At a Similar Point Again

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So after months of looking for work and not finding it, I finally found a good job, but it required leaving my home state of Oklahoma and moving to Texas with an acquaintance who would also be working with me, so we could live together and carpool to work. Now after about half a year, all of that is starting to fall apart.

My worplace is actually owned by one company but contracted by another, when a third company came into the picture and bought us out. The switch just took place, and unfortunately, it happened at the same time as the company we're under contract with decided to make corporate policy changes, because they weren't making enough money. Now we've found out we will most likely be closing down in a few months, and the "conspiracy theory" at work is that the company that bought us is purposefully running us into the ground, so that we won't be able to meet the new corporate standards as in our most recent contract, so that we will be forced to close, so they (the new company) can make a different contract bid, and then reopen with their own people. Thus, everyone has been getting fired or quitting, and those of us who are left will be eventually laid off anyway.

To make matters worse, my roommate and I both got sick and had to miss work, but after going the past few years without any insurance or coverage, I finally had what our work provided (as did she), only to find out it only covered so much, so we still ended up paying out of pocket for medical expenses, plus having to lose time from our pay. From bad to worse, she had scheduled vacation time ahead of time, which happened to be after her sick days but before her days off, so she ended up not being at work for about a week, and they said that was too long and fired her, but honestly, they've been looking for excuses to get rid of people due to the situation mentioned above. Essentially, cutting our loses and abandoning ship. Now we're broke, and she's looking for work, and on top of all that, the switch over also means I'm losing my previous benefits.

I'm really scared and looking for a better job, so I can quit and not have to deal with the stress and uncertainty of where I'm at now, but I'm not finding anything good at all. I've mentioned it in the forum before, but my education and experience is in English with a little journalism, but since college, I've only been able to get jobs in retail or restaurants, until now, and so I'm not considered "qualified" for most other paying jobs around. I'm tempted to find work doing what I want (publishing) wherever it's actually available and then move, rather than risk spending more months here looking for another job once this one falls through. The main problems with that, though, are I can't afford moving and don't have a reliable car to do it with and wouldn't know where to look. Plus, we have this place together, but soon won't be able to afford staying here, and neither myself nor my roommate currently have anywhere else to go.

Sorry for the rant. I really needed to get it out into the world more than anything.

Anyway, I just found out today matters are even worse now, because the switch over also means they changed our pay day, and I'm not getting the full amount of my pay today. I'm getting a partial paycheck tonight, and then the rest of it plus another week next Friday, so I'm only getting paid for 4 days right now because of the time missed, and then 10 days slightly more than a week from now.

That means between my roommate and I, due to her missing time and then being fired, we won't have enough money for groceries and bills over the course of the next two weeks.

I'm really sick of "Corporate America" because their cutthroat tactics and attempts to save a buck for the CEO mean that the people on the bottom, like myself, have to endure hardship, and I feel like I deserve better than that, since I'm intelligent and talented and did well in school all my life to become the first person in my family to finish college. Then I get out into "the real world" and find this to be my reward.

That's why I feel like giving up on all of it. If I'm going to be starving, then I would rather be an artist than a worker bee feeding the fat queen.

That is what working life is all about. The people at the bottom are treated like commodities and I fear the future will be much worse. I would say you should work towards doing what you want and what you are good at. Even if you don't get paid a lot then at least you can be happy with what you do.

That is so frustrating! I can relate to that! What you are going through is really really hard! You have every right to feel worried and irritated!

So, basically, pump out the resumes while you can so that you can still be employed while trying to find a new job.

If you decide to go the self employed way, then I would contact your local small business enterprise center. Many municipalities have one, and I used to work for one. Many cities have offices or agencies to help develop small businesses. They run workshops on developing your business goals, structuring, and some even help you find funding sources. They often have books and resources to help you look into your business development plan. When I was working in my city, I helped develop a GIS map to pinpoint business locations.