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[klaviernista]

Not really relevant to becoming a patent attorney, but the company I work for just announced that a round of layoffs will occur at the end of the month.  This will be the 3rd round in the past 6 months.  The company is restructuring from an engineering supply and services oriented company to one based on technology licensing and service.  That bodes well for me.  But man, I feel awful for the folks who are going to lose their jobs in this market.  They are looking at easily 6 months of unemployment, if not more.

Here's to hoping that everyone leaving my company finds work soon <shot>.  And here's another one for me, as I try to rationalize why I left one of the top firms in the nation to go in house in a startup <shot>.  Oh wait! That's right!  I wanted more time with the family.  Well, I was always told to be careful what I wish for.

-Klav

"As my head just aches, when I think of the things that I shouldn't have done. But, life is for living, we all know, and I don't wanna live it alone."  Coldplay, Life is for Living

[trustme]

You never know everything you need to know at the time you need to know it. You just have to make a decision and move on. Some of us get lucky and some of us don't get lucky.

I never thought that quitting my stable engineering job to become a lawyer would result in me being unemployed 15 months after graduation from LS. But my "stable engineering job" might not have been so stable either. My old company has been going though a series of RIFs over the past 3 years. Recently, they announced the cancelling of retiree health benefits for those retiring after a certain date. 8% of the workforce left.

If you're lucky, there may be a better afterlife, one with lessened suffering. If there's no afterlife, then it pretty much sucks if you're one of the unlucky ones who died poor/broke/chronically unemployed/etc.

Better to just count your blessings. Life's a bitch.

[kjw5029]

You never know everything you need to know at the time you need to know it. You just have to make a decision and move on. Some of us get lucky and some of us don't get lucky.

Man is that the truth. 

As a second thought, I've made some pretty bad decisions in the past that seemed right at the time (for instance, attending a crappy law school).  However, if I had stuck with my engineering position, I most likely would have been laid off last year because I wasn't there all too long.  I guess what I'm getting at is....in light of all the bad luck that we notice, the world seems to balance it out with some good luck in the end.  Maybe we just focus a bit more on what's lost rather than what's gained.

[Kaitlin]

You never know everything you need to know at the time you need to know it. You just have to make a decision and move on. Some of us get lucky and some of us don't get lucky.

Man is that the truth. 

As a second thought, I've made some pretty bad decisions in the past that seemed right at the time (for instance, attending a crappy law school).  However, if I had stuck with my engineering position, I most likely would have been laid off last year because I wasn't there all too long.  I guess what I'm getting at is....in light of all the bad luck that we notice, the world seems to balance it out with some good luck in the end.  Maybe we just focus a bit more on what's lost rather than what's gained.

Amen.  Every decision has to be made based on what's in front of us at the time, so no sense in beating oneself up for not being psychic.  What we do have control over is where we chose to place our focus.  Change is always hard, but there's usually some good as well as bad in its wake.

[stuffball]

Not really relevant to becoming a patent attorney, but the company I work for just announced that a round of layoffs will occur at the end of the month.  This will be the 3rd round in the past 6 months.  The company is restructuring from an engineering supply and services oriented company to one based on technology licensing and service.  That bodes well for me.  But man, I feel awful for the folks who are going to lose their jobs in this market.  They are looking at easily 6 months of unemployment, if not more.

Here's to hoping that everyone leaving my company finds work soon <shot>.  And here's another one for me, as I try to rationalize why I left one of the top firms in the nation to go in house in a startup <shot>.  Oh wait! That's right!  I wanted more time with the family.  Well, I was always told to be careful what I wish for.

-Klav

"As my head just aches, when I think of the things that I shouldn't have done. But, life is for living, we all know, and I don't wanna live it alone."  Coldplay, Life is for Living

Wow.  Seriously best wishes to all those in hard times... especially those with families.  All of us who have been there (like me) should never forget it.  Could happen to any of us.

[solagent]

Startup companies suck for employment. The vast majority have to reinvent themselves every 6-18 months because the original business plan was based on some egotist CSO's completely unrealistic, delusional projections of the value of their own work. The company is just another 'experiment' for them and employees are as used as lab rats. When their grandiose ideas are rejected by the market they just move on to the next one, and good people get put out in the street in the process. It is "at-whim" employment at it's very worst. The only positive thing about them is that they provide an opportunity to get some experience, IF you can survive long enough.

[klaviernista]

Startup companies suck for employment. The vast majority have to reinvent themselves every 6-18 months because the original business plan was based on some egotist CSO's completely unrealistic, delusional projections of the value of their own work. The company is just another 'experiment' for them and employees are as used as lab rats. When their grandiose ideas are rejected by the market they just move on to the next one, and good people get put out in the street in the process. It is "at-whim" employment at it's very worst. The only positive thing about them is that they provide an opportunity to get some experience, IF you can survive long enough.

I generally agree.  Though my particular circumstances are somewhat unusual.  The company I work for has been in the startup phase for the better part of 15 years, and has only switched gears once (and to a related technology).  The issue isn't whether our technology works (it does), but rather the fact that we are trying to sell very capital intensive equipment to highly risk averse customers. 

[klaviernista]

Well, the hammer dropped today.  Company let go ~33% of personnel today, mostly projects folks and a few "non-essential" personnel (secretaries).  I missed the cut, but it still looks like a rough road ahead.

Hang on Boys! Its gonna be bumpy!

[smgsmc]

At least it sounds like your company is small enough that your situation will converge to a steady state soon:  either it will succeed with its new business model, or go under.  I previously worked in R&D in what was then a megacorp.  For two years in the aftermath of the dot com bust, we had weekly rounds of layoffs.   First it was "Black Thursday", then it got moved up to "Black Tuesday."  Really saps your soul.  My buddies tell me things have improved:  they are back to quarterly layoffs.  Hope all works out well for you.