Surviving a layoff

RICHMOND - Eight months pregnant, Keisha Snead got word in March that her job would disappear at the end of the day. Like thousands of others in the struggling economy, she was reduced to an uncomfortable status — unemployed.
Job losses during the past year have shown no mercy, striking all levels, from data-entry clerks to department managers, from new hires to senior employees.
What happens after a loss depends on attitude as well as aptitude. Some see an opportunity to start a business; others spend months looking for a new job.
Snead now has a temporary job that she hopes will turn into something permanent.
Cameron Surina, who lost a temp job in April, started her own business the next day.
Charlene Jeter is still looking for a marketing job, 13 months after her position was eliminated.
Joyce Ellis is reinventing herself, again, after a construction firm phased out her accounting job.
Lia Harnish and Kate Hall look to technology for help after pre-bankruptcy cuts at Circuit City and LandAmerica.
Each is working hard to create a happy ending to a story that begins with loss.
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Women may feel economic stress more intensely than men, according to the 2008 Stress in America Survey by the American Psychological Association.
When asked about the recent financial crisis, more women say they are stressed about money (83 percent vs. 78 percent), the economy (84 percent vs. 75 percent) and job stability (57 percent vs. 55 percent).
"Anybody who's getting laid off is under stress now," said Phyllis R. Koch-Sheras, clinical psychologist and adjunct professor at the University of Virginia. "Women are just more willing to talk about their emotions and the emotional impact of stress."
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Keisha Snead, 31, had worked for less than two years at Cavalier Telephone. She was chosen Employee of the Month last January. She'd received a raise in February. In March, she was laid off.
Her husband and child were on her insurance, which ended with the job.
She applied immediately for Medicaid and was approved in time for her second son's birth. Her unemployment benefits helped tide the family over until her husband, Grayland, began his job as choral director for John Marshall High School. They were able to stay in the South Richmond house they'd started renting in March. In November, she got a temporary job at SunTrust Mortgage in the post-closing department. She's learning about other departments, in case a full-time job opens.
"Every day, you're interviewing for a job," she said. "You don't know who's watching you. I'm trying to do the best I can do wherever I am."
Snead is still trying to catch up on bills that accumulated during those months without a job.
"It never had taken me that long to find something. I was always able to find something in maybe a week, two weeks. It never had taken months," she said.
"You get discouraged. You're online applying to this place, that place. You're going to job fairs that have nothing that I would do. I spent almost $100 on having somebody watch my kids so I could even go to an interview. Then people don't call you to say if it's been filled.
"I had to be prayed up and know that God was going to bless me with something when it was time, and I had to do my part."
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Charlene Jeter, 51, was laid off more than a year ago as vice president of marketing at SunTrust MidAtlantic during a restructuring. Her 28 years there entitled her to a good severance package. She's still looking for a job.
Employers "can be very picky right now," she said. "There are too many people like me out there."
She thought her diverse marketing skills would transfer easily, but she has found that employers want specialists. She has applied for 58 jobs and had 10 in-person interviews, but nothing has clicked yet.
Adding to the stress, her husband, Duane, was laid off in August from his job in the construction industry, Jeter said from their home off Bailey Bridge Road in Chesterfield County.
"He has the kind of skills that he can hire himself out hourly, if not full time, almost more easily than I can," she said. "In his world, it seems, people need him to do things but can't hire him full time."
With neither of them working full time, they've cut back in little ways. For Christmas, they didn't buy big presents. They don't eat out often. They pay more attention to prices.
She feels fortunate they only have themselves to worry about.
"I know people that this happened to and they're sweating kids or college," she said. "That kind of burden we don't have."
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Joyce Ellis was phased out of an accounting position at a construction company in the fall. She's searching for another job but doesn't expect quick results.
"I've been on the other side, so I understand what it's like to hire someone," she said.
As one of 10 children, she learned to be frugal and said it came in handy when she was laid off from another job about seven years ago. She planned her expenses so she could live on unemployment.
