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Well, it happened a few weeks ago. Got the phone call at home telling me that my services are no longer needed. What a wonderful feeling that was.
Since I've returned to MI there has been nothing but one negative thing after another. About 3 years ago I kind of saw the downturn in my proffession coming, so I took a high paying job out of state. Spent close to 2 years there , trying to pay things off , and build up some savings preparing for the worst. Working out of state while your family is 3.5 hours away kind of sucks.. I did what I had to though. Two years into it I get a job offer here in MI with a minor paycut... at least I don't have to pay for two residences. Needless to say I jumped on it. That is where the downward spiral started. A week into that job, the company get's purchased and the layoffs started. So I start looking for another job. A week or so later I find one and it seems pretty good, I take it along with another paycut , no big deal , at least it was a job. I sold some assets and was still paying stuff off and saving money. Then the whole auto industry thing really started tumbling, I received another paycut... still working though and then two weeks ago...bam, unemployed !
I am (well was) a design engineer in the automotive industry, have been for 17 years. It has never taken me longer than a week or so to find something, well I've been networking and searching for the last couple of weeks and have found NOTHING. Not even a call back. I'm looking here , out of the state and even out of the country.. and nothing. I've got friends in other states and countries and they are getting layed off or are very worried. It's just a bad industry to be in at the moment and I'm afraid , will be for quite a while.
So now the joy of dealing with the state of MI and the UIA. As of now I've been denied benefits, I really can't figure out why since it's virtually impossible to get ahold of anyone , so I've protested it (by fax) and again it's just wonderful because you can't get ahold of anyone. Then I try to sign up for the "no worker left behind" program and the first available seminar is in April.
So here I am with no money coming in , paying on a house that has a terrible mortgage and second.. and am upside down on it. Facing a complete new career change , as much as I love design work it's just a dying industry. So I'm thinking no real kind of work for at least a year maybe two , until I can get a degree or retrain into some other proffesion. I've contacted my mortgage companies and am working on trying to do loan mods, contacted my CC company to see what they can do but I'm sure since I'm not behind on anything i won't get any kind of help. Once that happens screw them, I'm done trying... I could care less about a credit score. I'll walk away from the house and forget about the CC. It's amazing, three years ago I started preparing for this and still was shocked when it happened. I also did save enough money.... I guess I didn't expect things to get this bad.. I'm good for 8 months to a year. I've got other assets that could be sold to keep me going a while longer but with the way things are going , not too many people are buying things.
Now i know I'm not the only one in the situation, So I'm basically just venting. Is there anything else anyone can suggest ? Or is this it.. just learn a new career and move forward in that.. forget about the house and stuff ? It just really sucks because life is on hold now.. I was going to get married in April and hopefully try to start a family but as of now there really isn't a future , just a next day and trying to stay afloat.
Sorry to hear about it. There is nothing worse than that sinking feeling you get when you know its time to scramble.
Time to do research, research, research!! You absolutely need to get on the ball as of YESTERDAY to figure out the next part of your personal strategy. Figuring out what industry has the best chance of survival, where people are needed for that industry, and how you go about getting into the industry itself. It isn't easy, and you have some very difficult choices to make very soon.
I completely understand about the 2 household thing. We have a mortgage in MI and haven't been there since 2007. And, by the looks of what we need to do for our personal strategy, we won't be returning anytime soon.
Marriage? The best marriages are the ones done out of love, not out of 1 day's worth of celebrating and $10's of thousands spent. If you love your partner and see a great future with someone who you know has your back... what's stopping you? The courthouse is cheap and the feeling of love is real. If your relationship can survive the economic blunders that will be thrown at it, it can survive anything. There is no hurry to start a family. If your and/or your partner can't swallow the idea of a courthouse marriage due to the lack of prestege ... is it really love?
wow, I am sorry. Try putting your house up for a short sale or on ebay for cash if you can cover the difference owed to the bank. If not, walk out on it as soon as you get a job. Try looking at government work, too, the Fed isn't laying anyone off.
Thats scary you were denied benefits. Did you get a severance package? If so they consider that income and will not give you bennies until that runs out.
I've been in architecture for 12 years and we are seeing the same thing. The industry has taken a complete dump and by the end of this month we have nothing. I mean absolutely nothing to work on. Its going to be a career change for me as well once the bottom drops out here. You've only been looking 2 weeks? I have friends that have been looking for 2 years and have found onthing in the auto industry. Another friend is a CPA and hasn't had a call back in 7 months.
don't get frustrated its happening to everyone right now. Keep your chin up and just enjoy life. maybe only beat the street once a week, otherwise you'll be totally frustrated and exhausted from it.
Now i know I'm not the only one in the situation, So I'm basically just venting. Is there anything else anyone can suggest ? Or is this it.. just learn a new career and move forward in that.. forget about the house and stuff ? It just really sucks because life is on hold now.. I was going to get married in April and hopefully try to start a family but as of now there really isn't a future , just a next day and trying to stay afloat.
Unfortunately you are not alone.I joined your company (unemployed) yesterday.
