Need Lay off advice,,,

[indianatrekker26]

I work for an Engineering Firm, with a total of 15 employees. We had a meeting today about how we've been hit by the economy; that people will need to be laid off.
I'm thinking I'll be one of those chosen to be laid off. They said at most, 4 people will be laid off.
If this does happen, it was said that this layoff could last until February at the latest.
I'll of course be going to the unemployment office to get that set up.
I have a great working relationship at this place, I love working there. Should I go looking for a new job, even if this only lasts 2 months at most?

 

[Warp Coil]

What guarantee do you have that it would be a temporary layoff? They might tell you that to make you feel better, but that doesn't mean the company will turn around and re-hire everyone back.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

It's every man for himself out there. If you have the slightest doubt you'll be called back to work, put together a good resume and hit the bricks, so to speak.

 

[indianatrekker26]

The past two years they didnt lay anyone off. We've always been slow around this time of year. Last year they had me work out in the survey mainenance area simply cleaning supplies. That last for 4 weeks. They were good about pissing away money like that when we had more. I can get by on unemployment for these 2 months; i'd make nearly the same I make at work.

 

[Mr. B]

I would have a hard time believing any layoff would "end." When it ends it's called a furlough, right? It couldn't hurt to spruce up your resume and try and get some interviews. Best case scenario: you keep your job and got some good practice.

 

[RoJoHen]

When it ends it's called a furlough, right?

I would call it a mandatory vacation and treat it as such.

But seriously, it does seem bizarre for a company to lay you off and then plan to re-hire you a couple months later. Although, I guess from what my mom tells me, she gets "fired" at the end of every school year.

 

[indianatrekker26]

yeah i work for an amazing company. They've laid us off before, even though those times it was a time of a week or two, bring us back, lay us off another 2 weeks.
Right now we are currently out of work. We've been waiting on clients to pay us, and we have a ton of proposals lined up to go out the door. Just nothing is ready to go, and won't be for a good month and a half.

 

[Timby]

I would have a hard time believing any layoff would "end." When it ends it's called a furlough, right?

That's the technical term, but many corporations will institute temporary layoffs without referring to them as furloughs. John Deere is a frequent practitioner of this.

 

[Kestra]

It's every man for himself out there. If you have the slightest doubt you'll be called back to work, put together a good resume and hit the bricks, so to speak.

Seconded. It doesn't sound like you have any guarantee you'd be rehired.

 

[Hoser]

I would have a hard time believing any layoff would "end."

I've had them end for me twice now. It depends on the business he's at, if they're giving him a return date....

 

[SmoothieX]

I too work for an engineering company with a similar number of people. I don't know what discipline you're in, but I'm a civil, and it can get slow this time of year. Hard to do earthwork in the winter and most places don't put out bids for new work for the spring until after the new year.

I'd get that resume dusted off and send it to every firm in town. If your firm has gotten to this point, especially considering its a small firm, you have to question its financial solvency. They may get bought out or go belly up, you just don't know.

I also question how 'amazing' the company is if you've had rolling layoffs in the past. It's nice that they're good to work for, but you need stable income.

 

[indianatrekker26]

I too work for an engineering company with a similar number of people. I don't know what discipline you're in, but I'm a civil, and it can get slow this time of year. Hard to do earthwork in the winter and most places don't put out bids for new work for the spring until after the new year.

I'd get that resume dusted off and send it to every firm in town. If your firm has gotten to this point, especially considering its a small firm, you have to question its financial solvency. They may get bought out or go belly up, you just don't know.

I also question how 'amazing' the company is if you've had rolling layoffs in the past. It's nice that they're good to work for, but you need stable income.

We also are a civil firm. One week we could be buried in work, the next have none. but's its always slow this time of year. They used to just have us work out in the sheds where we keep the equipment, and clean stuff for a month. With the way the economy has been, we can't afford it.
We usually get buried by February/March. I'm just gonna wait this out. I can easily afford to live on unemployment a couple of months. Of course you'd have to know my personal circumstances, but i'm not worried about that at all.

 

[SmoothieX]

Now I'm curious - what do you do there? Are you an engineer, drafter, surveyor, etc.?

We do public works and site development here, permitting, surveys, your basic civil stuff. I'm one of the project engineers here, though I do most of my own drafting as we are small.

 

[indianatrekker26]

Now I'm curious - what do you do there? Are you an engineer, drafter, surveyor, etc.?

We do public works and site development here, permitting, surveys, your basic civil stuff. I'm one of the project engineers here, though I do most of my own drafting as we are small.

I'm a draftsman. I setup the construction plans, taking the information the Project managers give me.
We simply ran out of work to do. Some of the other guys in the office have been working on a ton of proposals for new work. But we wouldnt feel those projects for a good month or two. Hence, the need for a layoff. They are expecting great things in 2010.
I'm surprised we got through the recession as long as we did without having layoffs.
The president of the company stressed how short term these layoffs would be, to help get through the next month or so of down time. So I'm just going to wait it out.

 

[JiNX-01]

Now I'm curious - what do you do there? Are you an engineer, drafter, surveyor, etc.?

We do public works and site development here, permitting, surveys, your basic civil stuff. I'm one of the project engineers here, though I do most of my own drafting as we are small.

I'm a draftsman. I setup the construction plans, taking the information the Project managers give me.
We simply ran out of work to do. Some of the other guys in the office have been working on a ton of proposals for new work. But we wouldnt feel those projects for a good month or two. Hence, the need for a layoff. They are expecting great things in 2010.
I'm surprised we got through the recession as long as we did without having layoffs.
The president of the company stressed how short term these layoffs would be, to help get through the next month or so of down time. So I'm just going to wait it out.

I'd have a resume, work samples and references ready to go but it might be wise to go ahead an wait it out, since you can afford to. You don't want your job hunt to get back to your employers (who, by your account, appear trustworthy concerning the rehiring when things pick up), since they might see it as jumping ship.

 

[SmoothieX]

I'm a draftsman. I setup the construction plans, taking the information the Project managers give me.

I wish you worked here! I need someone to help take some of my AutoCAD load so I can get to another project I'm falling behind on. Plus we're quite busy right now.

Since you and I work in the same field, here is a thought. Are you strictly a drafter? Or do you get involved with survey, field work, specs, etc.?

It's hard to keep a straight up drafter busy 40 hours a week unless there is a good project backlog. If you can dabble in a few other areas, it makes you more attractive to current and prospective empoyers, and harder to can. When you're slow, or on lay off, it's something you can look into.

 

[indianatrekker26]

I'm a draftsman. I setup the construction plans, taking the information the Project managers give me.

I wish you worked here! I need someone to help take some of my AutoCAD load so I can get to another project I'm falling behind on. Plus we're quite busy right now.

Since you and I work in the same field, here is a thought. Are you strictly a drafter? Or do you get involved with survey, field work, specs, etc.?

It's hard to keep a straight up drafter busy 40 hours a week unless there is a good project backlog. If you can dabble in a few other areas, it makes you more attractive to current and prospective empoyers, and harder to can. When you're slow, or on lay off, it's something you can look into.

Yeah in fact I helped out in the survey department yesterday, we went out shooting some topo. But even the survey department is dead.
In all honesty, I'd be suprised if this lasted beyond January. We've always been slow that month. They would just never lay anyone off for those few months before. They'd have us cleaning the office for a month, or out cleaning the survey equipment.