If you feel your job is still stable...

[laterz]

Apr 21, 2020 15:02:07 GMT -5 sadlebred said:

I am in IT in the financial sector, and my job is very stable for now. For what I do, we are not impacted by COVID-19.

Same.

[wildrice]

I work in higher ed HR. The head of HR and the president herself have repeatedly assured us that they are not planning to cut any jobs. We also have a large temporary workforce so I speculate that if we had to make some cuts, those would be easy places to start. If we do eventually end up needing to cut regular employees anyway, there are a lot of jobs in my department that I think will go before mine - I am the only person in my department who does what I do (training) which makes me also feel more secure. We may not need 4 people focused on talent acquisition if we aren't hiring, 2 people focused on compensation if we are on a salary freeze, etc. They are not talking paycuts or furloughs either, but I can see that happening before I can see actual layoffs in the cards. While I would not be happy with that (I believe I am underpaid already), I also know we'd be fine financially, unless we went to like 50% salary or something. I've been far too busy doing work that is being recognized as adding value to think they'd even want me to go down to half time, though.

My H is a research post-doc in a health related field, so he's been told that it's likely that their work will increase. He's also cheaper labor than a lot of his coworkers so hopefully he has that on his side if they need to get more bang for their bucks at some point.

Really neither of us can be 100% sure, and I have been laid off in the past from a job that I would have at one point said was secure. So our plan is to try to save as much as we can "just in case" but also not to spend much time worrying about it.

[farmvillelover]

Partner at an estate planning, trust administration and probate law firm. We also do litigation related to those practices so thankfully because of that and cases that are settling or wrapping up, we're good for a while. For some reason there is an uptick in new planning clients right now. There have also been a lot of client deaths (mostly naturally due to age) so a lot of trust administration and probate work. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep my associate busy as well as myself but we're actually busier than we can handle. A lot of tax planning as well since there was new IRA legislation in December 2019.

[dottyblue]

I am a global payroll manager for a mid-size company. Our business is taking a hit, so it is affecting all of our employees, but I would be one of the last ones to go if the business shut down. Additionally, with all of the COVID legislation that has come out to assist employers, I have been able to save the company in excess of $4 million over the past 4 weeks. I'm hoping that makes my job pretty secure.

[galaxy8227]

I work in public health, my job has never been safer then it is right now.

[shakinros]

Philanthropy. We are extremely busy. We’re hiring for a couple vacant positions though I don’t expect any new positions any time soon. We have very little redundancy in some of the business operations and I’m the only person who does my particular role. Usually this keeps me up at night that there’s no continuity plan if I need to be out suddenly (and no one near enough in line that I could cross-train them) but it’s pretty comforting right now.

[dragon's breath]

PDQ

Fed, power generation. My crew requires 24/7 coverage, and we don't run with extra people, so we're safe. They've changed our schedule for now, to try to keep the same set of people on the same shifts, but other than that, my job hasn't been affected.

[puppyluv]

Higher Ed, financial work for research grants. Our money isn’t going away and we need to still report the federal agencies every month. My funder has said they will make sure we are paid through all of this. Also the University isn't going anywhere and they have told us we’ll all continue to be paid. Higher Wd always goes on.

[nessness]

I'm a Fed. DH is a DoD contractor. Both seem pretty stable right now.

[nessness]

Apr 21, 2020 23:27:00 GMT -5 nessness said:

I'm a Fed. DH is a DoD contractor. Both seem pretty stable right now.

ETA: we have been directed not to fill any non-mission-critical positions right now, but that seems to be driven by the difficulty of onboarding employees during maximum telework, not because of budgetary issues.

[starlily]

County prosecutor, with civil service protection and a good amount of seniority.

[Cappy]

Apr 21, 2020 16:00:11 GMT -5 wildrice said:

I work in higher ed HR. The head of HR and the president herself have repeatedly assured us that they are not planning to cut any jobs. We also have a large temporary workforce so I speculate that if we had to make some cuts, those would be easy places to start. If we do eventually end up needing to cut regular employees anyway, there are a lot of jobs in my department that I think will go before mine - I am the only person in my department who does what I do (training) which makes me also feel more secure. We may not need 4 people focused on talent acquisition if we aren't hiring, 2 people focused on compensation if we are on a salary freeze, etc. They are not talking paycuts or furloughs either, but I can see that happening before I can see actual layoffs in the cards. While I would not be happy with that (I believe I am underpaid already), I also know we'd be fine financially, unless we went to like 50% salary or something. I've been far too busy doing work that is being recognized as adding value to think they'd even want me to go down to half time, though.

