Chemjobber

As you can obviously see, work and life were taking up a lot of time today. As tough as my day was (chemistry on a larger scale not being kind to me), it doesn't hold a candle at all to what has happened at GSK around the world today. There are lots of different write-ups on what happened, but here's what FierceBiotech had to say:

Hobbled by sliding sales of Advair, GlaxoSmithKline's U.S. group started to chop away at its large organization in North Carolina and Philadelphia on Wednesday as Glaxo's North American chief Deirdre Connelly began to outline exactly where the ax will fall. 

The company says that the bulk of the job cuts will be made in Research Triangle Park, NC, slashing R&D as it concentrates drug research work in Philadelphia and Stevenage in the U.K. No exact numbers were reported today by GSK, but the company filed a report with the state noting that it is eliminating 900 jobs. 

A total of 350 of those jobs will go in the first quarter of 2015, with another 450 following in the next three months, GSK noted in its WARN letter. The rest will be pink-slipped later in the year...

From what I can see at In the Pipeline, it appears that people weren't really being given the full details of whether or not they'll have a job, which is a little distressing. From Secret Glaxoid:

I'll confirm: the announcement to staff today was woefully vague. Basically the only thing announced today was the global strategy that we already knew ("yep, cuts are coming, its gonna suck."), followed by individual presentations from management at each site. 

Individual presentation at my site was equally not good at giving any specifics.

I don't think I can say anything to anyone at GSK that they haven't already heard before. (OK, I will make a note that you're not alone in this, and other chemists have been where you are before.)

My best wishes to you and to all of us. 

A respected reader writes in to ask, regarding the GSK announcement tomorrow:

"Why does a company opt to let people know they are losing their jobs three weeks before Christmas?" 

I would actually go so far as to propose that, in the United States, that large-enough companies declare some sort of truce during the holidays. If I were a CEO, I would choose not to hold any reductions in force between say, Thanksgiving and New Year's. I realize that would basically cut out a month in a half where there couldn't be any layoffs, but you've got 10.5 other months to do it.

This is why I won't ever be a CEO of a major corporation, I'm guessing (among other reasons...)

Yesterday, we heard from LT, whose husband was laid off three times over 14 years working in the pharmaceutical industry. Here are some of the more detailed financial tips that she has for families affected by layoffs.

CJ: You mentioned that you're quite frugal -- can you talk a little bit about that? 

LT: I’ve always been a bargain shopper, but I go into super-saver mode when necessary! I mentioned eliminating all non-essential monthly expenses. When the 2009 layoff happened, we stopped a gym membership (check your contract—some have a clause for unemployment, ours did), cut the cable back to basic, stopped the newspaper (except Sundays), stopped the lawn care service and got rid of our land-line. I cut way back on buying any type of snack foods and my all-time favorite: diet coke. I made iced tea instead, or just had water. I stopped buying paper towels, and I still just use washable rags. I made most of our bread, rather than buying it, and I experimented with other homemade items, like bagels, yogurt and granola. All dinners, lunches, coffees or any fast food out stopped as well. I went almost a year without a haircut. All car and home maintenance was deferred. Our one big expenditure was a water heater, which we couldn’t put off replacing.

Our most recent Layoff Project submission is from LT, who is unusual, in that it is her spouse (not her) that has been laid off from positions in pharma. This submission was lightly edited and redacted by CJ and checked for accuracy by LT. She is a tenured professor of chemistry.

I felt LT's comments were noteworthy because she said that she guided her family through 3 layoffs without touching savings, a real achievement. Today is going to be her experiences with the layoffs, while tomorrow will focus on her financial tips for surviving it.

CJ: Can you talk a little bit about your experience?

LT: We’ve been through three layoffs. The first one was at a “big pharma,” the second was at a biotech and the third was at a contract research organization. They’ve spanned a 14 year period, so we’ve been at very different stages as a family and the circumstances surrounding each were quite different as well.

The first time we found ourselves unemployed, we had two small children (preschool and elementary school) and I wasn’t working. Both my husband and I have PhD’s so we had the typical “two-body” problem finding jobs. I opted to take some time with our children when he landed the big pharma job. I did work for a while during those few years, but between my commute and daycare for two children, financially, I was making about what I did as a TA in grad school, so I decided to step away from my visiting assistant professor gig to devote time to our children.

His employer announced that the company was going to be purchased by another company. Not knowing how everything worked in those circumstances, he assumed everything would be ok, since at one of their meetings, upper management said they’d be “shocked” if massive layoffs occurred. Well, a few months later he was out of work, along with lots of other folks!

Whether you've lost a job or a girlfriend, it won't take long before someone tells you, Dust yourself off. Time heals all wounds.

Yes, but how much time? 

Experts say most people should give themselves a good two years to recover from an emotional trauma such as a breakup or the loss of a job. And if you were blindsided by the event—your spouse left abruptly, you were fired unexpectedly—it could take longer. 

