For every person that begs for the layoff package, I'm sure there are countless others who are petrified of it. Remember - not all of us can afford to go on lavish vacations to other countries. Most of us are living paycheck to paycheck. I know many that can't even afford the cafeteria in their office so they have to bring in cheap food from home. Many of us are one stroke of bad luck away from a financial setback - be it a major illness, car troubles, anything. It's scary because you could end up losing your home, the family may break up, or worse. If you have to let people go because of performance issues - fine, but tell them in advance where they are lacking. Dont try to beat around the bush during performance reviews. If they are conscientious, it's worth helping them. But we all know performance issues are only a small portion. I've seen people rise through the ranks over the past 10 years, starting at entry level FF grades and working themselves up to Ks, Ls, Ms, only to be let go because they got a new manager and ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Have some humility and compassion. I remember my last manager gloating about how rich her family was and how she could just up and fly to Europe on a moment's notice. Yeah, great, while the rest of us are fighting over who gets the extra 1% on their raise. If you are a manager who is in a position where you have to let some headcount go but feel bad about it, put your money where your mouth is! help these displaced people find something new - make a connection that leads to an interview. Just something!
11 replies (most recent on top)
15$ an hour for 2000 hours is 30K a year, or 2500 a month. Factor in taxes, benefits, maybe it's closer to 2000. apartments on the cheap end are over 1500, but maybe you get a roommate and end up paying 750. Assume 200 in utilities, 200 in monthly food, 200 in terms of gas and monthly commuting. Wow, these numbers already look small - maybe I overestimated utilities but 200 for food and 200 for gas and commuting is pretty low as it is. But I'm so close to the 2000 budget already. Now you need a phone/plan because you may need to login from home. Most companies are making you do BYOD.
I guess maybe I can put 400-500 away each month but that's assuming nothing unexpected comes up like medical bills, I get robbed by criminals (I can only afford to live in the ghetto), etc.
For reference, I made 40K in NYC in 2009, fresh out of college at BNYM. That's about 22 an hour. When I was single it wasn't that bad - had a 1000 per month apartment, no roommates, but inflation makes my story irrelevant.
Can you take a moment to explain what you mean by “It's actually pretty easy to live on minimum wage even before all the heap, wic, snap etc.?”
Specifically what is “all the heap, wic, snap etc.?” I have absolutely no idea what this means.
Thanks
I almost hate to say it but the closer that I read this topic it looks more and more like a boomer/millennial debate.
Life was so hard for boomers that we fought for summer jobs in college and high school and we did jobs that American teenagers will no longer do, but now mostly only illegal immigrants do. We didn’t have cable TV until the mid 1990s because 529 Tuition plans for our children were more important than the tube. We got our first cell phones in our late 40s and they were for he kids too, who are still on the plan.
We didn’t stare at screens all day and pick on students remotely and anonymously. We fought of course but we made up. We played team sports and learned competition and teamwork.
Had we to do it over again I’m sure that we wouldn’t have sheltered your generation.
An employee is not just a “line on a balance sheet”, which summarizes assets, liabilities and shareholder equity. Nor does an employee appear on an income statement except in the aggregate.
Allow me to guess… Universality of Phoenix graduate?
Senior Management is not approving your pay raise, and they’re not reviewing this board. Your manager is determining your raise based on goals, performance and HR guidelines, all informed by the budgeted increase for payroll. You should have a heart to heart discussion with your manager and solicit some career and development advice. I’ve done that and it helped me. Subordinates have done that and I helped them.
While It might be hard to believe it on this negative board people want their reports to succeed. That means that they want you to succeed. You help them and they will help you. Nowhere is this hand up more important than in the lower Operations grades.
Believe it or not I know several non-degreed employees who rose from the lowest job rungs to relatively high management positions. You can also pursue mentoring. That works for many people.
The thing not to do is wallow in self pity. That never works. Attitude is everything. Hard work is next. It really is all here for you.
While it’s true that living from paycheck to paycheck virtually always entails some seriously bad lifestyle choices before “the last straw”, there’s no need to harass people.
But if people pose questions on issues and choices we should all be willing to help out.
@qkv,
You're the ignorant person who thinks because someone is living paycheck to paycheck that there was not other option for them.
And you're the entitled person who thinks that everyone deserves to have their own apartment, a car, a $1000 cellphone, a $100 cell plan, high speed internet, uber eats whenever they want, etc, etc...
It's actually pretty easy to live on minimum wage even before all the heap, wic, snap etc.
Then companies should cut the virtue signalling D&I cr-p and the ‘we care about your mental health’ nonsense and just behave like a normal business out to make money for its shareholders. Stop coercing employees into thinking that you care about the individual when all an employee is is a line on a balance sheet!
My god, are you that insulated, entitled, and ignorant that you can't fathom there are some people in the world who are actually forced to survive from "paycheck to paycheck?"
But then again, it kinda helps explain why there is such massive income inequality in the world today. If you're unaware of the problem, it doesn't exist, right?
A couple of rules of thumb that everyone needs to learn (and accept) when working for a large company. First, if you have genuinely been a good performer, and you get laid off, it’s not personal. You just likely earn more money than the company wants to pay for your role and they get a big bang for their buck by letting you go when the company is in relative distress and needs to reduce their over salary and benefit expenses. Again not personal. Secondly, first rule of business that I was taught is that “business has no heart”. They are primarily in business to earn a profit for their shareholders. End of story. It only becomes personal to us because we let it. Everyone would be better served by becoming less emotionally attached to a company. We stay because it is easier to stay than to put in the effort to find ourselves a better situation. My philosophy has transformed to “I’m here for the day, what would you like me to work on and how can I help the company today”. Short of that, I work for myself, and as long as I agree to the working environment and conditions, I stay, otherwise I look for another company that has a culture that is more in alignment with what I want and think that I deserve.
Why did you put yourself in a position to live paycheck to paycheck?