These are difficult days to be blogging about money. There’s lots to talk about, as the economy is front and center in the news, but sometimes it just gets depressing.
This week’s crummy news is that my friend Mortimer got laid off. He thought his job was fairly secure but, surprise! It wasn’t. He admitted to being in a state of shock and denial, but said he at least had some good connections who would recommend him for job opportunities once he updated his resume and started looking. He also said he figured it was time to join Li nkedIn and Facebook to help him network. But his plan for the next day was to enjoy sleeping in and get some laundry done, while waiting for the boxes of his personal belongings from his old office to be delivered.
I didn’t want to sound lecture-y, but I told Mortimer not to lose his momentum. He needs to tackle job-hunting with a vengeance and leave no stone unturned, starting today, not a few days from now.
Those who remember my previous stories about Mortimer will understand my concern. He was laid off once before, and it sent him into a tailspin of depression that coincided with some health problems. For a long time, he was paying for his own health insurance, up to about $900 a month. In the last few years, his finances finally recovered somewhat, but they’re still precarious. He can’t stay unemployed for long.
I would not want to be in his shoes right now, nor in the shoes of many other people I know who have been laid off, or had a spo use laid off. Some of these are people like Mortimer and me,! who onl y have to take care of themselves, but others are parents with kids in college. If I’m a little freaked out these days, I can’t imagine how they must feel.
Amidst all this, I got a phone call the other day from a headhunter. He wanted me to interview for a job that almost sounded perfect– a great fit for my background, a better title, and potentially a raise of about 50% from what I make now. I know headhunters tend to dangle big salaries in front of people, but I knew this could still be a chance to take a good step up the salary ladder, and making more money would help take some of the sting out of all my investment losses. But there were a few reasons I decided not to pursue the job, and one of them was that I just didn’t want to risk making a move right now. My current employer seems to appreciate me, and I’ve already survived some downsizing here. That, to me, seemed safer than going to a new company full of unknowns. This may be a cowardly and short-sighted decision, but it was all I could stomach right now. What would you have done?
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