Chad’s Job

The other day I casually mentioned that Chad was starting a new job. A few questioned if he had left his old job. Chad gets a bit testy when I talk about him on the blog so I hesitated to mention anything but since I do talk about family on here, and since most everyone knew where he worked, I felt a bit deceitful not mentioning it. Here’s the story:

Chad went to work for Walmart part-time when he was in college. The store here had an excellent manager at the time and he worked with Chad and kinda mentored him. Chad was probably not the best employee at the time but they kept him and worked with him. When Chad graduated from college, he was encouraged to go into their management program. I think his thoughts were that he would do that til something better came along but at the time he first became an assistant manager, they were working fairly set schedules – three days on and three days off as I recall. That may not be right but I think it is. At some point, they went to crazy schedules. Chad might work til 10 p.m. one day, meaning he probably wasn’t out of the store til 11 or later, and have to be back at 7 a.m. He started out here, then went to Neosho, then to Cassville, then to Monett, then to Butler. They wanted to live in Nevada when they came back and he felt like he had a good chance of getting back to the Nevada store so they bought a house in Nevada and he was driving 30+ miles to work every day. His days off were never set. One week it might be Tuesday and Sunday. The next week, Wednesday and Thursday . . it was hard to plan anything. He was working a ton of hours every week. And, when they were in Monett, he was working nights. He’d go in at 9 or 10 p.m. and get off about 9 or 10 a.m. Sleeping days in an small apartment with a 3 year old . . not easy! That was part of the requirement to move up – one year of nights. But, after Chad finished his one year of nights and left Monett, the year of nights didn’t seem to be a requirement any more!

I’ll never bash Walmart. They were good to him. The assistant manager’s pay is not shabby and he had more vacation than he’ll ever get again. I think he had 7 or 8 weeks vacation. He worked for Walmart for 10 or 11 years. There had been rumors for months about big cuts to the number of assistant managers at the smaller stores and . . it happened. Chad got cut. They gave them 60 days to try to find a similar position at another store but since all the stores within driving distance of their home had laid off assistant managers, there were no jobs to be found unless they moved, and they were hoping not to have to move.

Since he had plenty of notice, and was able to work 60 days after knowing he was losing his job, they were able to get things in order and it didn’t put them in a financial bind. I kept saying to him . . if you aren’t upset and worried, I’m not upset and worried. He assured me he was neither upset nor worried. In fact, Walmart management is a tough job, as is most any corporate job these days, and I think he was a bit relieved. He would probably never have left that job otherwise simply because of the pay and vacation time.

He applied for two jobs that he thought he had a good chance at getting. One was a rather low paying job but they worked four 10 hour days and had fairly good benefits. He was so wanting to have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off. He said “We’ll be like a normal family. I’ll be off when Nicole and Addie are off.” But if he had taken that job, it would only have been until he could find something that paid more.

The second job is a 5 day a week job (he thought) – Monday through Friday. The pay is much better. The benefits are better. In fact, there would probably be no reduction in salary once he’s been there six months or so but, of course, there will not be 8 weeks vacation . . probably ever!

He was torn . . if he got offers from both jobs, which one would he take? He debated it in his head. He and Nicole discussed it at length. In the end, the second job was the one that made the offer first, and Chad accepted it. The next day, the first job called and made him an offer. He thanked them but told them he had already accepted a job.

I’m so happy for them. It was really hard to look at losing the Walmart job as a blessing but I kept telling Chad . . almost everyone I know who has lost a job and had those “how are we going to survive” moments . . they’ve always ended up better off with the new position.

This morning he went in for orientation and started working. He was so happy to learn that this company also works four 10 hour days! Ever since the offers were made, I know he’s struggled with whether he did the right thing because he wanted Fridays off for doing his woodworking, fishing, spending time with Addie. They love going off and doing things together. Now, he got the best of both jobs – the better pay/benefits and a four day work week.

I’m proud of Chad, Nicole and Addie. I’m glad Chad got a job quickly. I’m glad, when he and Nicole would discuss which job to take, her answer was always “whatever you decide, I’m with you!”

I can’t wait for Chad to get home this evening so I can hear more about it. But, with Chad . . he has to be willing to talk. I can’t ask a lot of questions and that’s hard for me! 🙂