After over four years of working for Electronic Arts, Brandon got laid off from his job. Even though I always knew this would be a possibility, especially after Brandon warned me that there was more of a possibility after the game he was working on (Risk Factions on Faceboook) wasn't doing so well, I was still totally stunned. I was walking out of the gym with Lucy when Brandon called me to break the news and it felt like someone had pulled the rug out from under me. I guess with these things, you can't expect a ton of warning, but it just felt so sudden.
Lay-offs were company wide and the Salt Lake studio suffered four lay-offs. Brandon was immediately escorted from the building (which is standard protocol for the company) and I met him at the City Creek Harmons since I was headed there anyway to do some food shopping. Needless to say, it wasn't my most productive shopping trip since it was my first time at the store and I couldn't concentrate at all on getting groceries. And even though I was trying to stay calm for Brandon and be supportive, I was kinda freaking out on the inside.
Brandon actually took all of this much better than me. He had actually been itching to move on to something new and had previously applied for a Storyboard Artist position at Pixar but never heard back. What he would really like to do is work from home and try to find a publisher for his comic book, Green Monk, and work on that full time. But we had decided to hold off on that until we replenished our savings from our remodel and had another baby (so we could enjoy health benefits and the one month of paid paternity leave he got and obviously, be in a better financial situation).
Fortunately, EA doesn't leave its laid-off employees high and dry. Though neither Brandon nor I have ever been laid off before, it seems like the severance package is pretty generous. We get our health benefits through the end of June after which, we are eligible for COBRA. And I've heard that even though COBRA is quite expensive, it is subsidized through the government now? We'll have to check on that. Brandon also received pay through May 8th (even though he was let go on April 24th) and receives an additional 7 weeks of pay on top of that as well as a pay-out for all of his unused sick and vacation time. He also still receives his annual bonus and his stock options. On top of all that, he will be getting unemployment. So Brandon reminds me that the situation isn't that bad - it is actually better than if he were to have quit or switched jobs.
But what is so difficult for me right now is the uncertainty. Brandon is very talented and I have full faith in him being able to support our family financially. But I am just not sure how long it will take him to find another job, if he will find another job or go the freelance direction, and if we will have to move if he finds another job. We have put so much work into our home and the housing market is still so sucky and I really love our neighborhood and area.
I know that this layoff could potentially be a blessing in disguise and could lead to bigger and better things. But it is still stressful nonetheless and I am trying to get used to this new normal. I all of a sudden feel like I should return any little thing that still has a price tag on it that we don't absolutely need (even though you all know from my previous posts what I frugal shopper I already am). And I'm scared to spend any money at all besides the essentials. It's not like we were living in the lap of luxury before but we definitely enjoyed our date nights and going out to eat (probably where we splurged the most).
Though the timing on this whole thing hasn't been perfect, it's still pretty good. We are at least moved back into our house and have completed all the home repair that we have wanted up to this point. We have lots of nice things like brand new windows, electrical, water heater, furnace, central air, fridge, and dishwasher along with refinished floors & walls, new doors & molding. Our savings isn't quite as robust as it used to be but it's not depleted. And we are all in good health with wonderful family and friends.
It has just been a couple of weeks since the lay-off and I am feeling calmer about it (though still a bit stressed). Brandon seems to be loving working on his own thing and he has actually been working like crazy on his comic and some other projects. So I guess we will see where this all leads.
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