One of my co-workers who is also one of my best friends was fired today. It's devastating, she started a new role in our company and was struggling with it a bit but this was really unexpected. I feel awful for her. If someone has worked for a company for 6 years and then is fired, I think the company has failed, not her.

Probably just an excuse to get rid of somebody and save some money, considering the way things are right now. We keep having layoffs, and one of the people they laid off had been with the company 40 years. And "laid off" is a misnomer. They're not going to call her back no matter how things improve.

I feel for you. My husband lost his job 3 weeks ago after 37 years with the same company. We're trying to look at it as a blessing - hoping that something better is waiting for us. This economy is very scary - hopefully we'll all see the light at the end of tunnel soon.

I don't understand how any company can "lay off" anyone with such a lengthy employment history like that! People are treated like crap in the workplace today. There's no thought to the person, we're all merely robots or something.

I hate to say it, but that's one of the reasons I work for myself. As terrifying as it can be budgeting on a client to client basis at least I still know I've got a job next week. As long as clients book, that is.

*hugs*

Change is very scary for most people. Especially such a BIG change. Best of luck to her!

I can understnd how it works. After an employee has been working long enough to have made some salary/wage increases due to perfomance or simply seniority, it can become more cost effective for a company to slash a job and later hire a new employee at a reduced rate. I've been at the same company for a long time and I fully expect to one day be let go for simply economics.

I just hope your friend and I can both expect some severance to help move to a new job/career. Even with that its a real sh1tty situation. Especially when you pour your heart and soul into it for a long time.

That is really sad Catherine......I am so very lucky and at my age, to even get a job. I guess I am doing a good job, because I passed the 30 day limit......

Catherine, I'm sorry. I hope she can find another job quickly.

On a positive note, there are a lot of good companies out there. The one I work for is. They have tried to accommodate me SO much during the last year...I can't think of another employer that would bend over backwards as much as they have for me.

Catherine, I'm sorry to hear about your friend. It's very hard, I know. Zach was "laid off" a year ago, after working there for about 6 years, and since then they've hired new employees and haven't called him. Like Uncle Zippy said, we think he made too much money. Zach was the highest paid worker in production, other than the leads. He doesn't care, though, he didn't like his job anyway. He likes his new job MUCH better.

Before Zach was laid off, one of his best friends was laid off, too. Dan had been working there for 9 years. For the past several years he'd been working part time so he could go to school, and when he was laid off they didn't even give him any kind of severance pay. How's that for a "thanks for working for us"??

It's scary, Zach's new boss doesn't want to hire any more employees because he doesn't know what the economy is going to do, so the team they do have work their tails off to get everything done.

Sorry to hear about your friend Hopefully she'll find a better job and be happier than she was at her forner position