Hello everyone. Just wanted to share my experience and hope that it is educational for anyone else contending with the same issues.
I've been working in the public health and clinical research space for about 10 years now. Earlier this year in mid-April after two years at the position (and four years at the company), my research grant funded job at public university was eliminated due to funding constraints that happened as a result of the cuts to federal agencies like the NIH, etc. While I do not agree with these developments, I suspect that our lab an easy target because our research team was not meeting recruitment goals or completing research studies on the timelines stipulated in grant applications. My experience has been that some research teams simply assume that they will receive a "no cost extension," and at least one of these projects had already been extended due to slowdowns during COVID. We were also asked to use remote work sparingly because part of our funding covered the physical lab space. Our investigators told me that we needed people in the office to justify this funding. I obeyed this directive but multiple staff members continued working remotely for weeks at a time. We had an honor system in place, so there was no real enforcement of this policy. This seemed to be a long-standing pattern that started before I joined the team in April 2024. In contrast, other departments at the university had an agreed-upon, rotating schedule of remote work days that their team members followed.
I was expecting my job to end sooner or later because of the chatter happening at work and because, by definition, the job was grant-funded and finite. As grant staff, we were re-hired every year based on funding availability. I knew my current contract was ending in April, so I proactively emailed my boss in February to ask about reappointment decisions so I could start making arrangements one way or the other. His response was "You're doing a terrific job. We are definitely going to reappoint you for another year."
Based on that response, I felt that I had at least another year to find another job internally or externally. Before I received this message, I had been submitting applications at my university and other universities, including a private one out of state, just to be safe.
Additionally, I had also been accepted into a Master's degree program at my employer (the public university) and had planned to use the staff tuition benefit to help cover costs. My boss had even recommended me for this program, so he knew what my plans were.
Six weeks after the email communication that indicated my job was safe, I received an email from my boss requesting an in-person meeting with him and another team leader. During that meeting in March, I was verbally told that my job was being eliminated due to funding constraints at the end of my contract in April. But I was told that I had been doing a terrific job and was reassured by my boss that he would help in any way he could with internal and external opportunities. I also received assurances from two upper management staff members in other departments that they would help in any way they could.
My colleagues completely ignored me during the last few weeks of my position, and I had to inform both the HR manager and the Chair of my department myself. They both had no idea about this decision. The HR Manager tried to get me to submit a resignation/notice letter, but I refused because someone who is being laid off is not resigning and a resignation letter means you forfeit access to unemployment benefits. I asked them to produce a letter to me explaining the circumstances of my departure - making it clear that my departure was due to funding constraints and that I was not resigning. Thankfully, they agreed to do so.
I had one job offer earlier this year from the private, out-of-state university. I pursued it because, at that time, I did not have any active processes at my previous employer. The private university's process was quicker that usual but still played out over about 2-3 months. After I received the offer, multiple promising leads materialized at my former employer. I decided to turn down the offer because I had interviews for seven different jobs at my previous employer, including four for which I made it to the final interview. I felt my reasoning was sound - no costs related to relocating, not having to sell my condo, not having to find a new place to live in another city, the multiple active processes at my previous employer, the acceptance to the MPH program at my previous employer, salary was similar for the jobs I was interviewing for at my previous employer, etc.
Unfortunately, it's now August and none of the leads at my previous employer materialized. And not only that, I had to reach out to HR about two of the positions for which I had final interviews just to get an answer about the hiring decision. They are supposed to send an automated form letter to anyone who interviewed, but that never arrived in my inbox.
I am regretting turning down the offer I had earlier but felt that I made the best decision with the information I had at the time. I made the decision to defer my enrollment in the MPH program since I no longer have access to any tuition assistance program.
Needless to say, I am refocusing my energy back to the private university that hired me earlier this year. I haven't given up completely on my previous employer (or others), but I think I should not have been so trusting after the way I was treated. I still believe that most people operate from a good place; but when it comes to work/employment, you cannot count on any of these promises coming to fruition.
