Worst weekend ever

[tkav1980]

people have asked me if it bother me having to fire someone. my response is that if i have to fire them they did something that caused it. however this weekend i had to lay off 6 people. they did nothing wrong besides be the 6 newest employees. i did not have a choice in the matter other than deciding which 6 it would be. i tried to base my decision on who had other sources of income, support from a spouse, no children. It still SUCKS!!!!!!!!

 

[thebrick]

I don't envy your place on that. At least you have a conscience about this. The economy sux, its not your fault

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Been there many times. I know it's tough. My palms still get sweaty. Had to give someone a bad review before the holidays this year. Really bothered me sending someone off on holiday on such a bad note.

It's getting bad out there. May get worse. Hang in there.

 

[tkav1980]

when business picks back up in march they can all come back, but i fell like the grim reaper walking around this weekend.

 

[pesty4077]

I had 10 employees at one time, had to let go everyone except one. It does suck, but I had to keep my business afloat. It is not easy being the boss, sometimes.

 

[notsobig32]

I work in IT and that is absolutely the least favorite part of my job. Firing someone and seeing the look of hopelessness on their face when they start running throug things in their mind makes you feel horrible. I feel your pain completely tkav

 

[Chrisco915]

people have asked me if it bother me having to fire someone. my response is that if i have to fire them they did something that caused it. however this weekend i had to lay off 6 people. they did nothing wrong besides be the 6 newest employees. i did not have a choice in the matter other than deciding which 6 it would be. i tried to base my decision on who had other sources of income, support from a spouse, no children. It still SUCKS!!!!!!!!

Listen.....you did far more in considering the people you layed off than most people. The basis for your decision was actually an admirable way to do it. I commend you on you rational and humane way of approaching these layoffs.

 

[Designbuilt]

I've been swamped lately, and finishing projects, but guess what? Only 1 in 5clients pays! They keep stalling and making excuses, everyone's story is almost exactly the same: "I'm 3 months behind on my mortgages and line of credit loans"

Everything just sucks right now, It's just discouraging that you can find the time and effort to put in and don't get compensated for your efforts.


To make matters worse, here in Chicago, the building department is making the permit expediting business much tougher, the licenses now require a 1,000,000 insurance policy and additional $600.00 annual fee plus an additional $300.00/employee for each company.

Instead of helping with this times, our city tries to suck out even more blood! I guess that the people who think of these things and run them through City Council, are paid with taxpayer money and don't feel the economy, they see us in city hall all the time with a ton of work and think we are making a ton of money.

Needless to say a lot of companies closed down and several others reduced their staff significantly.

My younger brother runs an expediting company and he has to lay off some of his staff, he has 4 workers with more seniority, but his 2 new employees are a lot better than any of them, so it's going to be a tough one.

He took a few weeks off to think about it, and he's back this weekend and has to do it Monday. It's happening to everyone.

You did a good job handling it, hope things get better.

 

[tkav1980]

Well i did some homework and got everyone that was laid off set up on unemployment. got to bring one back and have her just work banquets, because one of our banquet servers is going on maternity leave in 2 weeks(a month earlier than she was suposed to. now if i can just get alittle more business in that place i can bring another 2 back on. but that option isnt looking too good right now.

 

[Pekkerwood]

It is one of the more difficult things to do. I had to let go of a few employees over the summer. My employees are so great that they made it easy on me. I gave them 90 day warning and some severance, so they could start looking.

The only "problem" I had was reducing my attorney to 3.5 days a week with a commiserate salary decrease. He was an absolute dick about it.

I will comment that taking into account "who can afford it", etc is admirable in some contexts, but can also be unfair. Why should a harder working, more enjoyable employee bite the bullet because they are frugal and save their money instead of spending it? That is actually behaviour I would want to reward, not punish.

Just another point of view. Difficult either way.

Pekkerwood

 

[EVERLAST]

new economics....

I used to want to make some big money.
Now I settle for whatever I can find to pay on the bills. I have a little construction company....we do high end custom concrete work down to repairs to cracking ans surface damage.
I bid everything I can find and price it right on the edge.
I have a good reputation for building to last and decorative effects so that helps...
That and heavy constant prayer...

I laid off 7 guys after we completed the Apartment restorations in November.
Right before Christmas, they got little kids and I had to lay off these young guys and theyre all scared and worried about the future.
Me too.

 

[tkav1980]

It is one of the more difficult things to do. I had to let go of a few employees over the summer. My employees are so great that they made it easy on me. I gave them 90 day warning and some severance, so they could start looking.

The only "problem" I had was reducing my attorney to 3.5 days a week with a commiserate salary decrease. He was an absolute dick about it.

I will comment that taking into account "who can afford it", etc is admirable in some contexts, but can also be unfair. Why should a harder working, more enjoyable employee bite the bullet because they are frugal and save their money instead of spending it? That is actually behaviour I would want to reward, not punish.

Just another point of view. Difficult either way.

Pekkerwood

i see your point but the decision was 2 fold. 1 was it had to be 6 of the newest employees. out of the 12 newest i picked based on economic ability to survive as well as performance. i can try to justify my decision as much as i want by saying it was necessary, and defend how i chose,but none the less it still sucked.

 

[notsobig32]

It is one of the more difficult things to do. I had to let go of a few employees over the summer. My employees are so great that they made it easy on me. I gave them 90 day warning and some severance, so they could start looking.

The only "problem" I had was reducing my attorney to 3.5 days a week with a commiserate salary decrease. He was an absolute dick about it.

I will comment that taking into account "who can afford it", etc is admirable in some contexts, but can also be unfair. Why should a harder working, more enjoyable employee bite the bullet because they are frugal and save their money instead of spending it? That is actually behaviour I would want to reward, not punish.

Just another point of view. Difficult either way.

Pekkerwood

pekkerwood,

i work in a law firm (institutional investment litigation firm) and i tell you that lawyers are some of the most 'interesting' people that i think i have ever met. They determine status by the proximity of their office to one of the partners. They think the bigger the tree in their office the higher the more important they are. Its funny because they have these grandiose schemes for everything(and yeah i have to write the coomputer programs to make this a reality) but very few if any ever come to fruition. On the whole i find them entertaining,......and you should see their anger when they have to come to my office for something(corner office and pretty big) =-)

BTW tkav, next time i am down that way, my wife and i are going to have to stop in at your restaurant and get a bite to eat.