The Work It, Mom! Blog
with Nataly
Hi, I am Nataly and I am the co-founder of Work It, Mom!
I write the daily Work It, Mom! Blog where I talk about issues affecting working moms, goings on in our Work It, Mom! community, new site features, updates,and contests. I also share my own juggle between work and family and love to see members jump in with comments. Come and visit often!
Nataly's profile on Work It, Mom!
The upside of my husband being laid off
Categories: Career Talk, Relationships & Marriage, Your life
|
Five months ago my husband’s company announced that they would have major layoffs and four months ago he emailed me that he was on the list. As I drove to pick him up from work (and take him out for some too-expensive but-oh-amazing Japanese food) I felt strange because I wasn’t freaked out.
But after the idea of him being laid off and my working for several not-well-paying start up companies firmly set in a few weeks later, freaked out became my default mode. He got a fairly OK package, including several months paid at his regular salary and health benefits, but here he was, laid off in the worst economic and employment crisis in our lifetimes. It was scary. And it got scarier as the months went on, the job opportunities were few and far between, and even successful interviews didn’t lead to job offers because those jobs disappeared before they were filled.
I know that many people deal with a lot more stressful and difficult things than this, but for us, the past four months of tension, anxiety and stress have been pretty bad. I never slept well, we picked way too many fights with each other over nothing, and everything we did was colored with this sense of dread. Until today.
Yes, my husband is going back to work. To the same company that laid him off, surprisingly, after his boss there fought to bring him back. And to say that this is a relief is beyond an understatement.
Which brings me to the upside of my husband being laid off. I am not sure I ever thought I’d be writing this but there is one — both of us now *really* appreciate what it is to have a steady job. This probably sounds naive in some way, but you really do have to lose something to appreciate having it sometimes and this is one of those times. I’m pretty sure I won’t hear any complaints from my husband about his boss or the commute or the bad office snacks for a long, long while. With unemployment numbers increasing and more than 5.5 million people now out of work in America, we know we’re lucky.
Now, how about that raise, honey? (Yes, kidding.)
Subscribe to blog via RSS
So glad to hear, Nataly. I’m sure you’ll sleep well tonight!
I have some friends that just went through a similar situation — BOTH out of work, and three kids, two who aren’t school-age yet. We do have to be grateful to have jobs. It’s scary out there.
Lee | March 27th, 2009 at 8:36 am
Great. I am happy for you.
vera babayeva | March 27th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Great news and an important lesson learned: we are now living in the age of Take Nothing for Granted…which is probably a good thing! Kudos to the boss who went to bat for him. That man/woman deserves a serious “thank you” present :-)!
Jeannie | March 27th, 2009 at 9:29 am
I am so happy to hear your husband is back to work.
I write with complete envy…..LOL.
My husband has been out of work since November.
I can totally relate to your experiences while your DH was out of work. It is very hard and very very scary.
We went from him working at home for 3 years,(which was not easy even when the checks were coming in) to now him home ALL day, with me and the kids.
I am looking, he is looking for a job. Who ever gets there first will get to work.
Thanks for sharing your story.
Yvette
Yvette Segal | March 27th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Darn, Nataly, I had no idea that he had been laid off. That sucks but what a happy ending! Congrats to him for getting the job back and to both of you for making it through.
My husband has stopped complaining about the little things around his office, too. He knows he’s lucky and is just trying to embrace that.
Mandy Nelson | March 27th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
I am so relieved for you guys!
Lylah | March 27th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I am beyond happy for you two!!
Angella | March 27th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Happy to hear he’s back to work. The stress is unbelievable at times. My job is secure, and my husband’s relatively so, but we know anyone could be one illness or disaster away from foreclosure or bankruptcy.
Daisy | March 27th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Thanks, you guys:)
Nataly | March 27th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
I know your happy to say the least. My hubby was laid off for over 1 1/2 years and now has been back to work for 6 months. But never know if it was get bad again….but very happy for now.
My Hubby just helped a old friend of his get a job- he also was out of work for a long time…and on top of that lost his wife to cancer last year. So now he will be able to try to get on his feet again. Glad to be able to help him.
Today is a scary world…..glad your got better.
eileen | March 28th, 2009 at 7:27 am
What a great ending to an all too familiar story. My husband was laid off a few weeks ago now, and the company I work for just announced layoffs–no one knows who yet but we’ll know soon enough… Thankfully, my husband had the feeling a few months ago that he needed to start putting aside some extra money–call it Divine inspiration, or whatever you want, but I’m definitely grateful. We’ll be okay as long as I can keep my job. I’d like to think I’m in the clear as I am the CFO’s assistant, but my husband didn’t see his layoff coming–he was one of the best performers in his office.
Anyway, glad it all worked out for you. The nice thing about being human is that we’re adaptable creatures–even if it is uncomfortable for a little while. In ten or twenty years we’ll all look back and think about what we learned through these experiences…
Stacey | March 30th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Yes, in this day and age, any job is better than no job. It doesn’t have to be in corporate America either. I was making small talk with friends who still have their jobs and I was asking them how they were doing, followed by “happy to still have a job?”
Nataly, you are lucky your husband’s company hired him back. Many people are not as fortunate. I watched an episode of Oprah in which families with a former middle class lifestyle were now homeless because both parents were jobless. It is very sad to see.
There are very few jobs available for the millions who are jobless. The competition for one job is high. There are too many people but only a few jobs available. This whole recession is very sad.
Linda | March 31st, 2009 at 6:38 pm
I have two children not yet in school, and having my husband laid off is a blessing in disguise. It’s let me focus on launch my next fashion line, which is sure to be a huge hit.
Amanda | April 6th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
I am looking for advice on a very specific situation…maybe you can help? My husband was laid off in December, and now 5 months later and still no job, I was laid off. He has not had any interviews yet, but given his work ability and ethic we both know if he just got an interview he’d get the job (he’s that good…but no one is giving him a shot). Anyway, here’s my real issue…I just got a job (4 days after being laid off) with a better position/salary/benefits with a company that I dealt with on a regular basis at my old job. They know me…they think I”m good…so they pretty much ran to the phone as soon as they heard I was available. But NOW, my husband is highly depressed and angry all the time and feeling just terrible about himself. WHAT DO I DO? I am very excited for me, but I can’t really express that to him. Yes, we love eachother enough for all sorts of talks and support…but he really feels like he’s worthless and I don’t know how to help. Any suggestions?
SnL's Mom | May 5th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
SnL’sMom: I can only imagine how tough it is. I don’t know if I have any specific advice and I am sure you’re doing what you can in terms of being supportive of your husband, etc. My one thought is to focus discussions about your getting the offer around the fact that it’s great because the family is OK, you’ll have benefits, etc — vs being excited for the job itself. I’ve done that before, in a somewhat similar situation, with a friend instead of a husband.
Hang in there!
Nataly | May 5th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
I know exactly how you feel. My husband was made redundant recently and we have 2 babies and a mortgage. I may have to go back to work but I seriously am not ready to go back to work as I am still breastfeeding and I feel that I need to update my skills as I have been out of the workforce for 2 and a half years. Weve come to realize that no job is secure anymore. Its pretty sad really.
Emma | October 21st, 2011 at 9:19 pm