It's funny how life changes.
 

Some of you who know me may remember that I finally got the job I had wanted last November. Actual manager, the salary to go with it, life was good. A job I LOVED. Absolutely love. Everyday my heart and soul go into that place. It's allowed me to buy my dream car, Mazda RX-8...twice! I have grown with the company, traveled all over the state to train people and hold classes, run my own store and move up.

Today I had a meeting with the big corporate guys. I'm losing my job. Not because I'm underperforming. it's because the company does not feel that my position in the store is required anymore. So they want to move me. And cut my pay by just over $10,000 a year. See while I am a store manager, my main responsibility is the Copy and Print Center. The company does not feel that the Copy center needs it's own manager anymore, this is happening all over the nation...today. Unfortunately there are no other management positions open right now.

I was shocked. There is not one other manager in the region that loves their job more than me, and I have a store full of associates that can back up that claim.

So here is my choice.

1) I can step into a lower paying position and "hope" to move into another manager position soon.

2) I can walk. My last day can be August 19th, and then get 6 weeks of full severence pay and 2 weeks of vacation pay.

8 weeks of getting full salary while not working does sound good huh? NO, no it doesn't. Because even though I'll have almost two full months of vacation before finding a new job I won't be at MY store. I won't have Rick in the morning making me breakfast, or Heather at the register to make fun of people with. I won't have Carey to tell off color jokes to or Hien to talk and laugh about Top Gear.

I won't have any of them. An entire store where every single person has become family to me. I won't have them anymore. And that is what hurts more than anything. All of my family is in SC, I'm the only one in PA. Without my "family" here at Staples I have nothing. I'm not ready to give them up. Sure I could stay for less money but I could not afford my bills if I did. I really have no choice but to leave.

So on August 19th, 2007 after 5 years with the company, I will be unemployed. It's kind of fitting. I was planning a huge car show and concert FOR my store on the 18th to help bring in business.

I will still have that show. I might as well go out big.

www.goarmy.com

Or....www.moveyourarsetoWA.com :D

You're a good man, Stephen - good things will come of this.

Sorry to hear :(

I'm sure you'll find something, just keep your eyes open for opportunities.

Keep your chin up, things will get better. :)

Hmmm. That sucks. My personal recommendation is to look at some of the positives. You work in an industry that has fairly high turnover. Despite that, you have put in 5 years with one employer. You're not quitting or getting fired. They are removing your position. While it's awesome to have a job you love, it's probably not entirely healthy to do all your living at work. You have 10 weeks to track down a job starting today which will fulfill your career criteria. If you start on September first, that 6 weeks of severance becomes fiscal profit. There are a lot of cool places to work, so while you may be losing your beloved co-workers, you may find yourself in a new job that has people of excellent caliber.

While distressing, there is no reason you can't turn this into a step up.

have you also considered relocating to a bigger city ie philly or nyc where there i more opportunity and the pay rate is higher?

aww im sorry to hear. good luck with everything and as others have said...im sure something will pop up!!!

Sometimes, it's just good to change things up. Who knows, you might find a better job with people you like even more. And even if you don't you'll still learn something from the experience. My recommendation, it to make out a little with Heather and set the building on fire before you leave.

Chris you are right. As I said on PT.C, the severeance/vacation pay is mine even if I get another job. So I'm going to try and move right into another job so I can get paid by the new job and staples for those 8 weeks.

I'll also cash in my 401K. Normally I'd roll it over but since I won't be finishing out the fiscal year all the extra money from the company won't actually go with it. But if I cash it in I get a good percentage of it.

Perhaps my car WILL get that turbo this year as planned if all goes well.

I have a friend who works for STAPLES here in S. Jersey. Just as he was up to manage his own store, he developed a brain tumor. He, too, loves Staples. After the operation, & he came out of it with just hearing loss in his left ear, they screwed around with him & he's still playing second fiddle to a kid manager when he has the balls to be the store manager. I think they're playing him: afriad he'll have a relapse & leave them stuck-more concerned about the store's health than his.
Anyway, I teach with his wife. She'll soon be earning enough for him to go back to school. Have you considered taking some courses & making yourself more marketable?

yeah nyc your guarenteed a job if you try. Im sure youll grow in the ranks, but the best part is that you get to join the NEW YORK ROTARY ASSOCIATION (www.nyrotary.com)

In all seriousness, good luck out there.

Jason NYC:puke:

Damn, sorry to hear that supergoat. Nothing worse than losing a job that you love, but look on the bright side: Everything happens for a reason. You just have to find out what the reason is.

Don't cash out your 401k! 10 years from now you will hate yourself. Even a 10k balance now means 3 extra years till retirement in 30 years. Just don't get that mindset that you are being screwed and f'it, lets have some fun.

You got 8 weeks pay coming from a place you love. And you said positions may come. Negotiate. Request a week unpaid leave, use a week of vacation, and take the 10k downsize. Recreate for a couple weeks, think, examine opportunities, do interviews.

When you come back, you will have new perspective on what your options are, will still be getting a check at a place you enjoy, and it is amazing how quickly people that are moved down move back up.

Just don't pitch something you love to dive into an abyss. A downgrade hurts ego more than anything. Suck it up for a couple weeks, and make a good decision for you.

When I worked retail, the fastest, and often only way, to move up was to switch companies. They are generally more invested in recruitment then in internal training. Besides, by staying in the company, you lose that severance pay. That's over 10% of a year's pay. If you transition quickly, you wind up with a nice financial kick.

[QUOTE=dbright007;1934727]Don't cash out your 401k! 10 years from now you will hate yourself. Even a 10k balance now means 3 extra years till retirement in 30 years. Just don't get that mindset that you are being screwed and f'it, lets have some fun."

I agree, do not cash it in. You lose too much in taxes, etc. Roll it over into the 401k at the new job (if that is an option) or into an IRA/Roth IRA. Do not think of it as "found" money! Think of it as being already "spent" and it will be easier to roll it over.

I got laid off two years ago and as I was the only bread winner, we were pretty much forced to cash in my 401K. After penalties and taxes, I got just over half (of course paid taxes on the entire amount!).

Good luck with the job search. I'm sure something better will come along. Staples is losing an excellent employee!

Chris, Staples actually prefers to promote from within. I had a long meeting today with my GM and HR rep. They are going to do everything they can to retain me. They want to keep me. It wasn't them who decided to downsize my position it was from the big office in MA. So they are fighting for me. And that's nice.

I was on a conference call with one of the big wigs and my exact words were "I put more into this company than anyone in your board room. Anyone can do the drone like tasks that a manager has to do everyday but who do you want to be the face of your company? Someone there for a paycheck? Or someone there that actually likes to be there and looks forward to it? I can't tell you how to do your job but at least let me make it easier for you. Not only do I keep my department running very well, I also help run the entire store as well as do more than anyone else to keep moral up and it's always soaring. So for what I make, it sounds to me like Staples is getting off pretty cheap."

I don't want to cash in the 401k. I really don't. But it depends on what company I go to next.

Don't forget to bring up something like this, stephen:

"...and do you know? Do you KNOW How many posts I have on PT???"

i really feel bad for your situation but the big wigs that were in that room have never been in a board room. as much as that may have sounded good in your head and feel good now, it probably didn't help your situation. really, i'm not trying to spoil that feeling and truly do feel bad for what happened to you but it's retail and i'm sure you will bounce back. hopefully the HR folks will be able to help you out and find something better suited for you and this will all be a great opportunity in disguise.