this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2024
14 points (100.0% liked)

Dads Only

1185 readers
1 users here now

This is a Lemmy group for Dads Only. A place for Dads to post about their lives, wives & kids. All are welcome but you must respect the rules.

What are the rules here?

No pornography. No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, or casteism No incitement of violence or promotion of violent ideologies No harassment, dogpiling or doxxing of other users No content illegal in the United States, Germany, or Finland Do not share intentionally false or misleading information Do not spam or abuse network features.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
14
Help (self.dadsonly)
submitted 7 months ago by Retreaux to c/dadsonly
 

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.

top 3 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Retreaux 2 points 4 months ago

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!