A Rant Worth Reading

A year ago, my (former) company relocated me to Salisbury in preparation for opening a new office location. They paid part of my relocation expenses, gave me crash courses over a 6 month period in preparation for the new job duties. It was a dream come true, as the majority of my extended family lives in or around Salisbury! For the initial 5 months here, I worked out of a temporary office, alone, recruiting and hiring the start-up staff. Mine was the first face and voice of ‘the company’ in this area. I met with the local staffing agencies, and interviewed hundreds of applicants.

Once the new office opened, the company goal was to have 50 employees within the first year of operations here. I was well on my way to that goal when the company had its official "ribbon cutting ceremony" inviting such local dignitaries, as your favorite mayor, several members of the council, Chamber of Commerce, and Economic Development Committee, etc, etc, etc. On that very same day, a photographer from the local newspaper came to snap my picture as the "face" of the company for an "on the job" feature and employment ad in the following week’s Sunday edition.

Because of that article, it was my face that local citizens here saw representing the company. When I interviewed people, they would say to me, "oh, I saw your picture in the paper"...”I was so excited to read about your company in the paper”, etc… It brought in more recruits, and put us on the map, so to speak.

Then, (drum roll time) the day that I hired somewhere close to the 50th employee, my boss came down from corporate headquarters (where I used to be) to inform me that due to unforeseen circumstances, my job and several others were being eliminated in a "corporate restructure". Besides being completely unprepared for this conversation, I was at a huge disadvantage as I had just returned from the eye doctor, and my eyes were dilated, and I was wearing sunglasses, and couldn’t really see much of anything. My boss told me that they had decided to pull all service-related departments out of the satellite offices, Salisbury included. (Funny thing, they left someone with the same job title in a different and smaller location) I was told personally by my (former) boss, that the budgets were being cut across the board, most of the "displaced" were middle management, or those at the top end of their respective pay scales, around 22 people, and that unfortunately, my position was one eliminated. (The verbiage is right out of the “how to phrase a job loss to an employee handbook) I should not worry too much though, because of my tenure, they were willing to offer me a “generous” severance package, including a one-month service with a renowned career transition group. (Oh boy!)

Here is the decisive factor: in order to be eligible for this severance package after nearly 8 years of loyal service, I had to sign my soul away in a legally binding "severance contract". Have you ever seen a "severance contract" Joe? It is a very scary document, 8 or so pages long. In it, I had to promise not to say anything bad about the company or cause any of my family, friends or acquaintances to do so, AND I had to agree that I would never apply to a position with the company again. (what the???) If I agreed to these and many other things, they would pay me my salary and COBRA payments for 14 weeks, give me a good job reference and tell prospective employers that I resigned.

Well, I am not stupid. First, I consulted with someone who is qualified to know, and by his suggestion changed a sentence about "resigning" to "job eliminated due to corporate restructure", and I signed on the dotted line. What else was I going to do?

So today I am a breathing, walking statistic in the US along with the 500,000,000 (isn’t that what Nancy Pelosi said? Oh, sorry, never mind) other unemployed Americans and who knows how many in our little corner of the US. Neither of us now have medical insurance because I can’t afford the COBRA payment, for both of us it’s around $1300/mo. (that’s less than I get from unemployment monthly, and the same as my house payment)

Please understand, I do get corporate restructure; I have been part of HR for years. I do get that companies sometimes screw up (as we have seen so recently on national news) and they have to eliminate jobs to save face with their board or directors or clients or whomever, and make sure their executives still get their big paychecks. I was okay with it. Really, I was, sad a lot, but I got it. I took the relocation here because I have family in this area. I LOVE being close them, and it made the frustration of the move much easier to handle. I was able to help my daughter by leasing her smaller home, allowing her to buy a larger house to make room for her expanding family. She now has two houses, and two mortgages. The bad thing is that during the process of the move, my husband became increasingly ill, and disabled. He was unable to accept the job he had waiting for him here. We were a two-person, 6-figure income couple a year ago, both now unemployed because of bad business practices, not to mention that we are now fighting the good Social Security fight, (a topic for another day I prefer not to get started on today).

I love Salisbury. I prepared myself for a new job hunt. I was prepared to accept a much smaller salary (I was paid on a Philly/Wilmington area salary). I was prepared to compete with many others applying for the same positions as me. I’m prepared to keep on plugging until someone falls in love with me or I’m the perfect fit for their job/company. Now, after 4 months of job searches, a ton of interviews, and lots of rejection, didn’t I recently receive a job alert from one of my (hundreds of) job boards, and lo and behold, a posting for an HR position with my old company at their headquarters where I just moved from?

Of course, I FLIPPED OUT. I think I have done pretty well here not plotting destruction against this firm. I really do. It is not the same "title" as my position, but functionally and salary-wise, the same. I have hit the edge of my patience, and as my three grown daughters can attest, I am a VERY PATIENT person! (Anyone raising three daughters knows that!) I can now completely empathize with those crazy people who “go postal” now. I am in a blind rage; I am disgusted, and I am done being the nice guy. (better late than never my husband says)

I have no idea if there is any legal recourse against the company, and honestly do not want to go there. However, the severance package is concluded; I am out of money, I am out of medical coverage, I am OUT OF PATIENCE and I AM PISSED OFF. I think someone needs to tell this to the public and all the unsuspecting job candidates who think they are getting some great job with some great company when they are not. There is no employee loyalty, and certainly double standards in their employment practices.

There is nothing they can take from me. I lease my house. The car, which we still make payments on, is untouchable because there is a lien on it. Oh, and by the way, it is sitting nearly totaled in my driveway since my husband had an accident a couple weeks ago, we let the insurance lapse because, you know, unemployment only covers so much, and insurance was not a priority compared to rent/food/electric. I have nothing in savings or checking, nothing in my retirement fund.

This company is functioning in Salisbury, plodding along like a ‘good ole boy’ member of the local business community, and placing ads in the paper for employment opportunities. They claim they are an "employer of choice", a "new neighbor" in the business community.

Can I make them squirm just a little, please? On the other hand, should I just let it go? Usually, I just let things go. But I have to tell you that seeing that job posting tipped me over the edge and I’m thinking to hell with whatever promises I made in that stupid severance agreement. I got to thinking, if I agreed not to apply for a job with them ever again, does that mean when potential employers call them for background verification checks, are they telling them I am NOT eligible for re-employment? Hmm…that’s worth looking into as well.

Thanks for letting me vent, Joe, and for having a place where others like me can do it! What do you think? Post this publicly and risk retaliation, or just let someone like you know privately so that SOMEONE knows about this.

Sign me:

Unhappily unemployed, former ‘good girl’ employee & corporate cheerleader, and really pissed off at corporate injustice.