That is more time than most people expect, says Prudence Gourguechon, a psychiatrist in Chicago and former president of the American Psychoanalytic Association. It's important to know roughly how long the emotional disruption will last. Once you get over the shock that it is going to be a long process, you can relax, Dr. Gourguechon says. "You don't have to feel pressure to be OK, because you're not OK." 

Some experts call this recovery period an "identity crisis process." It is perfectly normal, they say, to feel depressed, anxious and distracted during this time—in other words, to be an emotional mess. (Getting over the death of a loved one is more complicated and typically will take even longer than two years, experts say.)

Two years. That sounds about right, even though I have no real experience with something as painful as job loss or a divorce. (I wonder if there is a similar emotional toll from a particularly long job hunt -- probably not.)

I wonder if the HR counselors who show up during site closures and layoffs and the like tell people that: "I know today sucks, and yes, it's going to be hard for you to find a position. But keep your chin up, and 2 years from now, you'll feel better." 

From Susan Ainsworth's great article on chemists living and working far from their families (part of C&EN's Employment Outlook issue):

When Duane Burnett lost his job in big pharma at the end of last year, he initially focused close to home in his search for a new position. After all, he had put down deep roots in Kenilworth, N.J., where he had worked for more than 23 years at Schering-Plough and later at Merck & Co. after the companies’ 2009 merger. 

He finally landed the perfect position—one that “checked all his boxes”—as director of chemistry at EnVivo Pharmaceuticals. The downside? It was in Watertown, Mass., some 250 miles from his home and family. 

Burnett feels fortunate to have found a position that allows him to pursue his passion for discovering central nervous system drugs. However, accepting the job has meant that he has had to live apart from his family for eight months so far. As a result, “I have a profound sense of loss,” he says. “You can’t replace the time that you share over a meal or over other activities that keep you close as a family,” says Burnett. “I truly miss that time. It is the biggest sacrifice I have had to make, and I think about it a lot.”

The sacrifices we make to stay in this field can be costly.

Credit: C&EN

From Linda Wang's excellent, yet excruciating story on unemployment among pharma chemists, some terribly sad stories:

“I’m listed as employed,” says “Eric,” 46, who was laid off in 2007 from his position as a senior chemist at Johnson & Johnson and is now an adjunct professor at three different colleges and universities. “I got reemployed, but is this what employment should be like for someone at my level?” [snip] 

...He teaches as an adjunct professor on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, splitting his time among three colleges and universities that are 50 to 70 miles apart. He leaves around 10 AM and doesn’t get home until after 11 PM, leaving little time to spend with his twin daughters, who are nine years old. 

Because of the length of his commute and the high cost of gas, Eric sold his car and bought a used Suzuki with better gas mileage. “The previous car was costing me about $1,000 a month in gas, and that was not sustainable,” he says. He has roughly $400 left in his 401(k). “Four hundred bucks is no 401(k); it won’t buy you a plane ticket anywhere,” he says. But he’s not one to dwell on his difficulties. “It’s tight financially, but the fact is we’re still surviving. It’s just a little harder, that’s all.”

I found this comment on ACS' Salary Survey data kind of amusing:

“The data that ACS has is for the most part self-reported, and that’s always going to underreport the truth,” says Lee H. Latimer, a consultant and longtime ACS volunteer, who was laid off from Elan in 2011. “Many may have a job, which keeps them from collecting unemployment, but they’re not working either in their field or in a position that comes anywhere close to matching their previous income”—meaning, he says, that they’re effectively underemployed.

And how about the PMP, that certificate of awesomeness from a couple of years ago?:

“Michael,” a Ph.D. organic chemist in his 50s, living in California, knows just how unsettling this roller-coaster ride can be. Since he was laid off from a biotech company in 2008, he has applied for more than 10,000 jobs, some 7,000 related to the chemical sciences and 3,000 outside of science. 

Meanwhile, Michael has earned certifications in clinical trial design and management, regulatory affairs, quality assurance and control, and project management. But “by the time that I finished, not only did the number of these jobs decrease, employers weren’t going to take anybody who doesn’t have experience. The training is not enough for them,” he says. “I went and retrained myself, but I still cannot get a job. 

I don't think it's a coincidence that most of the people in these articles are in what is supposed to be the prime of their careers (late 30s to 50s). That it has become brutal for mid-career chemists (the people who are probably going to be most productive and have the most ability to innovate) is fundamentally clear. It is beginning to be clear that not a single organization (not ACS, not the pharma companies, no one in government) has any idea what to do about it. What a shame.

Via C&EN's Lisa Jarvis, bad news in New Jersey:

Closure of US site in Nutley, New Jersey expected to result in a reduction of around 1’000 positions. Respective R&D activities to be consolidated in Basel and Schlieren (Switzerland) and Penzberg (Germany).  

...Roche Pharma will continue to have a presence on the US East Coast with a Pharmaceuticals Translational Clinical Research Center of about 240 positions.

...A location is being identified on the East Coast to focus on translational clinical research to support Roche US-based clinical trials and early development programs, support and maintain Roche interactions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and enhance Roche’s collaborations with US based partners, such as academic institutions and biotech companies. This new center is expected to host around 240 employees. 

