It is much less of a nightmare if you're prepared for this kind of predicable eventuality.
If you're living paycheck to paycheck it's a nightmare, if you've got months saved up set aside for exactly this kind of thing it's a vacation.
If you're living paycheck to paycheck it's a nightmare, if you've got months saved up set aside for exactly this kind of thing it's a vacation.
In my own experience, it was a sense of worthlessness that seeped into me daily. I was newly married, my wife supportive, but it was constantly between us. "How did it go today, did you find anything interesting? No - ok, no worries, I'm sure something will pop up."
Deep depression and a sense that you are failing your family, that if you had tried harder maybe it wouldn't have happened, that you arn't successful and that is why noone would want to have you.
Funny. I had thought I was over it - its been a long long long time - but I find myself affected even writing this.
I think you're presupposing that your experience is universal. I felt refreshed and reinvigorated when I started my new job, not panicked and depressed, because I had created for myself a solid support structure for such eventualities (financially and socially).
I would argue that the real key here is preparation; if you can set yourself up not to be harmed by something like a lay off, you will be much more likely to go through it in a positive way than if you leave it up to fate to decide how and when you experience such a potentially negative event.
I was laid off almost immediately after 9/11 in the midst of dot-bomb. As it turned out, I almost immediately landed a new job with someone I knew. It was a pay cut and that company barely made it through the dot-bomb aftermath itself. But it was a comparatively good landing considering. I wasn't about to starve but you didn't want to be cashing in stock at the time. And I definitely knew, especially older, people who lost their jobs in that period and never really recovered in terms of financial position or career.
Under those circumstances, unless you have a lot of cash tucked away, you probably shouldn't be treating it as a vacation. I wouldn't say it was traumatic for me--I pretty much knew it was coming and I lucked out--but it could have been quite bad as I didn't have so much as a nibble from anyone else I talked to.
The majority of people who read Hacker News? Uh. No.
Car trouble? Savings gone. Any sort of medical issue? Savings gone.
I actually think those folks are more financially disciplined than us, given they somehow make it work despite their low pay.
Now:
1. Is there a substantial minority who genuinely can only really live hand-to-mouth in the US? Yes.
2. Is it obviously much easier for those of us who have tech-job incomes to put away substantial savings than it is for the median family? Also yes.
3. Am I personally some kind of paragon of financial discipline? No.
4. Is it understandable why many people live closer to paycheck-to-paycheck than they could? Yes.
But I don't think that hyperbole serves anyone here.
Go accept a $67k job (which is actually higher than each of my non tech friends, but whatever), and then go live somewhere on that (renting too!). After a few years, show me how much you've saved. I have zero doubt you'll find it's been eaten up by emergencies, etc. Then get laid off! Hopefully you don't have family to take care of either. I don't even want to think about what happens to your health in that time (fitness, nutrition, etc.).
That's why I have major respect for folks who do it. I don't think I'd have the resolve.
That's also why I fight for better pay / social safety net for all. They shouldn't have to live like that.
I have a low tolerance for making light of other's situations.
Why not admit it takes a good amount of financial discipline (if not superhuman)?
What does it cost your ego to admit that?
Financial discipline is hard, it's totally understandable why people don't save as much as would be optimal. I also don't save as much as is optimal. It requires good financial discipline to save money when your budget is limited.
But it doesn't require living like a monk or spending every minute of every day pinching pennies to put away $1000 to $3000 or so per year for most Americans, and if you do that you'll be insulated against the kind of minor disasters that happen once a decade or so.
I worked a ton of awful jobs before breaking into the industry. A lot of people don't know what it's like to be stepped on in STEM fields but its a constant thing for lower echelons of our society. Cold World
The majority of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck choose to live paycheck to paycheck and act like every expense is an obligation.
I, to be fair, have been one of them for significant amounts of time, but I chose it and the consequences which were of my own making.
Even with a cushion to fall back on though, don’t discount how it’s going to feel seeing the balance fall month after month.
I expected a break when a company I worked for closed down. In fact, it was autumn and my original plan was to enjoy some time off and pick things up in the new year. Part of me regrets not doing that but I know at the time stress quickly set in.
Many people (myself included!) have a hard time saving against potential outcomes and find it convenient to explain away why I don't (as I spend money on non-necessities).
Not always. When I was laid off I wasn't surprised in the slightest. There had already been layoffs and the company eventually effectively shut down.
I was actually more surprised that I somehow didn't get laid off at a previous corporation that had multiple rounds of deep layoffs, especially considering how often I had been laid off in the past.
In fact I found out when the department head put in his notice that I was on the list of one of those layoffs, but so many people quit in the meantime that they didn't need to lay off as many people, so he was able to take me off the list. I stayed there a little too long, through inertia and also I had so many 1 to 1.5 year job "hops" from all those previous layoffs I felt I should stick around a bit longer to show I am able to stick with a company when they let me.
It would have been a blessing if they had laid me off, though, it would have forced me to find a much better job much earlier.
Few do, however.
It is not a lot to ask for someone in the top x% of earners to set aside a few months' expenses instead of spending every dollar on housing/food/entertainment/etc.
There are situations where employers do mistreat employees, but failing to guarantee perpetual employment is not one of them.
I got laid off again about 3 years ago. It was nice. I got an immediate offer from someone I had worked with before. I wished I could have taken more time off. I currently have several years of expenses available to me.
It really depends on where you are in your career. Money really is freedom in the US, try not to spend it carelessly.