Work status and expectations

[JesasaurusRex]

I hope that you get to keep your job. That's most excellent news!

Thanks

They must all be going to Ken's Mom's house.

 

[ThumperX]

I'm so glad I don't have employees, worrying about myself is one thing but being responsible for others jobs would be really tough.

I would be having a stroke right now.

 

[budman]

Just drafted my letter to my guys....

Here is a snippet...


What to do?
• So I think it is best for all to sign up for unemployment.
• This does not mean you are laid off.
• There is a unique opportunity right now where that can be a supplement to your regular pay check.
• All are eligible except Joe based on the laws we do know.

Our idea:
My plan is to keep you all being paid for a minimum of 1 hour a week. That will mean you continue to accrue personal time off at the 40 hour per week rate.

However that does leave us in trouble as far as getting work done. There will be some, but I have to believe it will continue to be slow.

What you should consider:
To that end we have a bit of a roll of the dice.

You can choose to say I will take 30 hours of unemployment a week and 10 hours of work per week.
However I cannot guarantee the 10 hours nor can we afford to pay it if we are not getting billable hours.

So there is the challenge. That decision has to be on you.

******************
There is more, but that is the gist of it. I will reread it 10 times before I send it out tomorrow.

Sucks.. a lot.

 

[ThumperX]

Just drafted my letter to my guys....

Here is a snippet...


What to do?
• So I think it is best for all to sign up for unemployment.
• This does not mean you are laid off.
• There is a unique opportunity right now where that can be a supplement to your regular pay check.
• All are eligible except Joe based on the laws we do know.

Our idea:
My plan is to keep you all being paid for a minimum of 1 hour a week. That will mean you continue to accrue personal time off at the 40 hour per week rate.

However that does leave us in trouble as far as getting work done. There will be some, but I have to believe it will continue to be slow.

What you should consider:
To that end we have a bit of a roll of the dice.

You can choose to say I will take 30 hours of unemployment a week and 10 hours of work per week.
However I cannot guarantee the 10 hours nor can we afford to pay it if we are not getting billable hours.

So there is the challenge. That decision has to be on you.

******************
There is more, but that is the gist of it. I will reread it 10 times before I send it out tomorrow.

Sucks.. a lot.

Way back in the '80s I worked for a car dealership in VA. We faced a similar crisis with a crashing economy. I remember the dealer principle calling a mandatory meeting and thinking for sure this was it. Nope, he pulled a Budman, he asked how we could resolve this as a team. In the end we took reduced pay in the form of a loan to the company. A year and a half later economy recovered and we were all paid back the money we had invested into our employer's company. It was pretty scary and some people quit but for those of us that placed faith in the business, it paid off. Three years later you should have seen the size of our bonuses.

 

[JimE]

I have two jobs:

Job 1: Full time building engineer at Facebook (I work for the property management company called Hines). I don't work with people so it's not a big deal. At first we were told to be there all the time. We can get MORE done without people there. I agree with this. Then they sent us home. Now they are having us rotate in one day a week. Guess they figured out we are essential. Fire systems, electrical, generators, etc.. We do all that. I'm impressed with FB taking care of their people. All the food and kitchen staff, all the janitors, all the people they call "contingent workers" (aka contractors) are being paid their regular pay. FB has indicated they are willing to spend their war chest on this. Amazing. I would rather be working there every day. I work on my own most of the time doing mechanical and automation stuff anyways. Just a guy with a meter, laptop, some wrenches.... make stuff work.

Job 2: I started and developed a small business working on fixed in place, fully automatic emergency electrical generators for residential and commercial use. 15 years invested. When I went to work for somebody else (insert "divorce is unfair to men story" here) I retained the service aspect of this business. I still do some new installs but I have several hundred services I do every year. Lots and lots of small generators at Mr. and Mrs. J.Q. Smiths' home. They add up. Also doing power quality analysis work for light commercial and large residential. Fundamental harmonics and THD analysis and code compliant studies for other contractors and whatnot.

So I don't really work with people. Never have. Good thing because I'm not really a "people person" anyways. I like machines they don't zigzag the way people do. Can't catch a cold from them either.

I'm "essential" I guess. Already had folks get me out in a rush make sure the power stays on. For their CPAP. Or (hopefully not) their ventilator. I'll never get rich doing all this but I am paying a mortgage, got quite a few used but good bikes and am happy with what I do.

 

[dagle]

business as usual for me, at home writing code and solving problems. my productivity has increased since i'm not pulled into meetings or tapped on the shoulder anymore. i'm expecting to keep this up until everything returns to normal. the only change is that i was intending to start interviewing again in late spring at googbookmicrozon to see if i can jump an income tax bracket.

it has slowed things down for my mom who's working age (daycare) though her babies' parents are such sweethearts a few of them paid for the entire month of march and april despite their kids not spending a single day here.

