Add me to the list of people that got laid off... UPDATE Nevermind

[Teggy]

That's great news. Did they explain how they screwed up and let you go in the first place?

[Goldchamp]

Just went over 6 months here and i'm way beyond, depressed the time off is nice but if i hear "overqualified" or "we can't afford you" one more time i'm gonna puke.

[Blackjack]

Gratz!

My old newspaper in Virginia has been amuck with one-week furloughs, and sometimes 2-week furloughs over the last several years. While it's better than losing a job outright, we never knew if those things might become permanent, or if they might decide that functioning fine without person X for a week or two proved that the person's job was redundant. And some of the people who accepted furloughs last year ended up getting laid off shortly thereafter anyway.

I have one former co-worker friend who quit a year ago from my current employer, and is still out of work. He applies all the time. His wife has a good job. They don't have kids, and I wonder sometimes if he's just getting a little too "comfortable" being out of work. I don't know exactly how hard he's job-seeking at this point.

I tried to get him some freelance writing assignments with a friend of mine who's editor at a local paper, and apparently he decided it wasn't what he wanted to do. I just figure after a year, either a sense of urgency (I despite that phrase but sometimes it seems a good fit) or a willingness to try something different and hope it turns into something you really want might be called for. But I guess people all have their own approaches.