Lay Off Advice

That isn't good...

I say come to Nashville!!!!!

It is a awesome town, I have lived here for 9 years now and wouldnt go anywhere else (except maybe if I won this 340M powerball). We have 1.2 mil people here is the city now (more people live inside the city limits than in Atlanta). There is a lot to do plus you have all of the southern hospitality.

Plus no hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, forest fires, sunami's, sharks, blizzards, tornado alley, and the state is republican.

I would love a nice healthy severance.  I think that would make my decisions.  Unfortunately, I'm afraid there won't be much in the way of severance.  My guess is that they will set a date 6 months or so in the future for my office's operations to start being performed out of Nashville and they will tell you you have a job until the office closes.  At that point you can either move to Nashville and continue your employment or your employment effectively ends.  But I am doing alot of speculating at this point.

Ghart,

My home office is in Dallas, ironic huh.

I say come to Nashville!!!!!

It is a awesome town, I have lived here for 9 years now and wouldnt go anywhere else (except maybe if I won this 340M powerball). We have 1.2 mil people here is the city now (more people live inside the city limits than in Atlanta). There is a lot to do plus you have all of the southern hospitality.

Plus no hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, forest fires, sunami's, sharks, blizzards, tornado alley, and the state is republican.

Gary,

Sorry to hear it...but take a few days to really do some thinking, and spend some time visiting with your wife about how she would feel about Nashville, etc.  Wierd enough, I am also 35, with a B.B.A. in Marketing fromt he exact same school as you, and I hate what I do.  I've been pondering a career change too, but because of law school loans, I am kinda stuck...and I also don't know what I want to be when I grow up...so if you figure it out, PLEASE share...maybe whatever it is, we can do it together!  And I've also been looking at moving to the metroplex. 

Hmmmmmmmm.....we could use these marketing degrees to form "Texas Tri Sports" an all-in-one tri superstore store in the DFW area.  We'd go broke, but it sure would be fun!

If there's one thing that I've learned in my 13 years with my company is that I owe them no loyalty just as they owe me none.  They've got one interest  in mind and that is those who receive the profit/losses.  I've seen consultants who don't know how our business runs come in and hack and slash good people and double the workload of others.  I've been though a "Baine Study", and a "Carpedia Experience", and I've seen the gradual decrease in benefits for employees, the loss of pensions, the reduction in vacations....

Look out for #1.  Tell em you'll go to keep the money flowing and look like hell for a job.  Sign nothing.  LOL!  If you're picking up and going, make sure they're willing to spend the cash to allow you, the wife, and kids to look at the area for a week, house purchase, etc.

Sorry to hear about the move and the potential for lay offs.  Keep the morale up where you can, and hang in there.

Jeff's got this one pegged...for me, it would be a financial decision, and a way of life decision.  And keeping your current cash flowing buys time, and in your case, time is money...it gives you the flexibility to choose what you want without the pressure of not being able to put food on the table or having to take a short-term job or the wife going back to work.  And it gives you leverage in any job negotiation (always better to negotiate while employed, no?!).

Jeff's advice is right on...tell them you're going, then search like there's no tomorrow for something you want to do, starting to-day.  Hope it works out...

So much great and encouraging info here.  Thanks all!  It has been quite a week.  The week started out harmless enough.  Tuesday and Wednesday were uneasy and nerve racking with nothing really but speculation.  Then something strange happened Thursday.  I think I had pretty much convinced myself I was not moving with a job that I could no longer really stomach.  I went to work in the best mood.  Got the official word and time frame and was completely ok with it(other than having to console those who were blind sided).  By Friday I was almost giddy.  My wife and I had not really discussed my feelings toward the end of the week, but oddly enough, I heard her explaining to a friend what was happening.  She said it was wierd because she said the last couple of days I seemed more at peace than she had seen me in a long time.  We talked somre more Friday night about possible directions.  I mentioned a possible career change and she is all for it.  She said I used to talk about this particular career way back when we first met(18 years ago).  I will weigh all my options but probably won't make any major decisions until I find out what if any seperation package is on the table.

Thanks again for all the words of encouragement.