Change is in the Air

There are times in life when change simply seems to be in the air.  You can feel it like an oncoming storm.  The adventurous may yearn for it, others fear it.  But it is there, coming and unstoppable.

Some of these times are inevitable and predictable:  High school and college graduations, marriages, the birth of children.  Others are harder to predict, plan for, and face.

I’ve felt – with a bit of knowledge and a bit of intuition – that such a time of change is coming. 

My day job, as I have known for some time, has a limited remaining shelf life.  I don’t know the hour or the day when I will no longer be employed where I am, only that it is coming.  But I can at least prepare for this, if not necessarily make specific plans.  the job hunt will begin soon.

Harder to face is friends leaving.  In the past couple of months, my wife and I have learned that two of the families we have been closest to since living at our current home are leaving.  And they aren’t just moving a few towns over – but from Michigan to Tennessee.  Making this even harder is the effect that their children are close friends  to my own daughters.  They will be undoubtedly be crushed by the recent news.  I know I can’t protect them from this forever, but I want to.

In the back of my mind, too, I have a strong suspicioun that change is not yet done with us . . .

The Countdown

As I talked about some time ago, in A Different Kind of Post, my day job has had an uncertain future.  That uncertainty has now become a certainty.  My job will no longer exist in two years, give or take a few months.

I’m actually one of the lucky ones.  Most of the people working in my department have only 12 months.  And I’ll admit it’s actually quite decent of the company to give us this much advance warning.

They’ve offered me a generous “retention” compensation package.  In other words, since they want me  to stick around to the bitter end, so they’re going to give me a bonus if I do.  The problem, of course, is that I have a family to support.  No matter how generous the offer they’ve made, it’s still limited funds.  The benefits will still be gone.  And there’s no guarantee that the job market will be doing anything in another two years.

So what’s best for may family?  Passing up on the cash payout in favor of job security by finding a new job?  Probably.  But it’s not an easy thing to do, especially knowing that by leaving, I’ll be making things harder for the coworkers who choose to stay.

In the meantime, I at least have time to plan.  And the countdown begins.

Uncertainty, a Different Kind of Post

Most of the posts I’ve made so far have revolved around entertainment, and specifically writing and story creation.

This post won’t.

A few years ago, I started working for a joint venture.  We’ll call the parent companies “Mom” and “Dad” (for those of you not in the business world, marriage is a pretty good analogy for joint ventures).  I am an employee of “Dad”, and work on a “Dad” site.  A little over a year ago, “Mom” and “Dad” got a divorce, with “Mom” getting custody.  But I still live with “Dad”.  Wait, maybe that’s taking the analogy too far:  “Mom” bought out “Dad”‘s share of the joint venture, but we continue to have ongoing operations at the “Dad” site, where I continue to work.

There’s been a lot of speculation about how long this situation will last.  The products we make at the “Dad” site can all be made elsewhere (and there is active work to do so).  In some cases, their volumes are also declining, and are expected to phase out over the next few years.  If they do cease operations at “Dad’s” site, where does that leave me.  “Mom” is 2000 miles away, so even if they offer relocation, I don’t think I’d take it.

Adding to all this is a rumor that the “Dad” site I work at will be acquired by another company.  There have been some changes lately that could support the rumor:  changes in organizational structure, and an announcement that our pay periods will change, in particular.  Could these be an indication of absolutely nothing?  Sure.  But they could also be preliminary indications that there are big changes on the horizon.

Here’s hoping my family and I can navigate whatever changes are heading our way.