After nearly 13 years working for the same company, my friend Jerry Yen just lost his job today. Another victim to what seems to be the worst recession in my lifetime.
"I got back from vacation today to find out my job was gone, along with 500 others. Laid off." Jerry told me this morning.
This is the second person I know personally who has been laid off in the last few months. My ex-wife Amber also got sacked a little over a month ago. Jerry, at least, received a pretty good severance package. He's getting a years salary. That gives him a year to find another job, if he needs it. Since he lives in California, he probably will need it.
California, it seems, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Governor Arnold "Terminator" Schwarzenegger has been saying that California is almost out of money. He's also telling people not to expect any state tax refunds anytime soon. Wow. Guess I won't plan on my return to L.A. in the next few years.
I told Jerry he should move out of California. He could even come to Austin. The recession isn't as bad here as it is in much of the country. While California is at nearly 10% unemployment, Texas is only around 5%. Both the company I work for and the company my wife works for are still hiring people, although I don't feel my job is "recession proof" by any means.
I'm sure Jerry will find something eventually. He's a good worker and a nice guy. He doesn't seem to be too worried, either:
"What are you going to do now?" I asked him.
"I'll probably backpack across Taiwan." he replied.
(Picture: from left to right- Jerry, Christy, Me and Sara, from 2005)
Oh Dear, I'm sorry about Jerry's job. I am glad he got a good severence package though.
ReplyDeleteBTW, he's at least the third person you know who's been sacked due to the economy. Larry was let go at the end of September. Never did find a job, there just aren't any here. So, we took an early retirement. Screws things up, but it could be so much worse.