True Life: I've been Furloughed!
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It’s crazy how quickly things change. Within a few days of wrapping up my post “Working From Home…With an Infant”, I got the dreaded “Mandatory Business Update” meeting invite on my calendar. You know….the one that’s scheduled 10-15 minutes before it’s set to start and with a highlighted disclaimer to not forward to anyone…..not suspicious at all right? Immediately my mind raced with thoughts of what this could be and as soon as I heard the phrase, “with a heavy heart….” I knew the update would not be good. I’ll warn you that this post is long, so grab a glass of wine or a cocktail and bear with me while I vent a little.
So what is a furlough?
A furlough is “a temporary leave of employees due to special needs of the company or employer”. In this case the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in my employer deciding to furlough a significant amount of associates as well as reduce pay up to 50% for senior leadership. While some are upset by this decision, I choose to see this situation with two key beliefs that help me keep my sanity.
I choose to believe that my employer’s decision to furlough now is a measure to prevent or at best reduce the amount of layoffs in the future. Business 101: continuing to have a company run with the same level of expenses with an unprecedented reduction in revenue for an unknown length of time is just not smart financially. Now other things can be said as to whether this is the best decision for associate morale, retention, and the extent to which an employer displays care and concern for its associates but in my mind financial decisions and people based decisions are separate.
The volatility of my industry means that based on the economic environment at any given time, I am always at risk of being laid off or in this case furloughed. In many instances throughout my career, I had to remind myself that an employer can have a general concern and appreciation for its employees but they will let you go without hesitation if that’s what is needed to further the business. I’ve heard it said a bit more harshly “Don’t give everything you have to a company, that would post you position tomorrow, if you died today”. In other words, “these companies ain’t loyal”. Keeping this in mind reminds me to prioritize the things that are most important to me like my family, personal development, and helping others.
Being furloughed is never ideal and hardly ever comes at a convenient time so another thing that helps me is to think of the pros and cons.
Pros
Quality time with my daughter
I was holding my daughter when I received the news. I looked at her, she smiled back at me and with a genuine sense of relief I said to her “I get to spend more time with you!”. When else am I going to get a chance to spend this much time with her in her first year of life? She’s growing, learning, and changing everyday and I’m blessed to witness it without the pressure of work.
Reduce stress
One week of balancing work and parenthood almost broke me. I was overwhelmed, my energy was off, I had little to give my child and found myself apologizing to her as I sat her in front of the tv so I could work. Of course, I want to show my daughter what a hardworking, ambitious, career woman looks like, but not at the expense of my time with her.
Cons
FINANCIAL!!!
So obviously the biggest con is that I will not be receiving a paycheck during this undetermined amount of time.
The unknown
In my situation there are a lot of unknowns, the main one being the time frame of the furlough. With COVID-19 continuing to spread and “stay at home” order increasing in length, it could easily be mid-May or later before I return to work. It’s also unclear whether or not the company will bring everyone back so there’s a possibility for this to become permanent.
So what am i doing while furloughed?
Spending time with my family
Testing learning activities for my little one
Applied for unemployment
Writing and creating content for Black Girl Ambition
Maintaining the house
Starting a fitness routine
Most of these things, I’ve put on the back burner due to my demanding work load. It feels good to have time to create some healthier habits that I hope to carry with me after the furlough ends.