The company I work for has been sold to a much larger company and we were expected to close our doors on June 30. I signed a contract saying that I would stay until June 30
and they in turn would give me 5 months sev. pay (to be paid upon my leaving).

Today I received this in an email from the company...


Good morning!



Hope you had a good weekend. I have a few quick questions for you, if I may:





If (The parent company) were able to extend your employment beyond June 30th, would you consider an extension?



What would you expect by way of compensation (salary/hourly amount)?



Would you have any other requests or expectations?



How long would you be willing to stay?





If you could let me know the answers to these questions as soon as possible, I would greatly appreciate it. Many thanks.

Signed by the guy with power




So, what do you think I should do? The main problem is that if any of our staff leaves on June 30, then we will be shorthanded. We are a 24/7 operation.

Get all you can get, while you can get it. Don't worry about about the repercussions, unless there's chance you can stay on, if you want to stay on. The way I see it if you stay you will be asked to work long hours, so be greedy. That's just my take on it and you should use your best judgement, Good luck!

I am thinking


6 months minimum employment (that's work thru Dec 2008)
6 months sev pay (That's sev pay thru June 2009)
48 hour a week maximum (so they can't work me 60 hours a week because we are shorthanded)
40 hours a week minimum (So they can't cut my hours because there is nothing to do.)


What do ya think?

Signed by the guy with power, makes me want to push it. But I think your request is reasonable. That's why I hate e-mail, you can't read this guy unless he's talking face 2 face. Definately request a 48 hr max work week if that's what willing to do.

I replaced the guys real name with "the guy with power" ...he didn't sign it that way.
This guys is just a negotiator (contractor) between the company and us. He has no hidden agenda that I can tell...he is just a go-between.

In this economy, at your age, take the job. Without knowing more about it, that would be my advice.

Maybe aim for a small raise or whatever, but I'd hold onto it. especially if it's a good job.

Chattanooga has only jobs in my field paying 8.50 hr (I make way more than that) and barely up. There is nothing on the horizon that I can see...relocation is out of the question. I don't wanna seem like I am trying to rob them but I also have to take care of my family...............

Saturday must be reading my mind. Ask for a sit down and find out exactly what they are looking for. That will give you a better feel for what to ask, don't be greedy as I said before, I didn't know that IT jobs were scarce or low paying, where you live.

They are not looking for perm employees at this site.


and yes, IT jobs are leaving the US in alarming numbers.

Flight actually said something that hit the nail on the head this time. Age and a good job, at least one you like.

For what it's worth Shaman, at our age, (yeah we're old fukers, lol) starting over is a rough road and taking everything into consideration, staying put may be the best option at this time.

Without a lot of details, I can't say what you should or shouldn't do, but based on your post, looking at where you may wind up on the pay scale somewhere else, you'd have to ask, how many hours would I have to work to remain at the same salary I'm at now?

OR would I have to work two full time jobs?

Try the min hours per week and max hours per week, but remain flexible too. Make sure that the deal would include the severance package comparable to what you're being offered now.

If you're happy with what you do and where you're at, let it be known your long term objective would be for a permanent position with the new company if operations are going to be continued there.

And try to keep your benefits package intact without taking a direct hit there as well.
The "sit down" Ty mentioned may be the best approach. Seems this guy is fishing and you may be the one, or one of the one's they have an eye on keeping, in some capacity.

The economy sucks dog tits right about now, though some supposedly are rolling in millions, others are biting the bullet. And it's getting worse. Hanging on for as long as you can may postpone the inevitable at least until the economy begins to recover and greener pastures emerge.

Good luck bud. Hope it works out.

So what happened???

I have not done anything yet. I am checking with the other operators to see
how many are planning to stay. If we don't have a crew for 24/7 we are in trouble.
I will let ya know the outcome when I know something.

Today I was offered a job with a 2$ hr increase in pay. Don't know if enough of the operators will be staying for this to happen tho. If not, I guess they will out-source and I will draw unemployment for a while.

Stay, Ask for a Raise & do not stop looking for Other work..

Most companies/ IT recruters will pay more to the employed than the Un-employed.
If they Know they have you by the short & curly's, they Offer less $$$ since they Know you will take it.

Ride that Job into the ground

Oh, I will ride it til the end, that's for sure. I have been there for 18 years and through
multiple owners and managers. The problem is that the company that bought us is headquartered in King of Prussia PA and they want to consolidate all their computer rooms to there...they just don't have time between now and "peak" to get it done...so they are extending us (probably through the end of the year.

The biggest problem is that if not enough operators sign the papers, we will not have enough staff to do the job. I sure don't wanna have to work 60 hrs a week.....

We will see what happens..........

Hope ya find another job soon.

Work 60 & bank the cash.
You may be out quite a while.

Most of the Folks that got laid off before our shit closed, have been out 6 months already and haven't found Jack shit.
The 2 that are employed are employed at 45- 60 % of thier former Pay