...As a result of the closure of the Nutley site, Roche expects a reduction of around 1,000 positions on the US East Coast. The transferred activities can be largely absorbed by the existing sites in Switzerland and Germany with an increase of about 80 positions.

Roche is committed to handling the designated job reductions in a respectful manner and to finding socially responsible solutions for the employees affected. This includes informing employees who will be affected as soon as possible and providing appropriate plans and programs to support them during this transition process.

The new US East Coast Translational Research Clinical Center is planned to be operational by early 2013. The transfer of business operations in Nutley is planned to be completed by end of 2013.

Call me naive, but I thought we were mostly done with the Big Pharma site closures. I guess not.

Best wishes to all affected.

Today's Layoff Project submission is from GP, a biologist. This submission was lightly edited by CJ and checked for accuracy by GP.

My history: PhD, worked at series of small biotechs. Company was acquired by a Bigger Pharma.   Bigger Pharma retained research staff to shore up some of the projects but within a year, Bigger Pharma was having financial struggles so they cut the team. Contract was extended to help close down the lab after the departure of the team.

What should you do the first week?  Take a break or jump right in to finding a new job?

I had taken a week’s holiday (cheap camping vacation in the woods) to help change my mind set.  As long as you can pay for the vacation and not just put it on credit card, then I would suggest taking a vacation has a benefit.

How can your family and friends help?

Contact all your colleagues, current and former to let them know that you are looking for work.  Friends tried to be helpful in connecting me to other friends of theirs who ‘work in the same field’.  These connections didn’t always work but it felt good to know that others were pulling for me.  Friends who were also looking for work (in different fields) sent me links to many gov’t job sites, or other sites which I wouldn’t have thought to investigate. Former colleagues offered to act as references (morale boost) and quite a few who had access to different job sites (ie being a member of a society in which I was not) would forward me job postings with suggestions.

Was the help the company offered you (outplacement, etc.) useful?

Didn’t receive this help.

What financial advice can you offer?

Agree with comments by others that you need to restrain your spending (don’t buy that new car, or renovate your house) but at the same time, don’t completely deny yourself the night out to the movies or dinner.  As we knew in advance the possibility of closing down, those colleagues whose mortgages were up for renewal went to their banks prior to receiving the job dismissal.   I received a decent settlement package so I went to the bank to see the best options for me in regard to putting money into retirement, into savings and paying off debts.

When did you start looking for another position?

We were expecting the possibility of closure so I had started half heartedly looking about 4-5 months in advance. However, I loved the work and research I was doing and really hoped that the financing would have come through to keep the project and company going.  As soon as we got the final word, I became serious in my job hunt.  My contract was extended  to help close down the lab so during those days I would log my morning hours to the company and then I would spend the afternoon on my own time job searching at the office where I was able to access the internet, fax machine, copier etc.  Once the contract ended and I had to do the job hunting using my home computer I really missed the full access I had while able to do things at the office.

How painful was finding another position?

Painful is the apt description.  I would find job postings on the internet  which appeared as though my c.v. was posted in the job description.  So following minor tweaks the cv to ensure it covered the points addressed in the advertisement I would eagerly apply online.  This online submission would then start a process where I was shuttled to a headhunter who gathered the cvs for the company. I made over 80 job applications and had 10-15 call backs from headhunters. This prescreening process led to a single interview with a company person.   It was frustrating because I felt that the headhunter only cared to go through their checklist and if your experience was the slightest bit different, then your application was discounted.  For example, there was a posting for a researcher with drug discovery experience in 5 different disease indications. I had experience in 4 of the 5 and rather than seeing this as a strong candidate, the headhunter just couldn’t get past the fact that I was missing one disease indication.

What surprised me emotionally is how much I missed the social interactions of work.  While I always appreciated my amazing colleague it was only once I was home alone during the day that I realized how of a social animal I am.  Also, after not finding work in for some time I started to question my identity — I have always thought of myself as a scientist and what would I be if I couldn’t find work as that anymore?

How did you spend your typical day?

In the first week I contacted friends and colleagues to let them know that I was looking.  Then my time was trolling the internet for jobs, either by job sites or going directly to different company sites to see what jobs were listing and using groups such as Linked In etc.  I would wake up at the usual time, head out for a morning walk and then be at the computer for a morning of job searching.  It is amazing how long it can take to tweak or revamp your cv and prepare a tightly worded cover letter so sometimes I would be applying for no more than two jobs a day.

I didn’t want to spend the day surfing the web, so I would limit myself to job hunting in the morning and then the afternoon do a non-job hunting activity—minor household repairs, errands, exercise, but avoiding shopping or activities that may result in me spending lots of money.  Getting out of the house and having a change of scene was important, even if it was just a walk and then grabbing a coffee at the local coffee shop.  I had plans on doing more “self activities”—I had a list of books I wanted to read, old hobbies I wanted to reactivate all of which came to nothing. I found it hard as when I was doing these other things I kept thinking “I should be looking for a job and not spending time doing X”, but taking a break from job hunting was also important.  In retrospect I think that rather than working each morning job hunting, it would have been better to spend certain days job hunting and then taking entire days off.

