yes they made a better offer. i tried to negotiate an even better one than they offered but didn't get it. (i tried to get them to pay for my exams, they just gave me a 10% raise, which isn't bad)
Why did I go back? i live in a small city where there isn't much opportunity, and i didn't want to work for the other firms in town because i think their work is inferior. i would have had to take a non architecture job or move to another city to be employed after the lay off. I did get a job offer from a custom woodworker that would pay as well as the intern arch job and I called the ol firm to give them a last chance to have me back, told them I had another offer. Even though only 5 weeks had gone by, they were ready to hire me back and told me so right then. With the raise, the severance pay, and the nice little vacation, I actually made out pretty good. My workstation was untouched - I even had e-mail and voice mails waiting for me and my name was still on the cube!
I am not really worried about getting laid off from this place in the future since I am no longer lowest in the ranks. The lay off was a year and a half ago and I should hope I am much more valuable now.
lexi - thats too bad. it is bad practice to do that, but doesn't seem to stop firms from doing it. are you thinking of going back?
i was 1 of 2 to be laid off, they didn't hire the other person back. they have since "laid off" another person who had been here over 10 years. They've restructured everything with our new president - like the secretary doesn't sit by the door, nor does she answer the phone. we like to do things backwards. our marketing coordinator writes contracts. I think management is going thru some times. we also have a chain of command where some people don't talk to other people. I get this a lot - "so and so said to tell you this."
maybe I should be more worried than I am about another lay-off. I guess I think it's possible, but will be more prepared to handle it and take it as a sign.
what pissed me off most about getting laid off is that they told me in the morning on a Friday and said that I could pack up and leave at the end of the day. But I just left right then and there - I wasn't going to hang out all day and pretend I had something to work on!
never one I was laid off from but one that i quit for a better opportunity. they were actually pretty cool about it and i was making much more from them 6 years later when i did need work again.
turned out one partner was a big cheat with our time cards, clients and the irs and i left again but that's another story.
I don't think it's that unusual for firms to go through layoffs and then hire the same people back when they get in a new big project. I just interviewed a guy a few days ago whose resume reflected cycles of this with 3 different firms - basically he's been rotating among these 3 firms for years and so far their "ups" and "downs" have been staggered enough to keep him employed most of the time - but he seems to be trying to break out of that loop now.
I returned to a firm I had quit once - mostly this was just a geographical relocation issue and there were no bad feelings between me and the firm.
I might consider returning once to a firm at which I am laid off - but would probably try to avoid getting caught in a loop like the guy above.
But I guess if this were a very bad market - like in the late 80s - then I might not have the luxury of being too choosy.
I'd caution against thinking that you're safe from layoffs once you've got "seniority." When hit with the realization that layoffs are unavoidable most firms will look first at billable hours vs. direct employee expenses. New people often have the biggest profit margin so they may not be the first cut. When they are it's generally because in the long run it will be easier to find and train another person for this job than for one higher up. But the people with the lowest profit margins are usually those in the middle - the "almost registered" or newly registered lower- to mid-management people with more than 3 but less than 8 or 10 years of experience. These people usually have higher salaries but often aren't seen as being much more valuable than the 2nd or 3rd year interns.
The last 2 large firms I worked for each hit downturns and kept all their CAD people, IT people, and interns (of which I was one at the time.) One laid off half the project managers, and the other laid off all of the younger registered architects except the few that were being groomed to be Sr. Associates.
Mar 17, 05 10:59 am ·
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has anyone ever gone back to work for a firm which they have been layed off from?
has anyone ever gone back to work for a firm which they have been layed off from?
yes
why?
did they make a better offer to you? are you worried they may lay you off again in the future?
no. honestly, they broke up with me before i could break up with them.
yes they made a better offer. i tried to negotiate an even better one than they offered but didn't get it. (i tried to get them to pay for my exams, they just gave me a 10% raise, which isn't bad)
Why did I go back? i live in a small city where there isn't much opportunity, and i didn't want to work for the other firms in town because i think their work is inferior. i would have had to take a non architecture job or move to another city to be employed after the lay off. I did get a job offer from a custom woodworker that would pay as well as the intern arch job and I called the ol firm to give them a last chance to have me back, told them I had another offer. Even though only 5 weeks had gone by, they were ready to hire me back and told me so right then. With the raise, the severance pay, and the nice little vacation, I actually made out pretty good. My workstation was untouched - I even had e-mail and voice mails waiting for me and my name was still on the cube!
I am not really worried about getting laid off from this place in the future since I am no longer lowest in the ranks. The lay off was a year and a half ago and I should hope I am much more valuable now.
Did you get laid off lexi? I'm sorry, that sucks.
why did they lay you off only to offer you a job again within a months' time? very strange practices.
It's not the strangest thing they've done...
Strawbeary
I worked at a firm for several years... then they layed off 20 people in a series of 3 lay offs (and i was one of them).
now they are hiring people again only after a few months from the last lay off.
I am currently working at a different company.
lexi - thats too bad. it is bad practice to do that, but doesn't seem to stop firms from doing it. are you thinking of going back?
i was 1 of 2 to be laid off, they didn't hire the other person back. they have since "laid off" another person who had been here over 10 years. They've restructured everything with our new president - like the secretary doesn't sit by the door, nor does she answer the phone. we like to do things backwards. our marketing coordinator writes contracts. I think management is going thru some times. we also have a chain of command where some people don't talk to other people. I get this a lot - "so and so said to tell you this."
maybe I should be more worried than I am about another lay-off. I guess I think it's possible, but will be more prepared to handle it and take it as a sign.
what pissed me off most about getting laid off is that they told me in the morning on a Friday and said that I could pack up and leave at the end of the day. But I just left right then and there - I wasn't going to hang out all day and pretend I had something to work on!
never one I was laid off from but one that i quit for a better opportunity. they were actually pretty cool about it and i was making much more from them 6 years later when i did need work again.
turned out one partner was a big cheat with our time cards, clients and the irs and i left again but that's another story.
I don't think it's that unusual for firms to go through layoffs and then hire the same people back when they get in a new big project. I just interviewed a guy a few days ago whose resume reflected cycles of this with 3 different firms - basically he's been rotating among these 3 firms for years and so far their "ups" and "downs" have been staggered enough to keep him employed most of the time - but he seems to be trying to break out of that loop now.
I returned to a firm I had quit once - mostly this was just a geographical relocation issue and there were no bad feelings between me and the firm.
I might consider returning once to a firm at which I am laid off - but would probably try to avoid getting caught in a loop like the guy above.
But I guess if this were a very bad market - like in the late 80s - then I might not have the luxury of being too choosy.
I'd caution against thinking that you're safe from layoffs once you've got "seniority." When hit with the realization that layoffs are unavoidable most firms will look first at billable hours vs. direct employee expenses. New people often have the biggest profit margin so they may not be the first cut. When they are it's generally because in the long run it will be easier to find and train another person for this job than for one higher up. But the people with the lowest profit margins are usually those in the middle - the "almost registered" or newly registered lower- to mid-management people with more than 3 but less than 8 or 10 years of experience. These people usually have higher salaries but often aren't seen as being much more valuable than the 2nd or 3rd year interns.
The last 2 large firms I worked for each hit downturns and kept all their CAD people, IT people, and interns (of which I was one at the time.) One laid off half the project managers, and the other laid off all of the younger registered architects except the few that were being groomed to be Sr. Associates.
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