named after the French explorer sieur de Cadillac, who also founded Detroit Michigan. Detroit went on to become one of the top automobile manufacturing areas in the world. Cadillac automobiles became a household world and still means excellence in the new millennium.
This does actually occur more than you think. Living proof, got at $30,000 severance instead of quitting and getting nothing. Did not do anything to get fire but let a few know I was shopping for a new job, company did not like it and got rid of me.
Yeah this is a pointless article. Applies to 0.0001% of the population and even to those people it's unethical. Just quit already. This whole "trying to get laid off for years" is crap. For the severance package? What kind of twisted lives are these people leading?
I had a system admin job where I actually worked about 30 minutes in a 40 hour work week. Literally. I had automated the tasks to do it all and alert me if there was trouble. It was horrible to sit there day after day, year after year, but the pay was too good. I tried to get laid off and was told my job was essential. I tried to find a walk in replacement and was told all candidates were not skilled enough. Finally I quit with retirement benefits. My replacement now struggles with the stunning boredom I left behind.
overdraft from savings? first of all it's savings, not checking... they want you to keep your savings untouched.. you're not suppose to use savings like checking.
I also agree with the previous guest about the car seat. First, you don't know if it's been in an accident. Xrays have shown that the foam has been compromised after an accident even if it looks fine with the naked eye. Also you must make sure that the car seat has not been expired. I will buy almost anything used for my child but I will not compromise her safety with a used or expired car seat.
The majority of these suggestions mean turning into a complete douchebag. Even if I want out of a company and I'm looking to reap whatever benefits come out of getting fired, I'd still rather my colleagues consider me a good employee. One suggestion for keeping the respect of peers, not coming off as a tool, and grinding management's gears:
Become very vocal about what you think the company is doing wrong or could do better. Do you think your company's flagship software is a pile of crap? Give suggestions. Give them to anybody who will listen. Give them to people far, far up the org chart or in distributed emails. If whatever you are complaining about is valid, chances are a lot of others are thinking the same thing. Seriously, don't try to commit personal workplace suicide, commit POLITICAL workplace suicide.
Paul, I have read your articles for quite sometime now, and used to enjoy your writting style. Notice I said USED to. I have been avoiding your articles for 2 months now, but read this one not looking to see who wrote it. It just seems to me you are suffering from job burn-out. Your rude reply of: did you even read the article? DOWN RIGHT uncalled for. I don't know if you have problems in your personal life, but I think your posts belong in another forum, not Wisebread.
Thanks for your insight, everyone. Over the coming weeks, I plan to post a few more of my thoughts on simplicity, so I look forward to our continued conversations!
And I love the Bilbo quote . . . he really is one of the best, isn't he?
Why would anyone want to be laid off you ask? Maybe because layoffs have reduced staff by 20 or 30% and those who remain have to do a lot of extra work now?
Also, it could be that you've saved up enough money to be able to last for a year or two without working but you'd like to also get the benefits of being laid off (The gov pays 65% of your COBRA for the first 9 months IIRC based on a bill that was passed soon after Obama became pres) that you won't get if you quit or are fired.
Oh, and the problem with many of the suggestions presented in this article is that they could easily get you fired instead of laid off - and that would be worse than just quitting outright. Companies are trying to find every excuse possible to fire instead of laying off right now because it's a lot cheaper - no severance pay, no continued health benefits for a few months, less they have to pay in unemployment premiums.
The company where I work tried this back in the Spring: everything was great with your performance one week and then the next week people were called into the bosses office and told of their screwups going back a couple of years (stuff that had been considered water under the bridge) and then told that they'd better shape up or face "disciplinary action". Of course, what management was doing was preparing a paper trail to cover their rear ends so they could fire some folks and not have to lay them off. Fortunately, that hasn't happened (yet) - I suspect that management looked into the abyss early in the year and feared the worst. The problem, with this kind of action by management, though, is that it poisons the well. As soon as the economy picks up again and people feel that they can find a job elsewhere, they will.
Sarah,
I have been reading your articles for about two years now, and I've enjoyed pretty much all of them, but this one hit so close to home...I've had all these great ideas for starting my own online business for at least a year, but I'm not an IT person, and the web is not much a part of any job I can use my degree for. So, I figured it was a pipe dream...until I got laid off last Jan. Now, I'm under alot of pressure from friends and family to get a job, any job (like I haven't been hunting for a job in my industry all along!) But I feel like this is my one chance to 'make a go' at the business and life I want for myself, and that I'd be crazy to let it pass by without trying. The website isn't up yet, but I am making progress, albeit very slowly since I am having to learn IT things on my own...I am surviving financially for now, but there is a definite end date where I need to be successful or give it up. Anyway, thanks so much for this post. It meant alot to me to know that I am not the only one struggling with this.