My H is a research post-doc in a health related field, so he's been told that it's likely that their work will increase. He's also cheaper labor than a lot of his coworkers so hopefully he has that on his side if they need to get more bang for their bucks at some point.

Really neither of us can be 100% sure, and I have been laid off in the past from a job that I would have at one point said was secure. So our plan is to try to save as much as we can "just in case" but also not to spend much time worrying about it.

Since you are in higher ed HR.... I know this is going to vary by institution, but would your guess be that international programs are at high risk? I work in study abroad and we not only have zero students abroad, but are guessing it will be a while before we send them again. I'm worried. We only have a 3 person office for a school of 20k students so we are lean. But I can easily see them just throwing us out and saying we are not an essential operation. My boss thinks otherwise and says that they can't just do away with study abroad. Curious about your objective view on if a university sees study abroad as "essential" in the same way.

[wildrice]

Cappy, honestly I haven't heard any talk of anything to do with study abroad at my institution. The message we've been given (which I do believe is accurate as of their current beliefs) is that we're not cutting any jobs, so that would definitely include our study abroad staff. I am lucky to work for a university that has leadership that really does focus on people and I trust that they will consider every other option before causing employees to lose income. I don't think it's coincidence that our president is female

I think we have to look at the long term when making any decisions about talent - if your institution cuts those 3 jobs now, what happens in the 2021-2022 school year when international travel is safe and your college has nobody to support sending students abroad? I guess they could furlough you, either fully or partially, if there is truly no work to do this year. But I think at my school that would still be a last resort.

Sorry that's not more helpful! It's possible that down the road we'll have to make choices about which areas are essential and which are not, but right now that isn't being discussed, at least not at my level (I'm basically 1 level down from senior leadership, I report directly to the head of HR).

[Cappy]

Apr 22, 2020 9:44:31 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Cappy , honestly I haven't heard any talk of anything to do with study abroad at my institution. The message we've been given (which I do believe is accurate as of their current beliefs) is that we're not cutting any jobs, so that would definitely include our study abroad staff. I am lucky to work for a university that has leadership that really does focus on people and I trust that they will consider every other option before causing employees to lose income. I don't think it's coincidence that our president is female

I think we have to look at the long term when making any decisions about talent - if your institution cuts those 3 jobs now, what happens in the 2021-2022 school year when international travel is safe and your college has nobody to support sending students abroad? I guess they could furlough you, either fully or partially, if there is truly no work to do this year. But I think at my school that would still be a last resort.

Sorry that's not more helpful! It's possible that down the road we'll have to make choices about which areas are essential and which are not, but right now that isn't being discussed, at least not at my level (I'm basically 1 level down from senior leadership, I report directly to the head of HR).

Thanks for this response. This is helpful. Our president has said the school is on a hiring freeze and pay freeze (totally prudent) but also warned layoffs are coming and cuts to "programs and services". I assume those will be for the July 1 fiscal year contracts. My best guess is that I'm secure for one more year then we shall see... 

[wildrice]

Apr 22, 2020 9:49:39 GMT -5 Cappy said:

Apr 22, 2020 9:44:31 GMT -5 wildrice said:

Cappy , honestly I haven't heard any talk of anything to do with study abroad at my institution. The message we've been given (which I do believe is accurate as of their current beliefs) is that we're not cutting any jobs, so that would definitely include our study abroad staff. I am lucky to work for a university that has leadership that really does focus on people and I trust that they will consider every other option before causing employees to lose income. I don't think it's coincidence that our president is female

I think we have to look at the long term when making any decisions about talent - if your institution cuts those 3 jobs now, what happens in the 2021-2022 school year when international travel is safe and your college has nobody to support sending students abroad? I guess they could furlough you, either fully or partially, if there is truly no work to do this year. But I think at my school that would still be a last resort.

Sorry that's not more helpful! It's possible that down the road we'll have to make choices about which areas are essential and which are not, but right now that isn't being discussed, at least not at my level (I'm basically 1 level down from senior leadership, I report directly to the head of HR).

Thanks for this response. This is helpful. Our president has said the school is on a hiring freeze and pay freeze (totally prudent) but also warned layoffs are coming and cuts to "programs and services". I assume those will be for the July 1 fiscal year contracts. My best guess is that I'm secure for one more year then we shall see... 

Good luck! I always think of higher ed as a pretty stable field (for staff), especially if you work for a larger institution, so this is depressing to think that may change.

Another thing to add - even if they furlough you vs cutting your job, they run the risk of losing good employees by doing that. It's expensive to hire and train, so cutting jobs one year that will be needed the following year is pretty short sighted. Furloughing means in theory the employee will come back, but they also may find another job in the meantime. I hope that if programs end up being cut, they are programs that aren't seen as long term needs. That's where I might lean toward thinking study abroad is sustainable - I can't imagine it would be good for recruitment to offer nothing in terms of study abroad. I guess this partially depends on your student population and the program's current popularity.

