It's blizzarding outside and I may go home to work this afternoon, but in the meantime I'm in the office and in need of a break.
And, you know, I want to whine. I am being laid off. In the worst economy since the Great Depression, I'm about to be unemployed. They are outsourcing my work. The Argonut Café no longer wants to deal with the crying and complaining from the Argonuts Afield when their advertising fails to magically produce a hundred thousand dollars in business each month.
Fine. I get it. As I told Jason, this is not my first time at this particular rodeo. I saw the writing on the wall quite some time back. I've been hoarding my pennies and cutting back on all my expenditures and I won't have to collect food stamps for a while.*
But! (And, let me add, !!)
Jason came to my desk yesterday, looking embarrassed and saying he had an "interesting situation" or something like that. I rather expected to be told that they'd decided they could do without me starting right that minute.
But, no! It seems there was a two-hour call with the NIMO yesterday, and you know what? They told him they don't want to change how their marketing is handled. They want me to keep doing it.
!!
After making my life a misery for the past four months, the news that they won--that they are now free to do it themselves or hire whatever outside company they think can do better--this news upset them.
!!
Jason came to my desk to tell me this, to apologize because he still doesn't intend to reinstate my job but to say that maybe my "final" day of April 10 might be "stretched," and to ask if I'd like to take some of the Assorted Nuts on, on a freelance basis.**
Why is it that I'm always losing my job, but always having to fight to actually become unemployed?
___________________
* I love being pathetic
** Am I cynical or justified in being just a teeny bit concerned that he might fight my unemployment claim, saying they offered me work and I refused it?
posted by AnneZook on 03.26.09 at 11:00 AMI guess nobody ever told those Nuts "be careful what you wish for", huh?
And what is it with you and companies that can't afford to pay you to do the job, but can't do it themselves and want you to do it "freelance" at cheaper prices? *g*
posted by: Dail on 03.26.09 at 12:07 PM [permalink]Justified. Let him know that you've got plans for April 11-15, and you're not going to change them without a firm committment one way or the other.
What I don't understand is why they can't or won't extend your job. If there are people willing to keep paying them for your labor, why don't they want their cut?
Needless to say, any freelance work should be billed at top dollar, at least twice what you were making in the office. They owe you that to cover lost benefits and the part-time nature of the work. Maybe triple, to cover the aggravation.
posted by: Jonathan Dresner on 03.26.09 at 06:17 PM [permalink]I don't know, Dail. Especially with this jbo - it's not like I was overpaid even before the pay cut!
It's mysterious and sort of worrying.
posted by: Anne on 03.27.09 at 08:02 AM [permalink]Somehow, Jonathan, Jason has gotten it into his head that managing the accounts internally makes the home office legally responsible for generating the 'Nuts revenue. He claims it's a liability issue, anyhow.
My personal opinion? He just wants the whining and complaining to go away. If all of the marketing is done by outside companies that the 'Nuts work with directly, he can just say, "not our problem" whenever they have complaints.
posted by: Anne on 03.27.09 at 08:06 AM [permalink]Okaaay. next lunch is totally on me.
That sucks big fat hairy monkey balls. :(
posted by: Meg on 03.27.09 at 10:14 PM [permalink]