-Tracy
I lean against the VAT for a whole variety of reasons. But the line item veto has been declared unconstitutional so I don't see that changing anytime soon...
Corporations have run roughshod over the American tax paying public for too long. Corporate taxes aren't collected, off shoring of jobs AND corporations to evade taxes is rampant. Transnational corporations are "hollowing" out the American economy. "Financial services" doesn't make anything to add to the economy; it's basically a betting casino.
And the US needs to get a robust industrial policy before instituting band-aid fixes, IMO.
That's funny, my husband said the same thing. However, when small children with small hands make one of these owls, it looks more like an owl. I had my class create these and they came out really cute!
thanks for the comment-
Little House
The problem I have with a VAT is that it is a regressive tax and places a disproportionate burden on the poor. I think raising income taxes, especially on people with very high incomes is much fairer.
Where I live we have VAT at both the federal (5% GST) and provincial levels (7% PST). There is no GST/PST on food or rent and a few more essentials. There is also provision for a GST rebate for people with lower incomes, so that helps too. The rebate is calculated as part of filing your taxes.
I have also experienced this same disappointment with the QuickCam Vision Pro. Mostly because I am a musician and I want to record HD videos for youtube.
Supposedly this can record 720p... but even Logitech can't tell me what software can do this. I talked to them.
I am just glad that someone is actually saying these things out loud because people need to realize that, even if it's technically possible in some unattainable way that the cam can work at a much higher resolution, it's basically a lie because they never bothered to tell you how, or release some software or driver that facilitates it.
Hopefully that changes - good luck :)
Before the Federal government gets a VAT there should be a balanced budget amendment and a line item veto in place. I believe the real problem to tackle is government spending not new sources of taxation. However, a VAT instead of income tax would be a very attractive idea. A VAT does ensure that everyone pays some taxes, thus making those who are forever pushing for more spending think twice because they may actually have to pay for services received.
Added this great article to my Saturday Links post here:
http://frugalmomskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/10/saturday-links-tips-and-tr...
Thanks!
Added this great article to my Saturday Links post here:
http://frugalmomskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/10/saturday-links-tips-and-tr...
Thanks!
Adam Welling from the Boston office was a fantastic agent. I got a hefty rebate on the overall commission, lowering the buyer's agent commission to an effective 1.25%, which was *very* well-earned. He helped me figure out a negotiating strategy that allowed me to end up saving 3.1% off the list price, and 9.2% off the original listing price, even in a situation with multiple bids. Adam handled chasing down all of my loose ends very effectively, including making sure every 'i' was dotted and 't' crossed for the contingencies. Besides all of that, he was very accommodating for the fact that I was relocating into Boston - we worked very similarly, with plenty of e-mail and phone contact, and as soon as I arrived in Boston for closing he helped me get settled in by picking me up at the airport, helping me move my bags into the new house, etc. He knew all of the local real estate customs (MA is very different from other states, especially CA where I come from). And rather than being paid directly on commission, Redfin pays bonuses to agents based on satisfaction so he had no incentive to steer me to higher or lower cost houses.
The sellers' agent well deserved his commission - after three months of showing the house to anyone while the sellers were at work, over at their new house, etc. and marketing the desirable aspects of the property, being there for every inspection and tour...
In short, I think that good real estate agents are well worth their money. I wouldn't use a full-service agent ever since I'm comfortable figuring out what I want to tour, but having an ally for negotiating up to closing is fantastic. We closed a few days ago, I'm in my new house, and couldn't be more delighted. Nickel and diming that last 2%-5% just doesn't make sense when real estate is so complicated - I'm hopefully only doing this process maybe every 10-20 years or so (or never!) from now on, but Adam closes pretty much a deal every 2 days and has plenty of experience and practice to save me from potentially very expensive pitfalls. I educated myself as well during the process, but I still wouldn't feel comfortable doing it on my own.
Pass a lot of gas. Not only does it work, but if you can master it, you can get drinks faster at the bar...
I live in the UK where it's hard to find dry ice in small quantities so I bought a can of Niceday air duster on ebay which uses co2 according to some medical website.
