Last day of employment.
Briefly: my former employer went into Chapter 11 a few months back. The reorganization process is under way, and involves selling off chunks of the business. My division got bought by a competitor. The competitor doesn't want any of the "on call" employees, the guys who are hanging around waiting for projects. (I assume this is because they want to keep costs down, but nobody has gone into that much detail.) Phone call, check your e-mail for the termination packet, thanks for your service, hope to work with you again someday, oh sure let's have coffee when you're in town.
Click.
This doesn't come as a surprise. I've been waiting for the shoe to drop since the bankruptcy filing. (In fact, I was mildly surprised it took more than two months.) And the wolf is not at the door -- we have savings, and I have enough short-term work to keep the mortgage paid and food on the table for at least the next little while. I've been a de facto freelancer for almost a year now, flying off to Burundi and the Philippines and such; as a practical matter, the only real difference is that I no longer will have to check with my employer for conflicts of interest. We've been living quietly, and can continue so for quite some time. I /think/ we'll be able to land another position before too much more time goes by.
That said, it's been a bit of a shock. I haven't been fired from a job since 1986. (Title insurance. Not my thing.) There's a whole oh my God how am I going to feed these kids? thing going on; it's not rational, but there it is. There's been something of an... I'd say an emotional rollercoaster, except that implies high bits. More like one of those cheap Haunted House rides, where you go on rails through different rooms with a different stupid reaction in each one. Bam! Here's anger! Now fear! Try some depression and self-doubt! Bam!
Okay, well. I think we're mostly past that. So now what?
Well, we go on COBRA -- thank you, COBRA Stimulus; you're going to save us rather a bit of money -- and I get serious about looking for a job. Otherwise, no big change.
That's the news from Fladungen. How are you guys?
Doug, is there a good blog keeping tabs on the musical chairs of int'l development consultancies' groups these days? I have enough trouble staying on top of the fallout of Booz Allen's private/government bifurcation last year, let alone figuring out which BE group you were a part of and who picked it up, that I'd be interested in getting a decent daily or weekly read that would be a good intel source or backgrounder on movements in the industry.
Mind you, my own independent association with BE ended about three years ago, but I'm still interested in where the *people* go...
Posted by: Colin Alberts | May 03, 2009 at 12:33 AM
Oh, and by the way, don't sweat the status of "unemployed". You're bound to find something good before too long, and besides, you will hardly be auditioning in circles in which a few months' gap will matter to anyone with a brain.
Plus, you were laid off...not "fired".
I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened. - Mark Twain
Posted by: Colin Alberts | May 03, 2009 at 12:44 AM
If there's anything I can do to help, let me know. Can't say that I have much in the way of connections as far as international development, but I have been working with a couple of overseas consultancies.
Posted by: Bernard Guerrero | May 03, 2009 at 05:37 AM
Also freelancing! And my biggest client decided to take the project back in-house at the end of last year, whee! There was legacy work from that until just recently, but now it's pretty much sales mode...
Posted by: Doug | May 03, 2009 at 11:26 PM
Good luck to you. I'm sure you'll find something, the good people always do.
Posted by: Mike Ralls | May 04, 2009 at 11:28 AM
I'd offer to make some calls for you, if I thought you were interested in law firm work in Philadelphia, but nobody hereabouts is hiring. (My firm laid off a handful; many of the other medium-sized to large Philly firms have wielded even more axe than that; and there was one high-profile law firm dissolution). But if you want me to try anyway, let me know.
Posted by: Dennis Brennan | May 04, 2009 at 05:27 PM
Stupid malfunctioning economy.
I'm afraid I can't think of any useful links that I have, and my only idea - sovereign risk insurance, which I may have mentioned before - is a good couple of knight's moves from what you do now.
Good luck!
Posted by: James Bodi | May 05, 2009 at 06:00 AM
Best of luck with the difficult situation.
Posted by: Gavin Weaire | May 06, 2009 at 06:55 PM