Cash Cushion--Just in Case

HIS CHALLENGE: Thorner was laid off for a third time in July 1994. Although he had saved money and received a small severance package from his technical job, he and his wife, an unpaid church volunteer, faced difficulty meeting their mortgage.

HOW HE COPED: At the unemployment office, Thorner discovered that he qualified to receive free job retraining under the federal Job Training Partnership Act. In January 1995, he enrolled in computer networking training classes at Mount Sierra College in Pasadena. The training led to a better-paying job.

*

The computer classes reassured Michael Thorner that his mind was still sharp and that he could carry a full course load, he said. With a sense of renewed confidence, he sent out resumes and answered help-wanted ads, finally landing a job in June 1995 with Beckman Instruments in Brea.

Thorner’s first layoff came in 1984 at a computer company after there was a slowdown in orders. Thorner blamed himself at the time, he said, even asking former workers if he was at fault. His religious faith helped steady him, he said.

That experience taught him that being laid off could happen again. So during the next eight years, while he was employed at Baxter Health Care Corp. in Orange County, he simplified his lifestyle. After paying off credit card debts and buying used cars instead of new, he had built a $30,000 cushion.

His most recent job loss reinforced his belief that there is no stigma in being laid off, he said.

“That’s sort of common now because things have changed,” Thorner said. “You don’t have lifetime careers.”