let the fun begin.

welli am looking smack into the eyes of my first ever lay off. i have never not had a job. and the thought of collecting unemplyment makes me ill. i am only finding PT jobs in my area.. so i am looking at working to or three jobs. not that i am complaining but i have just never ever been in this situtatuin and boy does this suck.. i feel for someof you out there that are on your 3rd or 4th layoff in recent years..im a youth counselor and can honestly say i will prob never go back in this field. would like to get back into construction but that market blows.. and considered gettin my cdl-a. but dont want to be away from my wife and 5yr old for extended amounts of time.. i have a cdl-b so i guess i just keep poking along.. i am hopin when i stop looking something will fall my way, so to speak.....

BLAH cb

Welcome to the club. It does suck. I am not proud to take the money from the state (waiting for the governator to take that away due to budget cuts too) but I am looking daily for work and still maintaining my contacts in my industry (construction) What the state pays does not cover my mortgage at all, but that is OK, it is spent on insurance and food for the family. My savings and 401K are paying the bills that are not covered by the state paycheck. If I did get several PT jobs, I would loose my Insurance and cannot get coverage on my own. My wife and kids are covered.

I only hope to have something before that check ends (only get 1 year, though heard of a possible extra 20 weeks)

Good Luck

Yep welcome to the club that I just left this week. I too have a CDL-B and found nothing. I just picked up a job cleaning carpets for a whopping $8.50 an hour, but at least I only have to pay bills for myself. I can only say best of luck to ya.

I feel for you, cb... Being laid-off sucks!!! But fortunately, I'm getting quite good at it!

Been off since May 1st, after working for four days after my previous 2-week layoff. (Third layoff this year...) At least once the whole Chrysler dog-n-pony show is complete, our vehicle is the first one scheduled to ramp production back up. (Fiatsler deal dependant...)

Pick up whatever you can in the meantime, and something will come along.

Until then, enjoy the time with the family. Spring, to me, is the best time to be laid-off... Being able to spend some time outside, with people you care about, can really take alot of the edge off of an otherwise sucky situation. Beats the Hell outta being snowed-in and unemployed!!!

Good luck!!!

If you can do a finish carpentry level and do many different jobs , work is out there .Good news travels fast . People are always looking for someone to do the odds and ends at a fair price . Good luck ,John

cb wrote: ...... but dont want to be away from my wife and 5yr old for extended amounts of time

Sometimes life sucks. I've been traveling for over 30 years, not because I wanted to, but because I like to feed my family, pay my bills, have a few nice things. It wasn't always easy but we survived, Mrs. Mini and the two mini Minis.Sometimes we(men) need to suck it up and do what it takes. Unemployment sucks, but you've paid for it. Use it to help out. A lot of times there is training/schooling available to make you more marketable. You spend a lot of your time at work so just don't settle. Maybe that means relocating, and that's not fun either. Make the best of a bad situation, use the resources, network like crazy, enjoy the time with the family, and try to remain upbeat. There are a lot of people in the same boat, use this as a"opportunity" to grow and distinguish yourself from the rest. It could turn out to be a real blessing. although it may not look like it now.

Sorry to hear about so many layoffs in the GRM crowd. I was laid off once, the same week I was moving out of my parents house into my first apartment, talk about a test of character. It was a good thing though. Good luck to you all, I hope the rumors that the economy is getting better are true, there are a lot of hurt people out there, some deserved it most didn't.

First and foremost, DONT PANIC.

If you have the skills you may be able to do home handyman work. Print some flyers on the computer with your cell phone number and stick them under wiper blades at upscale mall parking lots. And offer a ca$h discount nudge, nudge.

Like working on cars? It may not be the most fun but do the same as above in the lower rent district but do the work at your home. Just dont let the car out of your sight without payment in full.

Of course I know nothing about licensing or liability insurance so that may negate any benefit.

I just came off of being layed off for 6 months.. trust me, I was SO done with that enforced vacation.

I wish you lots of luck!

in MI there's something called "TAA" that provides all kinds of money for education / placement / relocation expense.

the TAA program is retroactive, so even though it didn't become available until after I found a job out of state, they'll still pay me some relocation benefits. crazy.

seriously, don't feel bad about using the benefits, especially if you've been a loyal taxpayer. use it to get a fishing pole, not just to get a fish.

good luck! we're in some tough times, that's for sure.

When my father was layed off NY had a similar program. He used it to go to a six month CDL progarm to upgrade his license from a CDL-B to A. Because he graduated from a reputapule school he was able to quickly get a local job without having to do any time over the road. Like Pat said, you've paid the bill for others, theres no shame in taking a little out when you need it.

AngryCorvair wrote: in MI there's something called "TAA" that provides all kinds of money for education / placement / relocation expense. the TAA program is retroactive, so even though it didn't become available until after I found a job out of state, they'll still pay me some relocation benefits. crazy. seriously, don't feel bad about using the benefits, especially if you've been a loyal taxpayer. use it to get a fishing pole, not just to get a fish. good luck! we're in some tough times, that's for sure.

The TAA, as far as I know, is federal. You need to get 10 exworkers together and file a claim effectively saying that you were fired due to foreign companies taking our business. didn't work for me.

Buy a gps and go deliver some pizzas! This week I've averaged about 18 bucks an hour. While I can't do that every week I usually don't drop below 14.

Always an option, and especially if you can get into a mom and pop place that will pay you under the table.

Joey

is anyone in the trucking industry? has it rebounded at all.. just wondering if gettin my A, is worth it... any input.