That's what they called it anyway. I call it a layoff, but they said technically it's not a layoff. A layoff is when you can you could possibly be rehired for the same job. A "separation of employment" is not being fired, but being "let go". And this is what happened to Ted just 2 days ago. He came home from work on Mary's birthday and called me into our bedroom and shut the door behind him. Since we hardly shut doors in our house I would normally begin to question what was going on but he blurted it out before I had time to think. He told me he got layed off. What??? Oh my gosh. It was the last thing I expected him to say.
The past month has been stressful for Ted at work. It's a long story that I won't go into here, but basically they were questioning his pay structure and agreements made in the past on how they would handle commission on a couple of big deals. Well, Ted's boss, who documented this, moved on to another job in July. Ted's boss's boss got layed off about a month ago. He got a lot of questioning during that time with no one else to stand up for the decisions made. The VP who layed him off said this had nothing to do with his lay off and ended up paying him all the commissions that were witheld for 5 weeks. This is now our security blanket. The VP said it was nothing personal. He's a great employee (what does he know? he's not even been in the company that long!) but that he couldn't justify his salary in a management position where he only supervised 4 people. He told him he would give a good recommendation for any job he might be interested in, inside or outside of the company. I think, much to the surprise of the VP, Ted was very calm about the whole thing and said he understood.
You see, Ted has felt almost like things were too good to be true anyway. He used to do the job he eventually managed. He was the only one doing it and the first one in this region to do it. Originally, his job paid a low salary and commission was more than half of what he made. We welcomed the change to management so he could make a higher salary and not rely on commission so much. Everything seemed perfect. But to a new executive coming into the company it didn't make sense. There were other managers managing so many more people.
On paper, it was not justified. But Ted is so much more than what you see on paper. He's dependable, trustworthy, loyal, ethical and fair. All the things you want in an employee. I'm not saying this because I'm his wife. I really believe this. He was such a good boss to his people. His staff looked shocked when they found out. One girl cried. If you knew Ted, you would know why. He would be the last person you would think would be let go. There was a salesperson that he supervised that was a poor performer...a problem passed on to him. He was on a final written warning. Couldn't they have just demoted Ted and let go of him? There are so many things that don't make sense.
I thought of all of these things before I went to bed that night. And just cried. It didn't make sense. And then I remembered, people don't always make sense. If God is behind something, however, it always makes sense to Him. We may not know the plan...but it's there...and better laid out than anything we could think of with our small human minds. God does not lead us somewhere only to abandon us. He is with us ALWAYS. I truly believe this.
I still mourned his job that night. His baby that grew into a small department. All that knowledge almost feels like a waste now. I think my pride was crushed. I have so much pride for Ted and his job and how it has provided for our family. I am a stay at home mom because of his job. We have a beautiful home in a beautiful neighborhood...all thanks to his job. We have free cable, free high speed internet, discounted phone and his cell phone is a work phone paid for by the company. Fortunately, we get 4 months severance with full benefits including all the perks until the end of four months.
Here's the part that keeps us hopeful. There is a job opening for a Senior Account Executive that his good friend in the company is hiring for. Ted is totally qualified for the job and the salary is the same that Ted is making now without managing people! He called his friend and found out that they had the job posted and didn't like any of the people they interviewed. The posting expired and they were in the process of reposting. They said the job is his if he wants it. What a gift! The VP who let him go, sped up the paperwork to get it re-posted right away (I think he's operating under some guilt). As much as this seems like a sure thing, with all the right people supporting him, I know if God doesn't want it...it won't happen. We know from experience that sure things are not always sure things. So we'll see.
This all seems like a jumbled mess of thoughts. It's a weird place to be. I love having Ted at home with me, especially since we have a job prospect. We look at each other funny when we remember our situation and he's not getting ready to go to work. We don't usually take vacation unless we are on vacation or it's the holidays and it's crazy anyway. Having Ted home indefinately feels surreal. It's very relaxing right now. He's there to help me with the kids, chores, and carpool. I'm not living in a bubble. I know that this can get old if it goes on too long... that I could look at his presence as an irritant if he is not actively looking for a job. I've heard so many stories from other people. We don't know what will happen. The future is a big question mark. If he gets this job, then our change will be minimal. But he's open to changing companies if need be. This might be the opportunity. I believe that God uses situations like these to make us change something we normally wouldn't. We are praying that we do what He wants us to do and that He guides us to where He wants Ted to be.
We are trying to look at this time as opportunity to relax, and do some things around the house. We plan on cleaning a little bit of the storage room every day and getting into the garage on my "day off" tomorrow. I don't want to cram his time with housework, but I can already see him getting a little bored. However, my little mind of opportunity is dreaming up ways to make the most of this situation since I have someone who can watch the kids when I need it! Ted is thinking about things like going to the school masses, and eating lunch with the kids. I'm thinking about visiting the local boutique ("Yah, but you can't spend any money!"....my lovely neighbor reminds me), visiting my sister for lunch at the school she works...things we normally can't do easily. We're caught up on most of our doctor appointments, but we do have some dental visits in December we might move up because things work differently on Cobra.
Ultimately I understand why Ted was moved from his position, my one frustration was that I wish the reward he got for being a good employee would have been the company not letting him go until they relocated him somewhere else in the company. That would have shown Ted's worth. It's frustrating to see poor performers keep their jobs because they are more in line with the budget. Ted's not focusing on this part, however. He told me he tries not to. "If I think about it too much," he said, "I would get angry, and that won't do any good." Ha. I'm obviously not made of the stuff he's made of.
Well, I have to draw this long blog to a close, but if you read this and are a prayer, please pray that Ted is led in the right direction. Thank you!
One last thing, I'm having a problem with my spell checker lately (something to do with pop-ups), I apologize for any spelling errors. Also, this was written on the 4th and posted on the 6th (had to notify others first).
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