The challenge is that you don’t know when you are going to find a job.  If you knew that in say 2 months you would have work, you would relax a bit and enjoy the time off.  As it was, there was always that worry which would prevent you from fully relaxing.  Again in retrospect, I wish I took in some matinees at the cinema.

What I didn’t do was also important. As others have written I did not sleep all day, did not stay up all night watching late night TV, did not start drinking in the afternoon, did not start smoking and did not spend my day on Facebook etc.  I tried to maintain a healthy lifestyle and a daily routine.

Have you found new work? What was helpful there?

About 2 and half months after the extended contract (4 months) I was able to find contract work through a comment made in passing at a social gathering.  I was with some former colleagues (post-doc days) when someone mentioned that my former PI was in line to receive a large research grant. I contacted the PI and it was completely fortuitous that just when he needed someone to oversee the handling of this research grant, I was also available to be employed.   I did a short contract  (4 months) with him to initiate the funding and now I have a full time job at the university for this research program. Leaving the industry side of research and returning to academia is surprising but I was also able to stay in the same city and not have to have my family/lifestyle undergo upheaval with a move.

The Layoff Project is an attempt to collect the oral histories of chemists who have been affected by the changes in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The explanatory post is here; stories can be left in the comments or e-mailed to chemjobber -at- gmail/dot/com. Confidentiality and anonymity is guaranteed. 

Over at Just Like Cooking, SeeArrOh writes about stories he's heard from Pfizer layoffs:

One said that layoffs were announced as early as six months prior to corporate action, leaving employees wondering if they would have a job next season... Another worker alluded to overemphasis of negative traits during performance reviews, such that if you were laid off in the future, the document might seem to presage your departure. 

@Kromablography writes about his experiences with the dreaded "Attriting Adapting to Scale" initiative:

Of course the best way, they said, to adapt to how big you have become is not to adapt to it at all. The best way is to become smaller. And we are busy figuring out where we are too big. We will let you know in about 3 months where cuts will be made. 

Three months. 

It's very hard to focus on your work for three months while the sword of Damocles dangles above you by an increasingly weaker looking thread. 

Three months came and went. So did four and five. Around the six month mark, the rented circus tents were erected, site meetings were called, and announcements were made, but only the most vague. The real information trickled down the hierarchy over several days or more. 

Slowly, we learned who was being "ATSed". The uncertainty over all that time had eroded the morale of many, including myself.

Just so that we're on the record, I was a postdoctoral pseudo-employee of a site of the Blue Pill Factory. But I started there after ATS had its biggest waves; it always bothered me how I worked in a building that seemed weirdly empty and full of abandoned offices. What bothered me the most is how leaky and rumor-driven the one layoff I experienced was: the rumor started in August and was said to hit in September October November. It finally came in January.

I don't really think there's a good way to do a layoff in a huge organization, but no one wants to see the train creeping slowly down the track. Shakespeare was right: "If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well /It were done quickly".

With the news of 2,200 R&D people from AstraZeneca being let go (and an overall layoff of 7,300 AZ employees) overall and two site closures, I'm sorry to say that The Layoff Project is still relevant.

Below is a summary of all the stories of laid-off chemists so far:

• BQ: "I feel frustrated I cannot help anyone."
• TK: "It was very hard to shake off the sense of anger and betrayal."
• RG: "I was proud that I didn't cry in front of them."
• TN: "Be prepared for strong highs and lows."
• LM: "There is no shame in losing your job, not in this economy."
• NT: "You are either networking or not working."
• RK: "I seem to have lost purpose."
• Ortho: "Don't be afraid to ask people for help."
• Anon: "They herded us out like cattle."
• bbooooooya: "Not helpful, sitting around being bitter."
• Old pharma hand: "You are in the middle of a very emotional and stressful period."
• PH: "And then, life happened."

BQ is a longtime pharmaceutical chemist who writes in with their layoff story. [CJ's note: this story has been fairly heavily [redacted] to protect anonymity.]:

Previously, I had a terrific career at [large pharmaceutical company], where I was an organic/ medicinal chemist of excellent standing (going by what my associates think of me).  After stellar years (18+, in these times it is embarrassing to talk about your experience as it also speaks of your age!), [Large Pharma] separated from me (3 years back) and there were many other friends of mine in that list.  I have to say that [Large Pharma] treated me reasonably well (as opposed to other horror stories, I have heard) and as a matter of fact my boss accompanied me (his eyes were bloodshot, I recall) on that day of my departure to the exit gate.  That said, it does not take away the fact that, I was mad as hell.  I was angry for the simple reason that the years of training in several programs had given me an air of confidence (ahead of the curve in terms of understanding the science at the interface of biology, chemistry, ADME, DMPK etc.) and it felt good.  During those years at [Large Pharma], I had worked on and impacted on many programs that delivered varied molecules for clinical studies (Rheumatoid arthritis (Phase-2), Obesity (Phase-3), and a macrolide antibiotic, [redacted] for veterinary use).  Then there were other programs that petered out,  but important lessons were garnered.   Imagine my frustration, when I thought I could deliver lot more and then this parting happened.  In many ways I felt like, I was nipped off even before I fully bloomed.

