Writing on the wall?

[meldan98]

I've got a dilemma and I'm not sure what to do. When I came back from maternity leave, my boss called me into his office and told me that as of Jan 1, I no longer have benefits. While I was on leave, he let go one part timer, and made 2 full time people consultants. So now we are down to 3 people plus my boss. He is working on a merger deal which is not a new thing. This might be the 6th or 7th attempt. I've gotten a few indications from clients and from my boss that things aren't going well. He's also in big rush to get a lot of processes and documentation done. So, I'm getting the impression that if this deal doesn't go through that this could mean, I might be out of a job.

The thing is, he's a really good friend of my husband's. They were friends for several years prior to me going to work for him. When I started working for him a couple of years ago, I took a HUGE cut in pay. I figured that it would be a job I would love and that there were possibilities that I could advance. It is a job I love, for the most part, but the advancement would only happen if a merger went through.

So, my dilema is, do I start looking for another job, which is a little daunting in this economy or do I stick it out and hope that something comes through. There is a possiblity of me getting a job working at my husband's company where I would be making 3 times what I make now, but I would hate almost every minute of it. The only plus, would be that I would be working from home with a flexible schedule. I'm so torn, I don't know what to do.

[Ian]

Don't take this as any indication of what I think in terms of your future prospects for employment with your current position. I don't really know what to tell you there.

What I do know is, if you think there's even a slight chance you could lose your job and your situation is such that losing your job would be a financial hardship, start looking now.

It could take you many months to find a job in this market.

[DizneyRox]

Correct... You should ALWAYS have your resume updated and ready to go. From the cheap seats, it does appear that he is struggling. Benefits are expensive... It appears the two people who are now consultants were done that way to avoid having to pay them benefits. Now you have lost yours.

I do think the writing is on the wall on this one, but that's just an outsider with limited information.

Finally, you need to remove yourself from the "friend" issue. While it's all well and good, I've seen 'family" do some pretty dirty things, so don't let that get in the way. Friendship doesn't pay the bills.

Get out there and start looking. You may not need to use that card, but sure doesn't hurt to have that up your sleeve.