Laid Off Update 3: A Temporary Life Preserver

I last wrote about the upcoming layoff about 6 weeks ago and I had hope that things would look up. My office was having a career building company called Right Management come in and help us with resume building and tweaking our interview style. Then there was the unemployment office that would be in for the two hour meeting on how to fill out the forms online and what steps we needs to take. It was seeing the ship sinking and knowing there was no way that it was going to right itself.

Until last week.

We had heard rumors but they were all over the place and most thought is was just wishful thinking that took on a life of it's own. But then the HR department walked around to people's desks and dropped envelopes down that read CONFIDENTIAL stamped on it. For those who got an envelope, we were given the opportunity to stick around on the "sinking ship" for another 5 months, instead of a layoff date of 4/30, it was now pushed back to 9/30 and the severance had tripled in size.

A huge sigh of relief swept through the office that day with those of us who weren't already planning to jump ship and go with another company. We had paper work to sign to agree to the terms and we would be set for the next 22 weeks more. A definite plus for those of us who still had surgeries and doctor appointments that weren't going to get done before April 30th.

It was at that time I realized that I had a few more months to get organized, pay off a few more bills, and extra time to build up an even better savings. It also came at a better time as my lease would be coming due and we could take the necessary time to look for a cheaper apartment.

Today I go to work, as I do every day, knowing that the inevitable is still on the horizon, but stress of a job change has lessoned a bit. I can gather myself together a bit better, and be even more prepared before I have to get into that lifeboat.