So, once again I’ve escaped the attention of upper management. In the current “reorganization,” eighteen chairs and two deans were demoted, twenty-eight administrative and support staff were laid off; and an unknown number of unannounced layoffs continue to lay waste to the custodial crew.
My dean, thank all the gods on Olympus, remains in place, and so do I.No hiring freeze was announced, so the search for the replacement for the director of the program whose graduate students staff my office continues apace.This means I have a job (probably) at least until the end of my current contract, next June. By then I can retire with no serious harm, although, like Bartleby the Scrivener, I would prefer not.
Whew! I could practically hear that slug whistling through the air past my noggin.
Times are getting bad, possibly worse than most of us realize. La Maya reports that in California her niece, who has been working for the booming prison industry at a very nice salary, just learned her pay would be cut to a little over $6 an hour — minimum wage! Picture trying to live in California, anywhere in California, on that!
If you’ve got a job and you can hang onto it, cling for all you’re worth. This is not a time to make reckless moves.
The whole pay cut issue in California is a result of a budget war between the governator and the legislature. It seems unlikely to happen or to last long. But it’s sad that many, many people’s livelihoods are being played with for political reasons.
Hope you’re right — that this will go away. These folks can’t afford to have their pay cut to the minimum-wage level. Nor do they deserve it.