The Energon Pub

So I got some bad news today. The Economy in Michigan is horrible to begin with and currently the company I work for Turner Construction has been having issues finding jobs. The last large job they were awarded was almost a year ago. Over the last couple months Turner has been laying people off or people have been resigning.

Now through this all I felt my position as a part time intern was pretty secure. Heh. last time I make an assumption. After my mom came home from work. Yes I work with my mom. She mentioned that Turner would be getting some new interns for the summer. I thought great that means my job is definitely secure. Now at this job I was making $10 an hour which is a great wage for a kid right out of High School with no College education. I have been able to avoid taking out Student Loans thanks to the job.

So this morning I go into my bosses office and he has me sit down. Not unusual since I always wait for the okay to sit down when I am meeting with anyone above me. He then says "I have some badnews. We have to let you go." He of course went through the whole "Turner isn't getting jobs" spiel I just mentioned up there. I have until May 15th.

Now heres the bitch of it.

I am trying to figure out if me feeling betrayed is wrong. I was the first IT intern hired at this company ever. Turner was founded at the turn of the last century. So I'm a groundbreaker. But.... I've been employed for nearly a year and they are dumping me and bringing in new interns. None are filling my position though.

I figure I'll be able to rebound rather well but College is still a major question for me. I have decided that I am going to approach every department head, the HR Manager, Operations Manager, HR manager, General Manager and my boss to get letters of reccomendation. Luckily as far as I know everyone here likes me so it should be no problem.

I'm really trying to see this as an oppurtunity and not a set back. I haven't had any real time off since summer vacation between Junior and Senior year of High School. So I might try doing something adventurous. Who knows........

That's really unfortunate; I'm sorry to hear about that.

Do you know if there are any vacancies or similar jobs in any other companies near you? I appreciate you probably haven't looked yet.

Rodimus_Lantern wrote:I am trying to figure out if me feeling betrayed is wrong. I was the first IT intern hired at this company ever. Turner was founded at the turn of the last century. So I'm a groundbreaker. But.... I've been employed for nearly a year and they are dumping me and bringing in new interns. None are filling my position though.

My dad was laid off after working at a place for over 29 years. He could have retired if they'd kept him an even 30.

They tried to fill his job with a n00b that they could pay less, and when he couldn't handle my dad's work load, they hired another. Seems like in the end they had to hire at least three guys to replace my dad, who wasn't particularly well paid in the first place. Stupid ABB.

You're young and have relevant work experience in IT. Have faith - I doubt you'll be unemployed long. Especially if your boss gives you a good reference.

Caelus wrote:My dad was laid off after working at a place for over 29 years. He could have retired if they'd kept him an even 30.

So much for years of hard work, eh? They probably just did not wanna give him the benefits. And living in Michigan, the toilet of the country, I know how the economy of the state is a real joke here.

Watch, they will get replaced by guys in New Deli next.

The bigger the company, the higher the chance they'll bend ya over, strap on one and skrew you up and down.

Sorry to hear about this Jon

Maybe in a way this will open up an avenue for you to to do what you wanted and work at Disney World with Mavdayvaas

That really sucks! I don't know where in Michigan you live so I can't really recommend any places to try out. but for what it's worth, I believe that you'll be back on your feet and grabbing life by the balls in no time!

That really sucks man. I just got laid off from my job at the end of March. We're pretty much through with April, and I haven't been able to find employment. I have bills to pay, and to be honest, with my wage, I was living paycheck to paycheck.

Feeling betrayed is not an unusual feeling, especially if you have done so much for the company you work for. I was promoted and transfered to another location two months prior to getting canned, more accurately, the store was shut down. I'm sure that if i didnt accept the promotion and the transefer, I'd still be employed today.

So I've applied to plenty of other jobs and the only one that shows promise is as a stock boy working the late shift. On top of my college courses and getting ready to graduate, this seems pretty grim.
And now for the kicker. After all of this crap, the company I used to work for calls me back to tell me if I wanted to come back, they would get me back into another location. The downside is that I go from assistant manager back to associate photographer, with an even lower wage.

Do I accept? Or do I go with the stock boy job?

Regardless, I would say enjoy your youth, have fun, and enjoy your summer vacation because as time goes on, and the more responsibilities you bear, time off will become a rarity.

I know the feeling fellas. I got fired from my last job about...9 months ago. Just got a new one about 4 weeks ago and everything was going well....Now we're really slowing down and I'm the low man on the totem pole. I got sent home early today because there was nothing for me to do. I go in tomorrow but theres nothing to do as far as I know.

Business these days need to do what Ford did 100+ years ago. He paid them $5.00 a day, which back then was unheard of ( big money then ) and offered benefits to his workers.

Why? Cause when you pay your people well and treat them well, they will have money to buy your stuff.

Today, all we have are lay-offs, outsourcing and so on. Anyone remember Delphi?

Emperor Primacron the 1st wrote:Business these days need to do what Ford did 100+ years ago. He paid them $5.00 a day, which back then was unheard of ( big money then ) and offered benefits to his workers.

Why? Cause when you pay your people well and treat them well, they will have money to buy your stuff.

Today, all we have are lay-offs, outsourcing and so on. Anyone remember Delphi?

Yeah....Look where that gets Ford now. They just finished closing their Lorain Plant here because they couldn't afford to keep paying the workers the obscene overpriced amount they were. Doesn't help that they continue paying their workers insurance and benefits for 10-20 after they retire. And the workers are some of the most selfish son of a bitches I've ever met. I have trouble making over $10 an hour and yet they manage to make over $20 for pressing a **** button or tightening a bolt. And then decide to bitch and moan when they get laid off spouting that they have no money.

For a minute there I thought this was going to be a happy story...

though note I just read the first 2 words in the title.

Heh well Yesterday was definitely an emotional roller coaster. But I'm actually entirely fine now.

To me it seems that getting laid off from this job was bit like breaking up.

Rodimus_Lantern the play. (Applies to Getting Laid off and Breaking up)

What? Where did this come from? How could this happen?

Wow this sucks? Now what am I going to do?

Heh I'm free. Time to go to the strip club.


Hopefully I should be able to get something figured out by May 15th. Thanks for your support guys.