Layoffs Suck: Raysa Williams, 30

Raysa Williams is a Paseo grad who studied theater and dance. She’s been the victim of two layoffs in two years.

She was laid off from her work as a closer for Nations Lending, a title loan company, in October 2007 but was out of work for only a month when the company suddenly offered her old job back. She took it, but in the month’s span that she was out of work, she’d gone on several interviews. One was at Zep Manufacturing, where she interviewed for a job as an executive assistant. When Zep called her to offer the job, she quit her position at the title loan company and moved to the higher-paying job at Zep.

“Zep sells cleaning products and chemicals,” Williams says. “I got the job as executive assistant to their general manager for Kansas City. I’d run errands if he needed me to. … I really liked it a lot. … I did everything. I did all the HR for our sales reps in Kansas City, ordered stuff for the entire branch, planned sales meetings, parties, holiday cards for everyone to send out. Whatever anybody needed, I was it.”

But last October, Zep gave Williams some bad news: They were reorganizing and only keeping one executive assistant for the entire region. “So, bye,” she says they told her. “I miss it.”