 

[boney]

Back at work today. After 14 hours (with 10 to go) I've used hand sanitizer and washed my hands so many times they hurt.

A lot of the residents in this part of town don't care enough to isolate, or live in such tight quarter that they can't. If the 'rona gets loose down here (if it already isn't) things are gonna get ugly.

 

[JesasaurusRex]

I wonder if the poll says more about our personality types than the reality of the situation we're in. Can't believe more of you aren't worried about your jobs

 

[mean dad]

Bay Area Riders Forum, and there is an overabundance of tech jobs in the Bay Area.

 

[ThumperX]

I wonder if the poll says more about our personality types than the reality of the situation we're in. Can't believe more of you aren't worried about your jobs

I'm the only one that answered that I might go under.

Which as of our conversation last night we may do before it goes into crisis.
So, anyone want to buy a boat or trade it for a nice 5th wheel or Class A motorhome?

Bayliner Bob will be hitting the sales docks.

 

[mean dad]

People might be interested in the ability to bug out, and a boat might be a nice way to do it.

 

[budman]

I wonder if the poll says more about our personality types than the reality of the situation we're in. Can't believe more of you aren't worried about your jobs

I am damn worried myself. I did not start off that way, but the sudden brakes on work flow was shocking. I did not expect that like a dummy.

Now it is in my face constantly. My guys texting me or emailing asking if I had anything during the last two weeks. It continued to get worse last week.

The good news is some cities are getting their protocols going and redefining how projects can move forward.

City of SV:
Inspections two days a week for critical businesses.
Permit submittals for critical businesses.
No more face to face, but you can drop off plans and then after they review to deem complete you email in the files for a review. No idea on timing, but at least the doors are open.

 

[WoodsChick]

I work(ed) for the Hyatt Hotel in SF, been there 27 years. Got The Call a few days ago. I am officially laid off. As I am on top of the seniority heap in my department I will be the first to be called back at my same wages. I may defer and allow the #2 gal to go back first, as she has kids and is not as solid financially. To be honest, the fact that it's official now has been a blessing in disguise. No more anxiety or confusion or wondering what's going to happen. I made a list, the con's of unemployment versus the pro's. It was overwhelmingly weighted to the pro side. There were only 3 items on the con side...no wages, missing my long-time coworkers, and worrying about my coworkers that are not in a position to weather this storm.

My husband is still working. He is a layout guy for a construction firm that has a bunch of jobs going all over the Bay Area. There are already signs that things might slow down due to supply chain instability so who knows how long he'll be working full time. While recognizing it's better for everyone involved if they stay busy, we're both hoping he ends up with a little bit of time off. We'll be fine financially, even if it goes on for 6 months.

I am super sad to see what's happened at my hotel. The salaried GM took a 50% pay cut and is doing all kinds of extra stuff, the department heads took 20%-25% pay cuts and are now the ones running the hotel. The Director of Sales was doing night audit the other night. I am guessing the hotel will "temporarily suspend operations" when April gets here and there are no more airline crews contracted to stay with us. We've been running single-digit occupancy

 

[ThumperX]

Wow!! WC. I agree, the concern for our coworkers, sub contractors, is huge. Single digit occupancy?
For some reason, that right there made this thing even more sureal.

OMG.

 

[WoodsChick]

Wow!! WC. I agree, the concern for our coworkers, sub contractors, is huge. Single digit occupancy?
For some reason, that right there made this thing even more sureal.

OMG.

It's totally surreal. For many years in a row we were the busiest Hyatt in North America. Sold out every night in the summer, and almost every other night the rest of the year. We all looked forward to November when things slowed down for the holidays. It was like a breath of fresh air only running 70% occupancy. We have 316 rooms, and my Air Canada crews were taking up about 30-40 rooms per night. As soon as word spread about that cruise ship off the coast the phone started ringing off the hook with cancellations. Levi's stopped all business travel, then Williams-Sonoma, then the rest of our contracted business. Airline crew rooms fell off as their business fell off. We lost Air India when their flights stopped. And now we're down to nothing...

 

[littlebeast]

People might be interested in the ability to bug out, and a boat might be a nice way to do it.

we aren’t ‘preppers’ by any stretch, but we have a bug out plan and very coincidentally had recently topped off our kit. it was mostly for recreational reasons, but always with one eye toward an emergency situation.

 

[ThumperX]

Hey Budman,
Is there a way to rerun this poll in the same thread now that we have more information?

 

[budman]

Not that I know of.. I think a new poll would be more interesting actually as it would have a different time line and be telling as to how things are changing.

I got to get off this computer and get some work stuff done.

 

[Agent Orange]

People might be interested in the ability to bug out, and a boat might be a nice way to do it.

I dont think Hawaii wants our mess.

 

[byke]

Native Hawaiians got their own weird little redneck thing going on.