Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer. I am
only publishing my interpretation of my situation. You should seek your
own legal representation for your own particular
situation. Do not rely on my
opinions or statements for your own purposes as state
and local law varies as do individual circumstances.
I am currently employed and have been for the past seven
years as a software consultant. There is a lot of travel
involved. Probably more than 75% of the year, I am on the road.
It is good travel. I fly (no local clients so far) to wherever I
go which I think is far easier than driving to clients. It is
usually good cities - New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Vancouver,
London, D.C., Las Vegas. I sleep in fine hotels and have an
expense account. Still, it is a lot of travel over all of these
years; and I am almost 40 years old (I should have said "of age"
instead of "old") by now. The years on the road have started to
wear on me though, I am afraid.
I was talking to my
sister on this topic recently. I told her how burned out I was
getting and how stressful the job had become and how stressful
travel had gotten and how I wanted to focus on other things -
like a relationship perhaps and family. We started talking about
options that I might have. There were not many.
I would be hard pressed
to find any job that pays anywhere near what I am getting paid
now. I would probably have to take a job that pays less than
half of what I make now. Of course, if I file bankruptcy or just
go through my three foreclosures, I would not necessarily need
to make as much money (although it would be missed). I doubt I
would find a job in the area with as good of benefits as I have
now and an expense account (which I love and use often).
My sister and I talked
about all of these things. She listened and nodded her head and
asked a few questions and then she laid it out like it was with,
"I think you would be crazy to leave your job with the economy
as bad as it is. You need to suck it up and put up with all the
problems until the economy at least gets better."
It was a curt statement.
She made it very clear that I was being pretty stupid for
considering job changes at a time like we are in now (we, the
U.S. economy... and the world economy). She is right. I could
probably find another job, but it would not be as good as I have
now. Plus, I would be the new guy with no tenure at the new
company. If they had a layoff, I would probably be in the first
batch to be cut loose.
Thanks, Sis. Yes, I will
"suck it up" even though I am having a rough time with stress
and worry. Of course, a lot of that might be due to my current
real estate and foreclosure problems. Regardless though of the
reason, the economy is not suited for me changing jobs. The
current economy demands people hang on to their current jobs and
be extremely careful not to lose them. The current economy and
job market is only for people who have lost their job to go job
hunting... unless you get a lot better offer and are pretty dang
sure that you will not be laid off shortly after getting hired
(there is never any guarantee of this so beware).
If you are one of the
unfortunate ones who has lost a job and are currently looking
for a new job, you have my best wishes. Odds are bad now, but
you can find something. It might not be the ideal job, but a pay
check is a pay check. Take what you can get to tide you over
until a better one comes along.
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