Well it's goodbye job for me.
I guess overall things could be so much worse, so much unemployement out there! I've been with my airline company almost 25 years...survived layoffs, bankruptcies, re-orgs, re-assignments, pay cuts, you name it. The airlines got a bailout so they can't technically let anyone go until after Oct 1st....but it's coming.
In preperation most airlines offered leave of absence from 30days-1 year. Lots of people took it. I stayed and worked. Then came the packages, retirement and/or voluntary- I"m lucky enough to qualify for the retirement one. The issue is the deadlines to sign up are much sooner then the Sep 30th date-if you don't take a package and you're cut after that you don't get nearly as good a deal...probably just severance.
It's a VERY generous offer, severance, free flight passes, and retiree passes for life, 2 years medical paid, and a very generous retiree medical account.
I'm grateful I got warned-but I honeslty thought I would be ok. They are consolidating teams and ours/another will combine and be cut in half..leaving the lower paid employees and they pretty much told us that qualify for the retiree to take it or be at very high risk to get tapped later. I'm not taking that chance. So after 25 years in the rat race of corporate america and a good paycheck it comes to an end. I'm the primariy bread winner in our home as DH does more labor type jobs and w/Corona that has all halted entirely.
It hit me HARD, I mean after I got off the phone w/our director I had a panic attack and almost immediatley threw up. I was a mess. I'm better today-but there is SO much to think of and figure out what to to this next chapter. I don't want to go back to corp america anymore honestly- but after medical runs out I may have no choice unless his job situation changes or better medical programs are offered for ALL citizens here in the US. Don't know what the next chapter will bring so I'm feeling very uncertain. Your identity/confidence/pride in your job for so long...I feel sad and yet excited that I can maybe move out of this state sooner then later and have no ties anymore. It'll be a blessing in disguise I'm sure down the line, but right now I feel very raw, sad, scared.
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You might be surprised
I dont know your age, situation, finances, or any details but I wanted to suggest that you might be pleasantly surprised by retirement. I loved my 33-year career and because i enjoyed work so much, thought I'd work part-time once i retired. No way. The stress relief has been huge. I'm still adjusing to not having to hurry through things. These 6 years have been the best of my life. I thought I'd miss it all but i have never done so. It has been a big surprise
Financially, yes, it is an adjustment. We have been lucky to be able to handle it. It is interesting that the things I used to pay to have done, I actually prefer to do myself now. And, yes, there is a lot to figure out but you sound like a sensible person and othets have done it.
Good luck and I hope you are pleasantly surprised.
I second JRI's comment
My DH is a bit older than me. He's stepped back from the corporate rat race and moved into academia and advising younger people on managing their lives and careers. He is loving the change. The money is less but we have changed up a few things and don't notice the difference.
I'll probably be following you in losing my job in about September. To be honest, I'm pretty ambivalent about the prospect.
Good luck, take some time to mourn your loss and then think about what you really want to do with the rest of your career. (DH LOVES and recommends Future Proof Your Career by John Fitzgearld. Its about having a life long career rather than how to climb the corporate ladder.)
Hang in there!
It's heartbreaking to hear of your job loss! Here's hoping only better things are ahead for you!
It's a hard blow. I've gone
It's a hard blow. I've gone through it as well. I went home and cried my eyes out even though I hated the place I worked at. I had placed so much of my value in my career that I was not sure what would be my next step. I did change careers completely (corporate consulting to community mental health). The pay is much lower but I've also reduced my expectations that my career defines who I am. Now, I go to work, do well, but come home at 4:30pm. It's a complete shift to how I used to be.
If you can afford it, take some time off over the summer and give yourself some time to think about what you want to do next.
All the best!
I'm sure that there are a lot
I'm sure that there are a lot of conflicting emotions.. when one chapter closes.. and the next is unwritten.. It does sound like you will at least have some time to get ducks in a row re medical.. 2 years to possibly find a way for either you or your DH to find a job or a way to fill the gap.