TK is a PhD chemist who worked for (and was separated from) a major CRO. Their story is below:

What should you do the first week? Should you take a break? Jump right in to finding a new job?  
It depends. I found I was too depressed/shell-shocked/angry to do any useful job-hunting the next day. I didn’t start seriously applying until a week later, by which time I had calmed down a bit, and was sufficiently positive to start looking for work again. I’ve seen some articles which advise taking up to three weeks before launching into your job search. I think most people might find that a bit long.

How can your family and friends help? 
Family and friends were, on the whole very supportive. My ex-boss-but-one (not the one who had laid me off) took me out for a meal and was very sympathetic/encouraging. My wife, who had been working part-time, was able to get full time work with her employer, and this helped enormously. On the other hand, there were a couple of ex-colleagues who I had thought I could count on for references who simply ignored my e-mails – not even a polite refusal. I found this quite hurtful, and still don’t understand it.

My advice to family and friends is to try to be sensitive. For example, a fellow foreign national told me he didn’t think I would be eligible for unemployment benefit as I wasn’t a citizen, which caused me considerable distress until I was able to find out that I was, in fact, entitled. One’s perspective on life changes drastically just after being made redundant, and unless you’ve been in the same situation yourself, you might not realize the impact of what under other circumstances would be harmless remarks.

Was the help the company offered you (outplacement, etc.) useful?
I didn’t get any help whatever from my former employer finding new work. They didn’t even advise me of my rights regarding unemployment benefit. As a foreign national, this advice would have been useful to me. I received 6 weeks severance (I’d been with the company about 8 years so considered this a little ungenerous, but severance pay is entirely at the company’s discretion), and 18 months health insurance through COBRA, though in the event I opted for coverage through my wife’s employer.

They made me sign a form agreeing not to seek employment with them again, which I thought was quite unnecessary. My lay-off was tied in with the appraisal system, which I also thought was a particularly cruel way of doing things, as it made it needlessly personal. My previous 7 years’ evaluations had been satisfactory or better, and my first poor evaluation led to my dismissal. I felt the evaluation had been rigged in order to legitimize my termination. None of my achievements for the year were mentioned, only things I had done wrong. I was not the only employee to be treated this way.

What financial advice can you offer? What should/did you do? What should you NOT do?
Apply for unemployment benefit as soon as you can. As long as you have a green card, and meet certain minimum specifications regarding length of employment and wages earned (your state department of employment will have a website with this information), then you are entitled to unemployment benefit.
I panicked when I lost my job, and accepted a very poorly paid position with an unscrupulous employment agency 3 weeks after being laid off, thinking I would be able to quit once my severance pay ran out, and claim unemployment benefit. In the event, I found that voluntarily quitting this position had disqualified me from claiming benefit, so file this under something NOT to do. Fortunately I was able to find a temporary position to tide me over, and was able to claim benefit once this ended.

One of the very first things we did was sit down and work out our monthly outgoings, to see what could be reduced. We cut our cable bill substantially, cancelled any non-essential subscriptions, and started drinking Franzia boxed wine, thereby cutting our monthly alcohol bill by 75%. It certainly helped that we didn’t have school-age children. Life would have been much harder, financially and emotionally if we had.

When did you start looking for another position? 
One week after being laid off.

How painful was finding another position? What should someone be emotionally prepared for?
It was difficult. I ended up making 400 applications before getting another permanent (I hesitate to use that word these days) position. I had 23 phone interviews, and 9 on-site interviews. I had to relocate, but did not have to take a pay cut.

Emotionally, it was a real roller-coaster. I experienced a whole range of emotions: a mixture of shock and relief at being laid off (I had not been happy in my last 18 months with the company), guilt (could I have tried harder not to be laid off?) depression (is this the end of my career as a chemist? Will I ever work again?) anger (why did I get laid off, when there were other people who I thought deserved it more than I did?) Fortunately, when I was down, my wife was usually up-beat, and vice-versa. The worst phase was nine months after my lay-off, in the winter of 2009, still not having found work although many of my ex-colleagues had been able to do so. It really started to feel personal by this stage. I decided to visit my parents in the UK for five weeks, and this helped.

Also, it was very hard to shake off the sense of anger and betrayal. I still haven’t completely managed this. My advice to anyone else in this situation is to try to let go of the past as soon as you can (though be prepared for the fact that this may not be easy).

How did you spend your typical day? What behaviors do you think were helpful or not helpful?
During my first period claiming benefit, I did voluntary unpaid research work at the local university. On the plus side, it kept me doing organic chemistry, and got me out of the house. On the minus side, I relied on other members of the department to order basic materials (such as dry-ice) for me, as I didn’t have my own account. I was alone in the lab most of the time, and this was not good for me at that stage, as it gave me too much opportunity to dwell on my precarious economic position. During this time, I applied for jobs on a Friday and at weekends. The ACS website, monsterjobs and indeed.com were probably my three main sources.

