No sense putting this off any longer

[drwex]

I was laid off from work this week (official last day Friday). I see that I didn't post a lot about the changes at PTC, though I've talked to a couple people about it. The short form is that there were a series of reorganizations that led to me having three bosses in the year I worked there.

There was a voluntary RIF a few months ago that I should have taken - the package was quite generous. Having been there less than a year and not wanting to go back to job hunting I passed. Stupid me. 20/20 hindsight.

People inside say that PTC stands for Prepare To Change. They're not wrong. The reorganizations left me with no people reporting to me and no idea what I was supposed to be in charge of. I saw the handwriting on the wall months ago, after the first big reorg put three of the people like me in one group. I thought I had navigated the rocky shoals - some of which were of my making - but no. They also let a visual designer and a UX designer go from the design team, as well as a couple of people working on close-associated projects. I heard that PM got hit particularly hard.

This is possibly the worst time to be unemployed since I was out of work for an extended stretch during the dot-bomb era. I predict that companies are going to turtle up and not hire until the COVID-19 situation is resolved. I doubt that'll be before May.

Obviously, if you know of UX/Design jobs please send them my way but more than that I could use companionship and interaction.

Comments

[sovay]

Obviously, if you know of UX/Design jobs please send them my way but more than that I could use companionship and interaction.

I have no information on jobs, but I send hugs. That is amazingly rotten timing.

[drwex]

Hugs appreciated. Yeah, getting laid off is almost never good timing.

[dianec42]

Ugh, that sucks!

I don't know of any UX/Design jobs, but I do know my company has stopped flying out candidates and is now interviewing over Google Hangouts instead. Laugh all you like, our wheels are still turning.

Love you. I hope something great comes your way!

[drwex]

That's actually interesting to know. Watching the wave of cancelled events has been depressing AF.

[redbird]

I have no job leads, but can offer sympathy and interaction.

[drwex]

Thanks, appreciated.

[wispfox]

*sits with you in job hunting hell*

Also, much sympathy!

[drwex]

Appreciated. How long have you been hunting?

[wispfox]

Difficult to say!

I left my Ph.D. program (in psych and human-robot interaction) for my sanity in Dec of 2015, and started transitioning to UX in Feb 2016. I don't think I was skilled or knowledgeable enough for anyone to want to hire me until ~2018, even though I was hunting that whole time. I am self-taught, which is much harder to get into UX through nowadays due to all the schools nearby. School is expensive, though, so. *shrug*

Currently still hunting (and hoping to get an offer from Quick Base) while doing retail to help make ends meet.

[drwex]

Break a leg. Sorry you had to leave the PhD.

[ceo]

That really sucks, I'm sorry.

[drwex]

It does suck. Thank you.

[quietann]

Ugh. you have my sympathies.

I may or may not be joining you in unemployment soon. But I'm a SAS programmer, and those jobs are gradually disappearing, or requiring a lot of other technical skills that I don't have.

[drwex]

Yeah, being in that situation was what convinced me finally to go back to grad schools. I just saw my skills getting more and more out of date and couldn't figure out how to keep up while working full time.

[corylea]

Oh, dear, I'm so sorry. I hope you can find a new job quickly, one that will use your prodigious talents for something worthwhile.

[drwex]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm trying to mentally prep myself for a long siege.

[silentq]

Yikes, sorry to hear this!

[drwex]

Thanks. Obviously I have lots of free time if you want to hang out or get a drink or something.

[tamidon]

Fuuuuuck, that sucks. Obvs I got nothing for job leads, but I send pebbles.

[drwex]

Thanks babe. I can use all the moral support.

[caulay]

That's rough, sorry to hear that. If you see anything here at Pega (www.pega.com) that interests you, let me know. I'd point you directly at the jobs listing but we're having issues at the moment and I can't get to it.

[drwex]

Thanks, I'll take a look.

[gale_storm]

Man, that sucks so hard that I’m wondering if a black hole is forming up there. Really, though, there’s not much I can do but send hugs, so I’m sending hugs.

[drwex]

Hugs appreciated.

[chhotii]

There was that thing on Twitter about how to stay sane while working at home? And one of the recommendations, IIRC, was to get regular social interaction. I'm finding it really quiet and lonely being at home all day most days. I've been beating myself up for not being more productive, but perhaps I should realize that lack of social interaction causes more depressive brain chemistry and so it's actually physiological.

So, I'm considering forming an "unemployed susboids" club. We should get together and talk about job hunting. We might veer off into talking about grad school and Arisia. What do you think about that idea?

Of course, with the epidemic, getting together with people and seeing actual real people in the flesh is maybe a bit frowned upon? This is depressing. I don't know what to do about that.

[drwex]

Yes, regular social interaction is a thing we all need. A social club would be great - once upon a very long time ago what became the Diesel gathering started because a lot of us were unemployed and could go sit in a cafe that would let us hog tables as long as we bought a beverage or cake now and then.

Given the COVID-19 situation we could use some online tools. It's not like we're not all geeks with Slack and hangouts and whatnot, y'know?

[lokifan]

I'm sorry. The timing sucks, like you say. I empathise; I was made rednundant thanks to coronoa, last week.

Ugh

[drwex]

That is horrid. What were you doing?

Re: Ugh

[lokifan]

Teaching English as a foreign language. It's zero-hours and we rely on students coming into London, so... no work now.

[drwex]

Oh yeah, no new students for a while I expect.