[brooklyn]

H is a cyber security analyst which seems safe. He’s still actively being contacted by recruiters while WFH, and has interviewed others for job opportunities at his organization since the pandemic started.

[steamboat185]

I work for a health insurance company and my husband works for a large financial institution. His company has actually promised no layoffs in 2020 as a way to retain clients.

[kellygreen]

I work in new product development [project manager] for a well-known motorcycle manufacturer. The company is not doing well overall but new product development is important if the company wants to sell new product. A hiring freeze is in place and depending on your level, everyone will see pay reductions [temporary, they say for now] and merit raises for 2019 were eliminated. But we're all "happy to have a job"; the pay reductions were in lieu of job cuts.

[FrozenSunshine]

I do invoicing and accounts receivable for a high end liquor distributor. I’ve been 100% remote/out of state for over a year. I spend a lot of time trying to collect money from closed restaurants, but retail sales are through the roof.

H is essential and runs a large distribution warehouse for the Pacific Northwest. He’s in office daily.

Our jobs are safe and day to day life doesn’t seem different except on weekends.

[agnes]

I work in accounting for community services. Our funding has increased due to covid-19 for the area I work with. It’s possible there could be furloughs but it’s not likely at this time and even less like to happen in my unit.

H is a mechanic for a small shop. They’ve got plenty of work lined up with out even adding new jobs. As long as parts stores stay open, there shouldn’t be an issue fore him either.

[macmars45]

I subbed for my local school district but school is closed for the remainder of the school year. So while I am out of work, my childcare provider is closed and I made a pittance anyways.

H is an accounting manager for a small company. He says they're doing ok but I'm not going to give details on the interwebs.

[atlas]

I do payroll. I switched jobs mid-March. My old job is a shelf-stable creamer that has been booming with the COVID preppers, I would have been totally fine. My new job is with the school district.

[erbear]

I'm a teacher. My job looks different now and might still in the fall, but I will have one.

[gt7301b]

I am a fed and my husband is a teacher. My agency is essential, but we are hurting. I will be fine in the interim, but I imagine things will be tight in my agency once things cool down. We haven't had cuts yet, but I imagine we will stop hiring contractors soon.

[hbomdiggity]

In house attorney for a large “essential” business. I have been busier than ever dealing with impacts but the company seems to be weathering the storm since we can still bring in substantial revenue.

[picaflora]

I'm an accounting manager for a quarry. We are getting into our normal busy season, and haven't seen an impact on sales at this point. Construction projects that are already funded are continuing, and our state DOT is not stopping any planned roadwork. My company is also not debt heavy, so we can weather a downturn for a bit. I do think this will have an impact on bonuses for the year.

H is an architect at and A&E firm specializing in senior living. They've had some projects put on hold, but others continue on as normal. His firm did do a 10% paycut across the board, but they have always been proactive. He has worked his way up in the past 6 years, and taken on roles where he will be one of the last let go. His company has been around 100 years, and survived the 2008 downturn when many other firms didn't. We may see more cuts from his job, but I doubt he'll be laid off completely.

[audry80]

I manage an operations department for a retail company (mostly wholesale). As long as we are in business, I am pretty safe but I may have to lay off some of my team. I don’t recommend working for retail at this time!

[idahome]

I work for a technology consulting company and handle risk, compliance, and contracts. My role is needed and I’m the only one who does what I do here, so that’s good. Overall operations are doing well now; changes could come in Q3/Q4, but we run with a conservative budget, so I think that will help.

[ECB]

My job is pretty stable. I work for a state university and I'm WFH. Now- this doesn't mean furloughs won't happen and eventually, budget cuts could lead to job cuts. BUT I know that this would be a last resort. And I suspect that if this happened and it affected my division, I would expect I would lose an employee or two before *I* lost my job.

I hope it doesn't come to that, obviously. I don't want anyone to lose their job during all this.

But for now, I feel pretty secure.

[Covergirl82]

I feel that my job is pretty stable. My company is a consumer goods company, with one of our largest product groups being vitamin/supplements.

DH works for a health insurance company, and their membership has stayed more stable than originally expected, so his job seems pretty stable for now.

We're both WFH and have not had our base pay affected, but DH is not going to receive any employer contributions/match to his retirement for July - December of 2020. He also has to use at least 40 hours of his PTO before July 4. We're not expecting much in the way of bonus payments next March, and are preparing for the possibility that we might not receive a bonus payment at all.