Hopefully you will find your DH does get back to work soon.. I know that around here most of the construction/trade type workers have been working right on through since lots of people have taken the time to do projects at home..lol
But, maybe it will be a chance to try something new.. maybe more fulfilling since you will potentially only need to fill gap vs full income for yourself? It might even be a time to consider more fully what you want your LIFE to look like.. live where you are? move to a more affordable area? sometimes we live where our jobs are.. but given the chance would we change that? I know I would.. lol. maybe downsizing our homes living further out to a less expensive area would be a welcome change.
I would try to not make any HUGE changes immediately.. I would thoughtfully take a well deserved break to figure out your next steps... thankfully they appear to be making it possible with the severance.
The only thought about that that hits "wrong" is that they are telling the older workers that they are pretty much automatically on the chopping block... employers have been held responsible for that kind of thing in the past.. cutting only the older workers could be a problem for them.. so if you truly feel you are being pushed out.. you might look into what that means legally.
It sounds like much as this
It sounds like much as this is frightening there are some silver linings. I hate to be cliche, but everything happens for a reason, and this may be scary now but who knows in a few years it might be one of the best things that ever happened to you. Congratulations and best of luck this is just the beginning.
My company did something
My company did something similar and my work "Mom" grappled with similar decision making. she had a choice to either take the voluntary retirement package which is more generous than the normal one, refuse it and hope for a severance and then retire, or refuses not get a severance at all and just retire. It really is a gamble in order to get the best deal. She ended up taking the involuntary retirement package because it would give her the most money. It was basically two years of salary without working! Then after those two years she was going to be at the age she plan to retire anyway.
It took her several days to deliberate on it and she went back and forth. It's okay to take some time to think on it. They need to decision soon but not immediately.
By the way she is absolutely loving retirement. I have another colleague that was a few years younger than her and took a similar package as well and he went on to get another job. for a while he was collecting his severance and his new jobs salary. Surprisingly companies are hiring right now. If you don't want to fully retire you might think about getting a part-time position or something that you have always wanted to do but decided against because it wasn't enough money or whatever reason.
Thanks everyone! For a long
Thanks everyone! For a long time I have been thinking about what I would do that would be fulfilling vs my job. I LOVE the airline industry and my job was very critical but I honestly found NO personal fulfillment in it. I've been needing that in my life. I've always like to teach others -when younger living in S. America I taught both piano and English lessons. Dogs are my life, having sporting dogs I have very much enjoyed the hunt training, agility, obedience, rally. Both my dogs have 1st levels of all of these.
My heart has been saying 'dog training' for quite some time. I've been part of a dog trainers group on FB for some time, funny enough I asked them about 2 years ago how I would go about getting started. I may need a part-time/gap job in between while working with a mentor/as an apprentice and doing some online/in person training before eventually launching on my own-start out of my garage even. I'm stil very open to other things but I would find this personally very rewarding.
It's so nice to hear others have taken that chance/leap and been happy with their decision. I appreciate all the support my friends!
You’ll be surprised how much you spend working
I retired after 18 years of a stressful corporate job when I got married to my dh and haven't looked back! You may think you can't afford to not work but it costs so much money to work; fast food, work gatherings, work clothes, gas, manicures, having an extra car. You no longer need to do any of these things when you retire! I bought the professional facial equipment and manicure equipment so I can do my own! I save several hundred dollars a month! It can be done, just start changing one spending habit at a time and you will see a huge savings in your budget. This is a blessing in disguise! Be happy!
This is really good advice. I
This is really good advice. I once calculated that it took 18-25% of my net income to work in corporate america (commute, "appearance", food, lawn care cutting because I didn't have time, cleaning lady, etc...) . I also now earn about 1/3 of what I used to make since my career change and I make it financially (pre-covid, anyway). It's amazing what we spend our money on when we have it and when we don't.
I know this is hard! It
I know this is hard! It sounds like a really good package to take though and you will have time. If you really don't think you have to worry for 2 years, just think of the possibilities! You could go back to school for something you are passionate about! Have a second career of your dreams! Honestly I would get into real estate if I could. I run the business side of things for a realtor and OMG. She is very good at her job but damn... the money she makes is just phenomenal. Even with the current Covid crisis she has personally cleared over 280K this year so far.