Overtime Whore

I had a conversation with a medic the other day while working an overtime shift. He mentioned that he was going to earn about fifteen grand less this year than he did last. I was surprised, as this guy is an OT whore. He will work any day any place any time.

This isn't Sal, an individual I posted about HERE, but a guy who lives in an older smaller house, one whose wife stays home and raises their two kids. Honestly, I don't know what he does with his money; although it really isn't any of my business.

I asked him if he was cutting back on the amount of OT that he worked. He told me yes, but not by choice. With that response, I initially figured that he had burned someone and that the word had gotten out, causing people not to call him when they needed a day off.

After further discussion, it became apparent that there were several factors for his not working as much.

First it was a slow fire season. Although there a few large fires, there were less of them. We sent fewer units out of district, meaning less back fill.

Probably the biggest factor was that more people are working overtime this year. There are several reasons for this. One is that many of our spouses have lost their jobs, have taken cuts in pay or are being furloughed, causing some of our folks to work more to make up the difference.

Others are working more overtime because they want to pay off bills before they are forced to take a wage cut or staffing cuts eliminate further overtime. Some just want to build up cash reserves because they do not know what the future holds. In short they are being proactive.

We, like others, are nervous and don't really believe the recession will be over until more jobs can be created. Typically, our industry lags behind the economy. We start to feel the recession later than the general public and we start to feel the recovery later as well.

I don't think that this medics reduction in OT will be disastrous for him, I don't think he lives on the financial edge. It does kind of illustrate the change in the economy that we are all seeing. 

Regardless, we still have it a lot better than many and for that I am thankful.

Thanks for reading,
Schmoe