For the first time since mid-December there were more than a couple of people in the office, and when the boss was out a couple of us started talking and then four of us were there, talking about how the money’s getting tight, and the boss isn’t talking about her plans much and isn’t communicating well.
I sort of spouted off about how I’m worried that she’s going to want us to stay on indefinitely working 2-3 days a week and paying for our own health insurance ($277/month, which is a lot especially when you’re 2/3 on unemployment.) I understand that it takes a while for the money to come in, but it could be a couple of months. The feeling that we are being taken advantage of is starting to grow amongst all of us.
She came in while we were talking, and we shifted fairly well to a neutral topic, but as I was leaving I thought I should talk to her if I’m going to talk about the situation. She told me last week that I’m a barometer of how things are going. I should have said then that I am almost always the last gasket to blow, so by the time it gets to me, it’s serious.
Anyway. I wasn’t sure whether I should come in tomorrow, or if I’m expected to be on call or what, and she couldn’t answer any of those questions. But if she could at least take charge and say, we have to play it by ear, I appreciate the difficulty, etc. I don’t know, it seems like it would help.
I told her that it’s getting difficult financially, that things really aren’t just floating along okay. She was more saddened than anything else…not defensive, which is often where she goes when challenged even a little. She stood there looking at the calender and said, “So many of our shows aren’t coming back; I don’t know if I’m going to need everyone.”
I said, “So should we start looking?”
She said, “I don’t know.”
This is so hard. I think we’d all kind of agreed that it was better for all of us to be partially laid off than any one or two of us to be fully laid off. But if this goes on for months, and months after the end of the strike, it’s time to consider letting someone go full time, maybe.
Easy for me to say. I know that I am a very strong worker, reliable, and pretty fast. There are at least two people with less seniority than me. So I speak from a fairly secure position, I guess.
I called my friend Braveheart, and she asked me what I want to do (in a supportive way.) I need to really think about whether I’m willing to work part time days from home and have to check my email to see how much work is there, etc., all day long. Or be here if someone calls.
I am also going to seriously consider other employment. I don’t know what else I want to do that I can do without a horrendous commute into the city. Part of what keeps me at the job (other than about 12 very positive aspects) is that I can set my own hours and avoid the traffic.
Maybe this is a blip. Maybe it’s a real motivator to look for something else. (Gulp. I so like working in the industry.) Well, no harm in looking, even in interviewing, to see what’s out there.
