I was laid off earlier this month from my job as an HVAC service tech due to lack of work, a first in the 8 years I’ve been in the industry. I’m looking for work but the mild winter in California has made my job obsolete until it gets hot and I’m feeling ROUGH.
My wife became pregnant with our second child last month, and my hours have been slashed since last October, so money is tight, and our relationship is strained.
I’m considering a career change but I have a couple thousand dollars worth of specialized tools and experience that I’m loathe to put aside. I’m feeling hopeless and I just wanted to reach out to other dads to vent and see if there’s other ideas out there.
Hey, I feel that. Layoffs recently laid me low too.
Have you applied for unemployment yet? You definitely want to do that as soon as possible, putting it off is just throwing money away (I learned that the hard way)
I don’t have good advice about changing industries though. Everything is up in the air and tense and knowledge work is getting eroded by AI. They say there’s a plumber shortage? Maybe there is a way you could get trained as a plumber and have that be subsidized by the state
I’m probably too late to offer much help with your post, but I wanted to check in with you to see if you would provide an update.
Did you get more hours or change careers to a better opportunity? Good news for HVAC is that summer is coming quickly to California.
I hope you are doing well and in a better place mentally and financially.
I finally landed a job offer, and I start on Monday. I had to take a $6/hr pay cut to do the same service position so that’s a tough pill to swallow, but a job is a job and everyone says it’s easier to find a job when you have a job. I’m feeling really bitter about the loss though. Getting laid off, waiting 3 months, and then accepting a pay cut has just been a wallop, especially when my wife is expecting our second child in October. Thanks for checking in though, I appreciate the follow up!