Ahh! The hits keep comin’.

As you know, I now have the task of paying this emergency room bill, which will clean out my tiny savings account and consume most of my next paycheck. After that I have to save up to pay for the surgery that I must have. I now have another reason to save up whatever money I can.

My company has been in cost-cutting mode for years, since before I joined. The magnifying glass and knife have finally made it around to our division. We had a dreaded ‘re-org’ at work this week. Re-orgs (re-organizations) sadly aren’t uncommon where I work. There seem to be at least one or two re-orgs every year. Sometimes re-orgs are just a result of executives being shuffled around, small divisions merging, large divisions branching, etc. Other re-orgs are due to a reduction in force.

This re-org was the second kind and was the first one to affect my division since I started working there. In one day, our Director here in our satellite office, was sacked, and was escorted out with the proverbial cardboard box. Furthermore, a bunch of other executives and regular working people at headquarters and other satellite offices were axed /laid off. Our division is now aligned to a new director based on the east coast. Senior executives made it known that more ‘adjustments’ are possible (read: likely).

Things are a little tense in my satellite office. For anyone looking for the signs of an impending layoff, they can be found — hiring freeze, vacated positions not being re-filled, budget cuts, reduction in office space, the recent lay-offs, and buzz-words like ‘streamlining’ and ‘efficiency’, from our new Director,etc.

Not to sound like Chicken Little, of course, this doesn’t mean that we will certainly all lose our jobs, but it is something that we should sit up and take notice of. While no one is actively looking to jump ship, we are updating our LinkedIn profiles, dusting off the resumes, skimming job boards and opening ourselves up to being passive job candidates (e.g. responding to recruiters).

You’ve probably heard the acronym A.B.L. (Always Be Looking) that is said to professionals. I suppose I should have been doing this all along. Great scenario, I keep my job. Best scenario, I find an amazing job in a wonderful place somewhere even better. Worst scenario, I get laid off and can’t find anything else comparable. I want to avoid the last possibility, of course.

Crap, now I have to add this to my plate. I need to have this surgery soon because the condition is getting worse and causing problems elsewhere in my body.  Now I also may need to have it soon because I’ll lose my insurance if I get laid off. How do I save money for both? I don’t want to catastrophize, but I do need to be prepared. I really don’t want to lose my job. It pays reasonably well, but has great benefits. I had been starting to take it for granted. Now that there is a sliver of a possibility that I might lose it, I appreciate it all the more. Sigh, why can’t things be simple.

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“Debtor’s prison is real, and opportunity cost is a bitch.” (DDSW)