[azasadny]

Well, I'm getting my buyout offer this afternoon. I'll be offered 6 months salary to leave the company by 3/1/07. I've got 11 years at Ford in IT and we all could see this coming, so it's no big surprise. 90% of all IT staff will be offered buyouts and Ford is hoping that 35% or so take the offer. The "implied threat" is that if you don't take the voluntary buyout and Ford doesn't make their numbers or goes under, you'll get nothing in the way of severance but a pat on the back.

We will have to sell our recently-renovated 2400sq ft Colonial home and move, since SE MI is not a good place to find a job. I'm anticipating a difficult time selling the house and I plan to use some of the severance $ to get us past this setback.

My wife is a school teacher and so she and the kids have their healthcare benefits through her employer, so that's one less thing to be concerned about.

I've been talking to recruiters and they recommend that we make a list of places we would like to live, concentrate my job seach in those areas and see what happens.

Obviously, this is a challenge but I've been through bigger challenges, as have many of you. We have our health and families and we'll face this together and make the absolute best of it. I've been unhappy in MI since we moved here in '91 when I got back from Desert Storm, so this is a good opportunity to make some changes in our life.

Maybe I'll find a place to live/work where I can actually drive my car year 'round (or close to it).

Anyway, thanks for letting me vent.