Recently Lockheed decided to close the doors of the it's facility in Eagan, unfortunately that meant I was out of a job. The announcement was made in November, and the first wave of layoffs was scheduled for March 15th. I was included in the April 29th layoffs.
So I started job hunting at the beckoning of my wife :). I secured a couple of interviews, and was eventually offered a job with Ingersoll Rand in White Bear Lake. I really liked the sound of the job and so was quick to accept, they offered a bit more then I had been making at LM and signing bonus. I didn't negotiate the offer and only asked for an extra week of vacation (which they couldn't grant...). The one sticking point was the starting date, they wanted me ASAP, but I wanted to wait to collect my severance package.
Luckily LM needed me as well to support the sell off of the second P3 to Portugal. I was able to work out a plan with them to work full time till March 21 (my start date with IR), then part-time will April 29th. I ended up on travel for most of my last couple weeks with LM, then working a bit in the evenings and the weekend to finish up my time with them, while working full time at IR.
I just received my severance pay, just under 10k (it will be interesting to see the deductions statement for it, (as it should be close to twice that, but...). Taxes will be interesting this year, so with the bonus, severance, ect, I will make more then 106k, so I should get some of my SS/Medicare dollars back as well :)
I am happy at IR, and the Portugal program was running into some challenges, so in the end it all worked out for the best for me.