My dent was on the front wing beside the headlight, about handsized, max depth about half inch. I know the co2 on its own would probably not be enough, so first I inserted a football pump into a small deflated cheap plastic ball and squeezed it in behind the dent. I pumped it up until most of the dent was gone (the ball provides fairly evenly distributed pressure so gives a fairly good result on its own).
There were still areas of shallow dent, so I then did the hairdryer 2 mins then held the spraycan upside down and sprayed in 3 second bursts every 10 seconds. After a minute of doing this I heard the remaining part of the dent pop out. It's not absolutely perfect since there was a very rounded crease in the middle of the original dent but it's not noticable if you're not looking for it. I used about 2/3 of the can but the pop came after about 1/3rd. I just tried to see if I could improve further but that was all.
the fact that what happens to your neighbors will affect you. If you think that the banks will sell your neighbors home promptly, and that you will soon have new, more solvent neighbors, think again.
The following article, from the Huffington Post, describes a more likely scenario. The company that services the mortgage often lacks the authority (because the loan has been securitized) to agree to a sale for less than the full loan balance. Consquently, the property cannot be sold. No one will buy a property subject to a prior mortgage greater than the property's value.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/08/short-sales-banks-blockin_n_199...
[Edited by admin to remove full text of HuffPo article]
I'm a slowly reforming packrat so your thoughts are quite timely.
Cadillac's innovative design and precision manufacturing it jumped to the head of the pack as a luxury vehicle from the beginning. Named after the French explorer sieur de Cadillac, who also founded Detroit Michigan. Detroit went on to become one of the top automobile manufacturing areas in the world. Cadillac automobiles became a household world and still means excellence in the new millennium.
Thanks
Cadillac parts
http://www.iautobodyparts.com/cadillac/
This does actually occur more than you think. Living proof, got at $30,000 severance instead of quitting and getting nothing. Did not do anything to get fire but let a few know I was shopping for a new job, company did not like it and got rid of me.
Yeah this is a pointless article. Applies to 0.0001% of the population and even to those people it's unethical. Just quit already. This whole "trying to get laid off for years" is crap. For the severance package? What kind of twisted lives are these people leading?
I had a system admin job where I actually worked about 30 minutes in a 40 hour work week. Literally. I had automated the tasks to do it all and alert me if there was trouble. It was horrible to sit there day after day, year after year, but the pay was too good. I tried to get laid off and was told my job was essential. I tried to find a walk in replacement and was told all candidates were not skilled enough. Finally I quit with retirement benefits. My replacement now struggles with the stunning boredom I left behind.
overdraft from savings? first of all it's savings, not checking... they want you to keep your savings untouched.. you're not suppose to use savings like checking.
DUH!
ROFL @ title for the first comment... Not sure if it's showing up for anyone else like this, but for me it's "I do not like getting laid."
Sorry, long day at work.... :P
I also agree with the previous guest about the car seat. First, you don't know if it's been in an accident. Xrays have shown that the foam has been compromised after an accident even if it looks fine with the naked eye. Also you must make sure that the car seat has not been expired. I will buy almost anything used for my child but I will not compromise her safety with a used or expired car seat.
The majority of these suggestions mean turning into a complete douchebag. Even if I want out of a company and I'm looking to reap whatever benefits come out of getting fired, I'd still rather my colleagues consider me a good employee. One suggestion for keeping the respect of peers, not coming off as a tool, and grinding management's gears:
Become very vocal about what you think the company is doing wrong or could do better. Do you think your company's flagship software is a pile of crap? Give suggestions. Give them to anybody who will listen. Give them to people far, far up the org chart or in distributed emails. If whatever you are complaining about is valid, chances are a lot of others are thinking the same thing. Seriously, don't try to commit personal workplace suicide, commit POLITICAL workplace suicide.
Paul, I have read your articles for quite sometime now, and used to enjoy your writting style. Notice I said USED to. I have been avoiding your articles for 2 months now, but read this one not looking to see who wrote it. It just seems to me you are suffering from job burn-out. Your rude reply of: did you even read the article? DOWN RIGHT uncalled for. I don't know if you have problems in your personal life, but I think your posts belong in another forum, not Wisebread.
Thanks for your insight, everyone. Over the coming weeks, I plan to post a few more of my thoughts on simplicity, so I look forward to our continued conversations!
And I love the Bilbo quote . . . he really is one of the best, isn't he?
Fun article. I'm self-employed, so can you write an article to address how I get me to lay myself off?