Helpful behaviours: maintain a routine. Try to keep the same hours as you did when you were working. Applying for jobs is not a full-time job, so keep yourself occupied with anything you can to maintain a positive frame of mind. I helped out more around the house with cooking and gardening. I did some reading.

Have you found new work? What was helpful there?
I have finally found work. We moved states, and have just moved into our new house. Whilst I was looking for work, I frequently heard the advice that networking was the way to find your next job (personally the term makes me cringe, but I know many people swear by it). Many of my friends found work this way, but it didn’t work for me. With me it turned out to be simply a combination of perseverance and luck.

I got the job here because I had the right combination of experience and qualifications, and I got on well with the people who interviewed me. In several of my previous interviews, I knew pretty early on that things were not going well: I didn’t “hit it off” with my interviewers. That relationship is just as important as your qualifications and experience, and is something that can’t be forced. You either get along or you don’t.

CJ here again. Thanks for TK for their story and best wishes to all of us.

The Layoff Project is an attempt to collect the oral histories of chemists who have been affected by the changes in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The explanatory post is here; stories can be left in the comments or e-mailed to chemjobber -at- gmail/dot/com. Confidentiality and anonymity is guaranteed. 

RG is an analytical chemist and shares their layoff story. To protect privacy, the story has been [redacted] to remove details:

So, first job out of college, working at a large industrial plant in their QA lab as a temp worker.  I had the usual lab tech responsibilities and ended up running the lab for a month while my boss was out.  Money problems came up, and as newest in, I was first out.  The one that hit hard as it was my first time being laid off from something that I considered 'my career'.  I went out with friends, cried to my family and got back into gear a few days later.  A former colleague emailed me about an opportunity in the nearby bigger town of my college alma mater and I went for it.  Got the job.

The second job, I held for almost ten years, starting [date redacted].  I was an [instrument] spectroscopist in a small consulting firm.  The president (also technician), [a few] technicians, [and a couple others.] The environment there was hostile at times, as the president did not work well with women and had obvious favorites among [the employees].  He also later hired [a relative] to work for the company [recently], buying a new instrument specifically for [the relative] to work on.  The president did not approve of my need to take off time for [a medical reason] [recently] and was even more annoyed when the surgery had to be repeated later.  With the economy as it was starting to fall, our sample input was slowing down.

TN writes in with their layoff story:

I was a biologist at a big pharma company.  As part of a company-wide reorg, our entire department was closed.  We did have several weeks before having to pack up, and the severance was generous.  However, it was shocking and infuriating since my family relocated from across the country just 16 months prior (I was working for the company at a different site).  So my search was more complex in that I was looking in my old location, my new location, and potentially other locations.

What should you do the first week? Should you take a break? Jump right in to finding a new job?  
I would jump in, but I would not start applying for jobs.  Get the word out to your network that you're on the market, update your resume, and think hard about whether you're looking for work similar to your old position or want to explore other areas.  If you still have time w/your previous employer, get a job talk together, get it approved by legal for public disclosure (I believe strongly in this), and write a paper if possible.

How can your family and friends help? 
Expanding your network - making introductions to people at potential new employers - and moral support.  It's also important to avoid isolation.

Was the help the company offered you (outplacement, etc.) useful?  
Outplacement is marginally helpful; most useful is you can network and it gives you an excuse to leave the house.

What financial advice can you offer? What should/did you do? What should you NOT do? 
File for unemployment ASAP.  Be prudent with spending.  But you should not go on complete austerity, you still need to live your life.  We still went on a family ski vacation and it was a sorely needed reprieve from the job search (and I didn't need to use vacation days!).

When did you start looking for another position? 
I started promptly since I am the primary breadwinner and a Type A personality, but I would advocate taking a short break and start with a clearer head and less panic.

How painful was finding another position? What should someone be emotionally prepared for? 
The pain lessens as you gain more distance from your previous job and more towards your next opportunity but be prepared for strong highs and lows, even from one day to the next.

How did you spend your typical day? What behaviors do you think were helpful or not helpful? 
I had a couple of guiding principles:

1) Do not check job sites more than once/week or you will drive yourself crazy.  Every Monday I would start with an aggregator (e.g. indeed.com) and then follow up at companies on my target list
2) Leave the house at least once every day, even if it's just to run errands.

I would spend several hours a day with the job hunt - anything from searching for positions on-line, networking and informational interviews (preferably in-person), researching companies, and preparing for interviews.

But it is not a full time job.  I spent more time with the kids, did more running, and volunteered.  My wife is a freelance writer from home and we went on several "dates."

It was also critical to negotiate how much extra housework you're willing to take on.  Yes, you have more time on your hands, but a job search takes time, and you will be resentful if you feel you have moved from valued professional scientist to housekeeper.

Have you found new work? What was helpful there? 
I have found new work without having to relocate or taking a pay cut.  I am lucky that I am loving my new job, have great colleagues, and while staying in research my focus is different so I am learning a ton.  The most important things are to keep a positive attitude, build new relationships, and learn how processes are done in your new environment (and not complain if they are different from where you were before).