"People would say, 'Oh my gosh, you're going to lose your house.' I would say, 'Why? If I get an apartment, it's more than my mortgage.' That's all preplanning, not getting in over your head when the mortgage company says you can afford this much more."
To save on heating at her house near Midlothian in Chesterfield, she keeps the thermostat low and wears layers of clothing. She hangs double-linen curtains to block cold air.
Her two children are grown, so she only has herself to take care of.
Creativity is involved in figuring out what's next.
"I think about, is this a time I'm going to be doing something really different, not like anything I've ever done before? My background is so diversified, I can do a twist off that.
"I used to do more HR, more payroll. Now I've gotten into more analytical, top side of general ledger. Would I want to manage payroll only? Do I want to work for a college? I really get excited when I walk on a campus.
"It's a lot of choices. I can't even prioritize it because I want to keep all doors open."
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Lia Harnish, 27, was an executive administrative assistant at Circuit City. In the two years she worked for the company, she was promoted three times before being laid off in November with a severance package.
"I personally do not freak out as much as other people have," she said. "There are moments when I become overwhelmed with not having a job and still having to pay my bills. It's about 50-50. My family started cleaning out the spare room and storage space," she said, in case she has to move out of her Fan District apartment. "That's definitely a cushion. At the same time, I don't ever want to be a burden to anybody."
She was laid off once before, from Dominion, and worked with several placement agencies. This time, she has registered again with agencies, but she's also using connections she made on the job.
"I've managed to maintain a good relationship with vendors. A lot of people are willing to recommend me. Networking has definitely helped me more in this situation. With the maturity of the job and my experiences, I've been able to stay better connected with people."
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Kate Hall, 35, was a vice president and human resources project manager at LandAmerica. She's Web-savvy as the creator of RichmondMom.com, and she's using the Web to further her job search.
"I've really been building up my profile and connections for ages," she said, using sites such as LinkedIn.com. "It helps me, because it's like an online Rolodex. If someone changes companies, all I have to do is look them up. It's been a great way to keep in touch. ... Technology makes it commonplace for folks to be introduced online."
Having her own Web site has been helpful in another way, too.
"It's kind of saved me mentally, not as much financially," she said. "I'm the kind of person that I need to stay busy and active intellectually. Having my Web site as a fallback and having time to develop it has been a godsend for me."
Hall has three children, ages 6, 3 and 1. Her husband is self-employed. She had covered the family on her insurance, which they now have to replace.
But she's upbeat about her prospects.
"This has been an extremely positive experience for me because people have been so wonderful," she said. "Not only friends and family that you'd expect, but people who've been acquaintances. ... Just about anyone, when I speak to them and let them know, they say, 'What are you looking for? I'll circulate your résumé.'"
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Cameron Surina, 26, was laid off April 30 and opened a new business in her Chesterfield home on May 1. Given 30 days notice that her job would be ending, she used the time to draw up a business plan and get financing for Document Procurement Solutions LLC, which works with insurance companies to get medical records pertaining to car wrecks.
She had been a temporary office manager for a company in the same field, expecting that that business would increase to keep her full time by the time the other office manager returned. Instead, her job was eliminated.
When she heard about New Visions, New Ventures, she worked with the nonprofit community economic-development organization to obtain a business loan through the U.S. Small Business Administration.
"I loved what I did," she said. "I had done it before, off and on, for about seven years. ... So I started my own company." Her husband, Zeb, quit his job working with delinquent youth in a group home to join the venture.
She had the training to make it work — bachelor's and master's degrees in business administration from Virginia Commonwealth University, with a focus in entrepreneurship.
Losing her job "was almost liberating," she said. "I knew I wanted to run my own company, but I wasn't ready yet. It wasn't on my own terms, but it came full circle to become a successful opportunity. Certainly we were thrown into it. With my husband coming on board, there were a few rocky moments, but the loan kept us out of trouble.
"We've been able to pull a paycheck from Day One and stay good on our loan. Our expenses are covered with our clients and our revenue is right on target. We're very pleased."
Katherine Calos is a staff writer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.