More MG News

Remind us again why we got into this business...

 

To work Friday evenings.

 

If this goes through, and I haven't heard for sure that it will, they will definitely be looking for people to relocate to Lynchburg and work on what will become a very, very large copy desk.
When they started doing Danville and Reidsville/Eden/Madison up there, there was an assumption most of the deskers from Danville would go to L'burg permanently. I was one of four who made the commute from Danville to L'burg for two months. Of those four, one is back working in Danville, two of us are now in Reidsville and only one actually stayed in Lynchburg permanently. He commuted for most of the summer (72 miles each way, I might add) before finally getting an apartment right down the street from the paper at the end of August. They hired a bunch of people in late May to replace the rest of us. One came all the way from Kansas and I think another came from New Hampshire.
So yes, if you're looking to stay with the company and don't mind relocating, I would guess you'll be able to remain employed.

 

There's nothing funnier than senior management promising to put out a good product, then fucking up the grammar in the next sentence.

 

Moddy, does this mean more cuts in personnel, in your opinion? Also, I understand there are a few openings that the place is looking to fill. Does that mean those hires will be frozen?

 

Thanks. Just when you think things can't get any lower, it does.

 

This is all bad, and the worst of it is not the method, per se, that is being used to try to save money because companies have to do that, somehow, or else, shut down.

The worst thing, and what we're really railing against, is that there seems to be no end to it, and few positive possibilities, in sight right now.

That said, I'm with Mizzou on this.

Take it from someone who has been either unemployed or way underemployed for nearly two years now: As bad as furloughs are, the alternatives are much worse, and, over time, are far more frightening and untenable in their relentless reality.

Oh, and JKelly12? You won't have to worry about whether you'd be willing to stock shelves and such, because, in all likelihood, you will not be able to get those jobs.

Take it from someone who has not only worked somewhat regularly -- although not regularly enough to live on -- in freelance writing but also has tried to get, and been formally turned down for, supplementary jobs at places such as Costco, Borders, Macy's, JC Penney, Kohl's, Target, a library, a school district, a couple of grocery stores, and yes, McDonalds, among others.

It is insane. These HR departments will hire teens and others whom I'd bet could not count change back to a customer without looking at what the register says to give them if their lives depended on it.

But they will send you emails telling you that, regretfully, they currently have no jobs matching your experience and skill set but thank you for your interest, and we wish you all success in your future endeavors...as if it takes particular skill to work a cash register, hang up clothes or stock shelves.

But, apparently, it does.

 

It was a sarcastic comment, WriteThinking, along the lines of "would you like fries with that?" I harbor no illusions that I would be able to get a job at Wal-Mart, McDonalds or anywhere else. That's why I'm clinging to this dying industry for as long as I possibly can.
And I don't need a lecture on what unemployment is like. My wife had to leave her full-time job in Monroe, N.C., on Oct. 14, 2008 so I could become the sports editor 150 miles away in Danville, Va...a job which was eliminated less than six months later.
She's applied for about 40 jobs, maybe more, and had a grand total of five interviews, but she hadn't worked at all during the ensuing time until today, her first day as a substitute cafeteria worker. That's not her chosen line of work, either, but any job - even temporary - and any money at all is better than the alternative.
That's why I just want to find some obscure weekly paper somewhere and hang in there as long as I can. The metros may be dying, and the smaller dailies may not be far behind, but I'd like to think the weeklies will have at least a slightly longer shelf life.
And I've said this before, but those of us at MG who are complaining about furloughs aren't saying it's as bad as being out of work. It's the way they were handled. Being told on Sept. 16 that an additional 10 percent was coming out of our Sept. 25 paychecks was not cool. And having to roll pennies, dimes and nickels just to cover my rent check this week was not fun.
I guess what I'm trying to say is the ongoing collapse of our industry sucks for all of us, just to varying degrees. And those of us who are lucky enough to still be working aren't necessarily doing that great. I always said as long as I'm not eating ramen noodles, I'm doing okay. Well guess what? I had ramen for lunch TWICE in September. Seriously.

 

If MG would just lay off someone on the corporate ladder, anyone, it would save more money than getting rid of 5 more workers making $30K a year

Too much sense, though.

 

I guess I missed the sarcasm, and I'm sorry about that.

And, you're right. There are degrees to everything, and this isn't some competition to see who has it worse, or worst.

That seems to be the direction things are going right now, though.

My apologies, and sympathies, JKelly12. I can empathize, and have to remember to do that, even if/as I get absorbed in my own situation.