CJ here again. Thanks to TN for sharing their story and best wishes to all of us.

The Layoff Project is an attempt to collect the oral histories of chemists who have been affected by the changes in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The explanatory post is here; stories can be left in the comments or e-mailed to chemjobber -at- gmail/dot/com. Confidentiality and anonymity is guaranteed. 

A note from a polymer chemist we'll call LM:

CJ,

I've been laid off twice. The first time was hard, the second wasn't as it was old hat by that point. Here's what I learned (sorry that I'm not formally answering your questions directly).

1) The perspective that I took (not always completely successfully – some days were better than others) was that my job hunt would end at some point. If I knew the exact day, then I would sit back, enjoy life and just wait it out. So why should anything be different just because I didn't know the exact day that I would start working again?

2) Sure, you can look and apply online, but isn't that what everyone else is doing? Is that how you are going to differentiate yourself? Seriously? What if someone asks you in an interview what you are doing to find a job – is your answer just going to be "I'm looking online at Monster/Indeed/CareerBuilder…" Do you take that same approach in your job of just googling for a solution anytime you have a problem, or do more and go talk to people? This leads to my next point…

3) Network to find your job. When you are out of a job, let people know. Let everyone know. (There is no shame in losing your job, not in this economy.) Talk to your friends, and family, your neighbors, your garbageman, your minister, the dishwasher repairman, the clerk in the checkout at the grocery store, the people standing in line in front of you at the grocery store …And push them to talk to people that they know. (And now you have a better answer to that potential interview question in the previous paragraph.)

4) Never give your resume to anyone unless they are interviewing you or could interview you. If someone wants to look at your resume, they are just gawkers. If they say they know someone that could hire you, then have them make an introduction for you. Unless you are total loser, you will come across better than your sheet of paper and you can tell your story far, far better than anyone else can, so do it yourself.

CJ here again. Thanks to LM for sharing his advice and best wishes to all of us.

The Layoff Project is an attempt to collect the oral histories of chemists who have been affected by the changes in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The explanatory post is here; stories can be left in the comments or e-mailed to chemjobber -at- gmail/dot/com. Confidentiality and anonymity is guaranteed. 

NT writes in with their story of a recent layoff:

I was working as a project chemist at a well-known consumer products company this summer when I was laid off. I am 27 and was only there one year. I have a Bachelor's degree, and was part of a three-man internal analytical chemistry lab which supported R&D for the entire company. We tested potential new raw materials, completed reverse engineering of competitor products, and analyzed our own product returns to see if there was a chemistry-related root cause among other smaller projects. 30 people in total were laid off, including 20 in a government contract division. Additionally one person from each department had to go, and I had the least experience. From what I learned afterward, management had determined that our internal analytical laboratory would receive less work because of the loss of projects from the government contract division. They had declared bankruptcy a few years beforehand, and were known to go through layoffs, so it was not unexpected. Before working there, I was a QC chemist for a regional organic toll manufacturer for 3 years.

What should you do the first week? Should you take a break? Jump right in to finding a new job?
Immediately after it happened, back in June, I blew off the rest of the day, played frisbee golf, met a friend for lunch. I figured that would help over sitting at home watching TV. Once I got home to wait to tell my wife, that's when I started to feel like garbage. It took me a good week to get over the shock and couldn't sleep for a while. It was the beginning of summer and there wasn't much incentive to find something right away. I think it's important to take a little time for oneself, especially if you haven't had a vacation in a while. I attended some workshops within 3 weeks of getting laid off to get my resume in order.

How can your family and friends help?
Please don't tell me, "Now that you have all this free time, you should come visit!" It doesn't really work like that, if I expect to find employment again. I need to work on my resume/applications, which take a lot of time and sometimes can be harder than actually working. I visited some family within the first month but that just stalled me.

RK was a researcher at a major pharmaceutical company for 30 years. His layoff story is below. [Please note that I have redacted some of the profanity.]

My layoff was a disaster for me, it began as follows, just to give some background. 

The company was useless in the entire process (well almost useless).  

I received the E-mail from my [posterior]-crawler boss asking me to attend a meeting with him and HR in two days, no subject for the meeting, just the time and place. So I went to see him.
“What is the meeting about”, I asked? “Sorry I can’t tell you”, he said!!! ”Well”, I said, “if that’s the case I’m not coming”. “OH” he said, “no need to be like that.” I said “if I don’t know what it’s about how can I prepare?.” “Well”, he said, “I think we may have something for you, so I think you should come”. By that he meant early retirement. So I turned up for the meeting. 

The first meeting: 

There we were, [posterior]-crawler, me, a woman from HR and her boss, all seated in a meeting cage in an open plan office, surrounded by worker ants and boxed in by smoked glass! He started if off by introducing them then got right down to it. “There has been a re-organisation in development and your job is one of the 96 which will go” (to China). “Thank you”, I said. “There is a package currently being worked out by the board of directors and a workers committee.” “Oh” said I. Turning to the HR boss, employed, I asked what the package was. He said, “Sorry I can’t give you any details it’s still secret.” So I said, “WHAT THE [Anglo-Saxon curse word], you invite me here to tell me that you can’t tell me anything, that’s ridiculous.” “Why waste my time, you should have phoned me up or just sent a mail.”  

