12/29/2022
I lost my job on the 17th. That's it. I feel like I was railroaded.
Also I'm certain my former employer was going to be sold to a larger company soon.
If not, there was going to be another round of layoffs. In August eight people were let go. In November 26 people were let go. I lost my job bringing the toll to thirty five. Before August my former employer had between 70-80 employees. Management was told they're no longer doing management work but performing searches. The guy who got me the job is doing searches at home and in-county, in addition to managing searchers out-of-state. When I last spoke with him he was wrapping up a twelve-hour day and expressed his dissatisfaction and anxiety to me. From him, I learned that the guy who trained me in August and September of 2019 was laid off in November. Last I heard he was safe because he could navigate the company's back end with his eyes closed but apparently that wasn't enough, but so much for that. The woman who searched Monmouth, a long-time title searcher, was also let go. My direct report made a point of phoning me when she was let go saying the reason was she wasn't able to learn and grow within the company during its changes.
By my reckoning they were let go because they were earning too much money.
If they're selling the company then upper management is trying to make profits look good despite the soft housing market thanks to rising interest rates. See below:
A company with good profits means a better selling price. The company's vice president of operations just bought an expensive home in Middlesex county and I know this because he asked me to perform the search. Why would someone make a seemingly unwise investment like that knowing the status of the market? When searchers returned from furlough in 2020, a few months later the company announced how they made inroads to New England, Pennsylvania, and some other states on the eastern seaboard. There must've been some creative bookkeeping going on with the Paycheck Protection Program received by my former employer to force that kind of growth. Of course this was before inflation got out of control in the United States.
More interesting was the new president of the company who took over for the founder who has become a figurehead yet continues to draw a paycheck just for being the founder. When the guy who got me the job as a title searcher lost his job as a title searcher back in the 2008 crash, she had just become upper management with his employer. He fucking freaked out to me on the phone saying this woman is bad news and gave me his story. A little while later he apologized and said he conflated the 2008 crash with her. Fast forward to December of 2022 when I last spoke with him, he said he was right about her being someone who fires people willy-nilly. Tensions are high at my former employer, even among people who feel they aren't expendible.
Fortunately(?) I found a job, something where I'll barely scrape by, but it'll last as long as I want it or they want me. It's better than unemployment which is finite.
Since the 17th I've been an anxious mess. Two panic attacks. Poor sleep. Staying home as much as possible. It's not a happy state of affairs.
