When Derek graduated from college in 2008, he started working for a company called DeltaValve. They made valves for oil companies (that's really the extent of what I know, because I'm no engineer...). He tried to be positive, but it got really hard because he just wasn't getting the kind of work that even the lowest of engineers should have been getting. With over 70 people working for the company and only getting drafting jobs, he couldn't really impress the types of people he needed to.
A little over a year ago, he was asked to spend 6 weeks helping a sister company called TDC to work on a specific project. TDC had recruited several of DeltaValve's engineers for projects like this but it was known that it usually took longer than the time they had recruited them for. Derek knew this, but there wasn't much he could do. He went over to TDC and started working on this project.
About 4 weeks after starting at TDC, DeltaValve had it's 3rd set of layoffs in 5 months. And, this was a big one. Derek's boss at TDC called him into his office and said that if Derek had still been working at DeltaValve, he would have been laid off, but because Reuben (TDC boss) had seen Derek work for the last several weeks, he had talked to corporate and asked if he could hire him on at TDC, for good.
Without Derek having to do anything, he was fired and hired all in one day. We were pretty lucky.
Derek has liked working for TDC a lot more than DeltaValve. With only 8-10 people working there, he has had many more opportunities to prove himself and get the kind of work that he should have been getting from the start. It was hard work, and he actually had to do more work because there were fewer people, but he really loved it!
Yesterday, Derek was told by his boss that all of DeltaValve was moving to Houston, where corporate is located. He said that DeltaValve was doing 3 more rounds of layoffs, at the end of which, only 12 people would be asked if they wanted to go to Houston. 12, out of like 50. He said that the 12 who would be going would most likely be those that are high in rank, who had been working for the company as long as it had been in operation. I asked about TDC and what was going to happen to it, and Derek said that all was well, and his boss was projecting more hires, not fires in the next few years.
I cannot tell you how blessed I feel that Derek was asked to do a short-term project at TDC, exactly at the time that he was. He wouldn't have survived that 3rd lay-off a year ago, and even if he had, he never would have made it past now. He wouldn't have been asked to move with the company, and even if he had, I can't leave until my school year is over so we couldn't have done it anyway. He's happier at TDC, he gets more work, and his job is stable. I have a job, and as long as we stay in Utah, I have definite job security. My principal loves me and I also have several people at the district level who know and respect me, so I'm fine.
We both have jobs. We are so blessed.
I remember that time for you guys. We were worried about Derek's job, but then everything worked out. It was a total miracle. I'm grateful for the Lord's blessings, too.
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