Laid off after 16 years. This should be interesting…
Laid off: Now what?
Well, it finally happened. After 16 years working for the same company, it all came to an end last week. The funny thing is…instead of being upset, angry or anxious…I kind of feel relieved, like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.
The company had it’s ups and downs over the years, but over the last few years specifically it had many more downs. The majority of my coworkers that I enjoyed working with over the years were no longer there, ownership changes had made things a lot less fun, and I had reached a point where I didn’t feel like I was being challenged, or learning anything new. Don’t get me wrong, I am still going to miss my work friends, and some of the conveniences that my company provided…but in the end, I think moving on will be best for me and my family.
I am also really looking forward to taking a month or two off, hopefully writing a few more blog posts, drinking a few new whiskies and doing some cleaning/organising around the house. It will be nice to have some extra time off around the holidays, hell I might even get my Christmas shopping done before Christmas eve (probably not). In my first 2 days of unemployment I’ve already accomplished quite a bit:
- Cleaned out & reorganised entire basement
- Set up home office
- Decluttered/cleared out cupboards/shelves in family room & kitchen
- Watched the Irishmen on Netflix
- Had brunch with my dad
- Wrote a blog post
- Initiated transfer of work Pension into direct investment account
We also have a trip to Mexico planned in January – so I probably wont start seriously looking for a new job until after that. In the mean time, I’m going to look into taking a couple courses and looking into seeing if EI will potentially pay for some. In my entire adult life I’ve never been on unemployment, or ever had a span of more than a week or two without a job, so it will definitely be interesting. Hopefully I don’t drive myself crazy.
Anyways, now you know the reason I haven’t been to active on Twitter lately, or written any new posts. Now that the home office is set up I hope to start writing a bit more – and I’m really excited to do a recap of the whisky tasting night I hosted a couple weeks ago.
In the meantime, if anyone has any movie/tv recommendations, online course recommendations, or xbox games to try…let me know in the comments. I got spare time!
Cheers
17 Comments on “Laid off after 16 years. This should be interesting…”
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Hey Jordan,
Thats rough buddy. I have been going through a similar trajectory at my work over the past few months — lots of ups & downs over the past couple of years and mostly down lately. 90% of my office has been let go this year and Ive been thinking of leaving too. Its a sign of the times I guess, where changes are abound, but hopefully you wont drive yourself crazy and take some time to find the right career move for you.
Taking some courses might be a great way to fill up your day. Ive been doing the same lately. What field are you in, btw?
Enjoy the holidays and keep those pics of cocktails coming 🙂
cheers
R2R
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Industry I guess would be considered Fintech/Online Marketing
I took the Canadian Securities Course a couple years back, and the Personal Financial Services Advice course for fun, since I always found this stuff interesting.
I think I just need to take the Financial Planning 1 course to get the PFP designation (according to the Canadian Securities Institute website.
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Hi Jordan and Roadmap2Retire!
What are your work fields, if not a secret?
Thank you!
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I work in the tech industry, flyby.
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Thank you guys!
Good luck with your new and current jobs!
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Entrepreneur.com (I think) has a lot of good courses I can send you the link. Same with Ecel with Business and Alison Courses.
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Thanks Melanie 🙂
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Definitely take advantage of EI. Take some time off before you embark on something new. If I were you, I would probably do YouTube full-time, creating content for my channel. Anyway, brush up your CV and start sending them after the new year. Wishing you all the best!
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I need to call EI next week to see how it works. I walked away with a bit of a severance package…so not sure if I can claim right away, or need to wait until that dries up (though I plan on getting a job before that happens…haha)
Would definitely be curious/interested to see if they will pay for some courses tho…
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Whatever happens, keep us posted. I hope everything works out fine for you.
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Good to read that you’ve walked away with a package. That helps with the transition and if I read correctly you won’t be missing much.
Are you staying in tech or maybe financial planning? If you’re an engineer (sorry cant remember at the moment) then there is a whole remote opportunity thing.
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Definitely not an engineer..haha
Still not 100% sure where the road will take me – but if I had to bet on it right now, I’d say 50/50 on either staying in industry or becoming a financial planner/investment advisor, etc.
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Dam sorry to hear buddy.
Sounds like things have been changing there pretty quickly and changed the work atmosphere in general.
Glad to hear you got a nice severance, that’s a nice bonus. Atleast your financially savoy enough to make that last and put it to good use.
You have been busy by the sounds of it. Enjoy the free time, that’s one of the perks for me as a seasonal job but I get stir crazy pretty dam fast. 2 weeks off and i got potlight’s up and some house renos, but had to find a job to get me out of the house and feel better again. Too much time off for me makes for a grumpy Rob…. lol
All the best on the next endeavour, keep us posted. Look forward to that whiskey roundup too.
cheers man
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Thanks Rob. I’m sure I’ll get tired of it pretty quickly..but the plan is to get a bunch of things I’ve been meaning to get done over the last year or so actually done…and relax a bit…
After Xmas I’ll probably start going a bit crazy too tho..hah
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