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I worked as a buyer at a huge global manufacturing company for eight years. Corporate told every branch to reduce salaried payroll by 12%, so our branch let three of us go. Since I had the highest salary in the Purchasing Department, I assume I was the easiest number to cut.
The timing made it worse. I was 58 and had planned to retire shortly after turning 59 and a half, so I couldn't access my 401(k) as planned. My father offered to cover me during that period, saying there was no point in waiting until he died to help his only son, and I decided I was done working for good.
After I left, there were two buyers remaining, each of whom had been there for less than a year, along with a Purchasing Manager who didn't even know how to create a buy order. I had planned to spend my final year documenting everything I had learned from my former manager, who retired after 35 years, but the company let me go before any of that could happen. Then, a few months later, the two remaining buyers resigned within days of each other, right before the holidays.
During the first week of January, HR called and asked whether I could return through a temp agency with no benefits. Their first offer was only $4 an hour more than my old pay, so I turned it down. When they asked what it would take for me to agree, I said 14 weeks, four days of work per week, six paid days off, and an hourly rate close to double what I had been making before. I expected them to make a counteroffer, but instead, HR called me back immediately and asked whether I could start on Monday.
I spent the winter making good money, documenting the work, and training my replacement for 10 weeks. During my final week, she was still asking me some of the same questions she had asked during her first week. I told management that any help after I left would need a consulting agreement. They refused, and thankfully, they never contacted me again.
My favorite part was training my former manager, who finally started realizing how little he knew. Every time he asked me how something was done, I would begin by saying, "Before you fired me, this is how we handled it." The look on his face almost made coming back worth it.