By this time I was cooking. He said, “We don’t do things that way! But we should know the details within the next 2 weeks.” “OK”, I said and stormed out and went home. Two weeks came and went, I started cleaning out the office, slowly, nothing from HR. I stayed at home, sometimes went in and continued to clean out my stuff. On a Thursday two days before the end of the month the [posterior]-crawler phoned me, “Can you come in tomorrow at 4 p.m. and sign the various contracts?” “No”, I said. “Monday at 8pm.” 

So it was; I signed the papers, no choice in the matter, either sign and get money, or not sign and get instant dismissal. I had 6 months to find another job within the company or I was on the street.  

Question: What can a synthetic organic chemist do within a pharma company apart from synthetic organic chemistry? The answer is NOTHING. What a hatful of [posterior orifices]. 

Ortho is a former pharma chemist and writes in with his story:

What should you do the first week? Should you take a break? Jump right in to finding a new job?  
In my case the company was pretty upfront, and we had 2-3 months to finish up projects and pack up our labs (site closure). During that time  most people were networking and looking for work, setting up interviews, and some even landed a job before the site actually closed. Management knew this and were completely cool with it. We even set up a wiki to put job posting in. Although it will go against every fibre of your moral being I would take a vacation after it happens. Go somewhere relaxing for 1 week, or maybe do something you never get the chance to otherwise. Once you get into full job search mode you will be always waiting for a call back/interview, it's hard to rationalize taking a vacation.

How can your family and friends help? 
You will always try to put on a brave face, and think that you are stronger then this, but it will effect you. Co-workers and friends for networking. Ask your boss for help! I can't stress this enough. You will probably want to vent a lot so make sure you have some good listeners around.

Was the help the company offered you (outplacement, etc.) useful?
Yes and no. Outplacement offices are not really adept at placing people in specialized technical positions. They can help you with networking and brushing up on interview skills (you always learn something). They are also really good people to talk to. I found my time with the CHRP to be very therapeutic.

What financial advice can you offer? What should/did you do? 
I was in pretty good shape, as I was pretty frugal being freshly out of school. It was hard to resist the temptation of a new car and a fancy place, but I'm sure glad I did.

What should you NOT do? 
Bet it all on black?

When did you start looking for another position? 
I had a pretty good idea 4 months prior, but being pretty fresh it was hard to justify to other employers why I was looking for new work.  You never "really" know so I was kind of stuck. I started sending out pre-written emails the day it was announced.

How painful was finding another position? 
Pretty damn painful. I was out of work for about 8 months and it really started to suck around the 6 month mark. Initially there was a short burst of interest because everyone was trying to grab talent from the site. I wasn't really too keen on remaining in Pharma for a couple of reasons. I spent a lot of time evaluating alternative careers and learning about other fields. Lots of informal interviews. I'm pretty glad I did that, as I eliminated a lot of noise and had something to focus on.

What should someone be emotionally prepared for? 
Anger, depression, moments of desperation, self questioning.

How did you spend your typical day? 
Lots of job searching and reading.  I took some classes, doesn't matter what it is, I just needed the mental stimulation.

What behaviors do you think were helpful or not helpful? 
Exercise and discipline in regards to job searching. Try to remain logical about making decisions and stick to what you planned. It was hard to turn down jobs, but try not to settle for something that you do not want. On the same note, never turn down an opportunity to interview, even if you are not 100% intrested. It's good practice and you might change your mind once you are there. Try to watch some comedy, a good laugh always helps. With depression comes the temptation to drink, keep that in check.

Have you found new work? What was helpful there? 
Yes. Having a clear idea about where you want to work is key.  You probably have a top 5, contact people there regularly (every 2 months) to check in.  Some places have a pretty good HR system that will alert you if a job comes up that matches your profile, fill them out! Don't stop networking and following up with people. Prepare like crazy for the interview, this is the acid test. If preparing is a chore, then you typically don't really want the job.

Oh and one more thing. Don't be afraid to ask people for help. You would be amazed at the kindness of strangers/ loose contacts. Ask to speak with them. Ask for contacts. Ask for advice. But you have to ask.

CJ here again. Thanks to Ortho for sharing his story and best wishes to all of us.

The Layoff Project is an attempt to collect the oral histories of chemists who have been affected by the changes in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. The explanatory post is here; stories can be left in the comments or e-mailed to chemjobber -at- gmail/dot/com. Confidentiality and anonymity is guaranteed. 

Taking a break today from The Layoff Project, but I have more to come. Also, I should note that there have been quite a few stories posted in the HR thread, mostly (unfortunately) having to do with the actual process of being told their job was gone.

It should be noted that ACS has a rather lengthy sheet of dos and don'ts called "Coping With Job Loss." We'll revisit this soon, I think.