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Hi I run a podcast called The Lawtrepreneur Briefing that explores what's makes a modern lawyer modern. We do this by having conversations with people driving the transformation of the legal profession.
Excerpt of the most recent conversation can be found here: https://twitter.com/lawtrepreneurco/status/1282688181419347968?s=19
If any of you have thoughts about the subject, I'd love to have you on. You can apply to speak here: https://www.lawtrepreneur.co/podcastguest/
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Chief
I don’t think anyone’s job is secure right now. If I’m reading this right, are you both working full-time and trying to care for a baby right now? How old is the baby? Who is doing the lion’s share of childcare during the day?
We knew my husband would be a SAHD when we had kids. About a year before we started trying for our first, we stopped using his income for anything - it was deposited into an unlinked savings account & we didn’t touch it. This helped us understand what it would look and feel like as a single-income household. It also meant there was no hard transition that happened when we were trying to navigate life with a newborn.
I’d be very nervous about anyone voluntarily leaving a job right now, though. If anything, start practicing what one income would look like, and have a plan if that one income disappears.
Rising Star
Depends on where in the big 4 you sit. Public sector practices are absolutely thriving right now, whereas commercial sector business is drying up left and right. I’d wait it out, maybe get clever with your respective parental leave, and reassess in 6 months
Rising Star
Critical infrastructure in commercial is surging too (such as health, utilities, food supply). If these begin to fail it means something worse than losing your job is not out of the question.
Conversation Starter
Yes baby is 7 months, she is doing the most right now.
Chief
Also, if your baby isn’t a good sleeper, it might all be hitting a breaking point for her. When my son was about that age, I literally started hallucinating due to chronic stress and months of sleep deprivation.
Rising Star
Layoffs are very likely in my opinion.
Chief
What practice are you in? I would be very nervous if I was a low performer in any practice
Rising Star
Define low performer. That gets thrown around and doesn't mean much without criteria.
I’m not sure - I know I work at a smaller national firm and we were told last week that there will be layoffs across the firm, paycuts, furloughs and reduced hours
Pro
I think you answered your own question
Pro
“Should she quit her job on the precipice of a recession?”
Chief
I think you know what answer you’re leaning towards.
Conversation Starter
Leaning toward waiting but also don’t want to be too stressed
Just my opinion, but I’m fairly optimistic about legacy EY-P positioning within EY and associated layoff implications. At least for calendar year 2020, I am more concerned about the possibility of a reduction in pay. Not like I have any inside info on this or anything - I could just imagine it happening in the fall if the current environment subsists and there isn’t any sort of material bounce back. Beyond straight up losing your job, worth thinking about how tight things would be for your family if your salary were to be trimmed by say, 20-30% (assuming you are in a post MBA pay band, this seems like right ballpark for a potential reduction)
If I were in your shoes I’d try to hold off a few months if possible just to avoid getting into an even more stressful situation
Chief
Is EY-P not dependent on annual voluntary attrition like the rest of EY? I guess you guys would be more project/pipeline focused?