Change in circumstances

[Platypus]

Somehow or other I haven't mentioned this here before.

Early September, I found out the business where I worked was closing at the end of October. So I'm as of Friday unemployed.

This was quite a surprise, as we were very busy. But that was actually the problem, we haven't been able to get any staff. From ten last year, we were down to seven at the start of the year, then 3 more went in March and May. I was left as the remaining employee, with the 3 business owner/partners. Then one of them decided to depart and be a full-time Dad, having re-married, inherited family and now his wife was going back to work after having their child, resulting in 5 young kids at home.

The two remaining partners decided to pull the plug, as we were getting worn down without any break in sight, and all avenues found no-one wanting to be a bench tech for consumer electronics repair.

The last few weeks have been heavy going, as we had to wrap up everything, all our work and clear out the building for the 30th. So now I'm a Platypus of leisure, but very tired with it!

At least since I'd worked there for longer than 10 years, despite most of the time being a casual employee I was entitled to long-service, so that was paid out. I was close to finishing up my house mortgage, so I've been able pay that almost completely out and have no more monthly payment commitment there, which is good. I've left a few dollars in the account because I was well ahead on payments and there's a re-draw facility I could use for moderate interest finance if needed.

So now I can have something of a break, and thankfully there are a couple of prospects I know of that I can explore for possible future employment.

[Ferrit]

Wish ya all the best.
take some time if you can afford it and,
take the time to pick something good

[CCT]

Strange that a business could go under from too much demand!

Pay too little to attract the staff?

In any event, it sounds like there's lots of work in your field, so free-lancing might be an option for a bit.

Good luck.

[Niclo Iste]

Sounds like the company I used to work for a few years ago. They didn't have enough work. They laid off a few (me included), then they got too busy and people started leaving or getting bad reviews by not pulling their weight. Now it's just 2 techs and 2 owners. One tech is planning on leaving and the other I'm sure will be there to see the ship go under when they pull the plug. It just sucks to hear that they have to shut down because they can't manage the appropriate compensation for peoples work.

All I can say is I wish you the best of luck and do as I'm sure many of us have learned and be a free lancer in the time between jobs.

[Matridom]

Having experienced many reversals in employement recently, I can definatly feel for you. I've found though that these unexpected changes help us out more in the long run. It forces us to look for work anew and realize our self worth. Provides new contacts and recommendations. You will be fine, find the job that you enjoy and don't accept anything less (if you can afford to stay unemployed for a little while that is )

[Guts3d]

Sorry to hear the bad news, but like everyone says you will come out of this and find something much better!

[slgrieb]

Ouch! Bit of a tough year for you between family losses and the job change! There is certainly no doubt that the Tech Services market is undergoing lots of changes, many of them driven by the continuing fall in hardware prices right across the board.

Even the market for printer service shows signs of falling apart. Pick your favorite printer parts vendor and see which lines they've cut and how much they've reduced inventories. These days, it's all about remote support, networking services, security, and data recovery and preservation. Well, getting crappy vertical market software to play nice with other software, as well.

I closed my consumer-oriented storefront in 2006, and had a pretty tough 2 years while I refocused my efforts on expanding the range of services I provided to businesses that didn't have in house IT. Don't worry. With your level of expertise, you're going to find a huge range of services and products to sell.

[houseisland]

Best of luck Platypus!


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It is my pure and virtuous heart that
gives me the strength of ten!

[Platypus]

Firstly, thank you all for your good wishes.

The last couple of weeks especially leading up to the finish were heavy going. We had to finish up all the work and persuade all the cusomers to pick everything up, and remove everything from the building. I think we got to about 9 tons of stuff went to the tip.

The first week following the close, I was pretty much just zonked out. Last week I finished the brake pad replacement on the car, and the waterpump drivebelt, so I could go up to Sydney to visit friends & relatives.

So the plan was travel up today, but dang it, I'm holed up in a Motel at Yass, half-way, hoping to get the car's ignition sorted out tomorrow so it doesn't keep stopping on me!

At least the Motel has free wireless internet...