All I am finding here is $15-20K pay cut..and I pay HMO / Delta / VSP on my own...and if I want the family covered...I basically end up paying for the right to work..
Two things I do know--
I am voting REPUBLICAN next governor
I am voting AGAINST any RIGHT TO WORK proposal
People on the MI forum may be tired of reading about my great disappointment with the state government, lack of employment, double dipping property tax (if Lansing doesn't get the tax who does?) outrageous car house insurance..
And I know it isn't just Michigan..but when they all come together and every 2 years you are in the same position and after 15 -20 years of never seeing more than 6 months worth of "hope" at a time..How bad can it be somewhere else? Why be homeless (loose the house) and unemployed when we can be homeless and employed somewhere warm?
Selling the house isn't an option, well unless a short sale is agreed on. I owe about $45k more than it's worth.
I'm really hoping the UIA thing will be worked out... I mean I've been steadily employed since 1996 so I just don't get it. No severance package either.. I've been a contractor for the past 3 years.
Paycuts I can deal with, as long as I'm working. I lost $40k in the last year. And I heard that the remainder of our staff got hit with a $10 an hour paycut... not 10% but $10 !! Sad thing is I still would have taken it over unemployment.
I'd like to just take a break from looking, but when I do I feel more hopeless than normal.. I spend between 3-5 hours a day online networking with people in the business and recruiters. Maybe I should take a break , the doom and gloom is overwhelming.
I'm enrolled in a class thru one of the major engineering service providers that is working on retraining automotive design/engineers into other fields like petrochemicals, bio-chemicals and nuclear. That's a start but again it doens't happen for another month , then 8 weeks of class and then possible placement, but it is mandatory to move out of state. I going to pursue it but again it sounds like another industry that is a stressfull rollercoaster ride. I'm trying this "NWLB" program and maybe I can get into one of the "green" technologies. If that works it will be 2 years minimum before I'm back in the workforce. It just doens't seem like anything is going to happen in a short time. I'm usually a pretty positive person but this is really going to be tough.
The big question is at what time does a person pull the shute on thier mortgage, CC's and other things like that ? When do you start liquidating all your assets ? I'm probably good for a year but what after that ? It takes a year to foreclose, that's 12 months of payments.. that's pretty decent walking money. Who knows.... these are sure trying times.
I'd shovel **** if I had to, to feed my kids. I'm not too proud.
These "professional" jobs are going to be fewer and farther between. Time is now to do what ya gotta do.
I was laid off 6 years ago and I moved furniture to keep groceries coming in. Don't limit yourself to 1 field. If you gotta flip burgers for a while then you gotta flip burgers. Who cares.
I am really sorry to hear that you lost your job. Since we moved back here in 2002 we've had a very hard time maintaining a job without layoffs, and then finding work after losing that job. My husband has been laid off twice and spent a total of 14 months unemployed between the two occasions, and it took me a year to find almost a job after finishing my bachelor's degree (and that wasn't even looking for a good job, just ANY job, and what I got was only part time). Times are hard here for sure and I wish you well. We were much better off when we lived out of state...it was hard to be away from family and friends here, but looking back I think it might have been something we just had to do. Family and friends can help, but they can't support you during the endless employment downturns especially since they might not be doing that well themselves. And I think most of us want to be able to support ourselves!
I don't want to turn this into a big political flame-fest, but I'm not sure that voting against MI becoming a right-to-work state would prevent more of these problems though. If you look at the states in the country where the employment outlook is a little better (though everywhere is getting worse) nearly all of them are right-to-work states. I'm no fan of MI government either, but I think that avoiding right-to-work measures would not solve our state's problems.
CF,
I too will do anything to stay afloat, that is why I'm going to take advantage of the programs provided by the state to retrain into another profession, whatever that might be. Money won't be a concern longevity will be. I've already accepted the fact that I'll make a third of what I used to .. I'll just have to adjust.
The big question is at what time does a person pull the shute on thier mortgage, CC's and other things like that ? When do you start liquidating all your assets ? I'm probably good for a year but what after that ? It takes a year to foreclose, that's 12 months of payments.. that's pretty decent walking money. Who knows.... these are sure trying times.
It takes 6mths of no pymts for them to complete the foreclosure process, another 6mths for them to have grounds for eviction. Only you can answer when the time has come to pull the shute. For us, we have opted not to and just understand we're not going to have the luxury of living high on the hog while paying rent and mortgage. Thankfully, no credit cards for us and only one very modest car payment. We're both blue collar / middle class workers and were laid off for over a year before deciding it was time to take it out of state. We made it month to month by doing side computer work (independent contracting) once unemployment ran out.
However, do keep in mind that banks can put a lien against any valuable assets you have including a levy on your bank account, tax returns, and/or any future wages you have once you do have a job (and they know about it).
I agree with what everyone else said. Earning a buck is still earning a buck, and don't be too proud to do what you gotta do.
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There is nothing worse than that sinking feeling you get when you know its time to scramble. 
It isn't easy, and you have some very difficult choices to make very soon. 
