chawkins99

Well, after 16 years, the ride may be coming to an end.

Just one week after becoming a US citizen, my company announced they had sold out to a competitor and were closing our facility by the end of the year. I had hoped to stay in my current job until retirement in 8-10 years. We have been told we should have at least 6 months but no more than 9.

Unless I can (quickly) get another job at the same level, we may have no alternative but to return to Blighty.

I anticipate getting a decent redundancy payout equivalent to 3-4 months pay which would tide us over for a while but as we are both diabetic and my wife's health has been deteriorating for several years, we simply can't afford to be without health insurance.

So, we have decided to put the house up for sale in anticipation that we will be moving 'somewhere' whether it be elsewhere in the US or UK. We've started the de-clutter process already. Having a yard sale this weekend.

An added complication is our daughter who, lives in Alabama, is expecting our first grandson in June. And we have a 10yo 120lb Siberian Husky that my wife refuses to leave behind.

Any suggestions on removal/shipping/storage? We are thinking of getting a 20ft container when we sell, loading everything in there and then having it 'stored' until we know where we will be going. We have a travel trailer we can live in temporarily once the house has sold.

sherbert

If you are a US citizen why don't you just look for another job? Not sure what all the panic is about.

scrubbedexpat142

I am sorry I can't help but just wanted to commiserate with you.

What rotten, awful luck - I hope you find something suitable, quickly.

tht

Lion in Winter

He is, as stated.

Nearing retirement, it's not always easy.

Lion in Winter

Sorry to hear this. As someone who just narrowly survived some big staff cutbacks due to a re-org, and being squarely in "can't miss a paycheck" territory, I know how worrying it is.

Are they offering you any outplacement services as part of your severance package?

chawkins99

That is the plan but I have a number of things against me... Age, location, specialty. Where I am, there are a lot of military. Pretty much every job I have looked at in my field, require existing security clearance. I would think I could get clearance but another candidate already cleared would obviously be preferred.

Our thoughts are that if we have to move cross country, we may as well return to the UK. That's what brought us here in the first place. We were going to have to move, so why not move BIG.

It's not a done deal yet. I will look for another job. Just not sure my chances are great.

caretaker

Best of luck to you, and hopefully something will come along soon.

Hotscot

Do you have any knowledge/experience/contacts/interest for starting you're own small business?
Especially in a niche area.

chawkins99

Yeah. COBRA will cost us around $1200/month (plus copays/deductibles etc.) We can survive for a while but all the while our funds will be going down. Better to make the decision early while we still have the readies. We may even choose to take a few weeks touring before we jump.

That has been mentioned but early days. Not sure yet what they will offer. I will get 1 month severance having been here for 4 years but they have offered another 3 months incentive bonus to stay as long as they need us so if I jump ship early, I lose that bonus.

At least we have some time to plan which is more than most people get.

caretaker

Canada beckons.....

scrubbedexpat099

Admittedly it was in the last crash but I knew several people in the same situation and I can fully sympathise.

As LiW getting a high paid job in a specialised area is not easy even in good times. And ch99 has explained why in their case.

COBRA well I do not know the cost here but have come across this before and the unsubsidiised cost is likely to be very high, i seem to recollect that you can sign up for it and then not pay and that would give you some time without cost? Well unless you need to use it.

A job without a relocation package, well that is a big investment and for how long?

Crap situation.

scrubbedexpat099

How?

Took a long time typing my contribution..

Giantaxe

I was laid off last week as well. No surprise, had been expecting it for a while and had planned for it. I'm now going to retire so am quite happy to have them pay me severance to achieve that objective. Will use COBRA until Medicare age, which is not that expensive - relatively speaking! - because my employer has a workforce very skewed to lower age groups.

Lion in Winter

What my sister called "being paid to go away"