Recession is Up Close and Personal

For awhile I thought the US economic recession would not impact my job, early this year I was proven wrong. It was a domino effect from the parent company, Sanken Electric (Japan), and the sister company, Allegro Microsystems (Boston). As semiconductor wafer orders are diminishing thus the revenue. That leaves the company with no other feasible choice but to cut cost.

About 50% of the company's expenses are on payroll. After trimming non payroll expenses, this morning a distressful meeting was called. All contractors and temps were laid off. All full-timers will be asked to take 4 weeks off unpaid, essentially 4 weeks lay-off. On top of that the 401K matching will be temporarily removed. All managers will get additional 5% paycut. They amount to 10% paycut to non-managerial positions and 15% for managers.

The good news is I will not get laid-off. I just have to be content with my income after the paycut. After taking into account how much money I am going to get from the unemployment benefit, I will get just about as much as the first half of last year income before I got a raise. Not to mention I am going to get an extra 4 weeks off. It's still a reasonable trade-off and I need to look at the bright side.

I'll pray for everyone out there who is impacted by the economic crisis. Personally I knew people who lost their jobs and those who may lose their house. From time to time I have to remind myself not to be too attached to this world, I recognize it is a sin. It can be a big burden to carry around. Living in America makes it particularly difficult to detach myself from so much "stuff" around me. It's not just belongings but also people, including family, that becomes part of personal pride. I need your prayer as well.