When the pandemic hit, the University my mother worked for started to cut expenses. They cut the Volleyball team, The entire department of Education, and many faculty members. My mom was part of the Rhetoric and Composition faculty. Before the cuts, there were 7 faculty members. My mom is a fucking phenomenal Professor. She took on other peoples' classes if they were on maternity leave, she ran the student lead Academic Journal (not by choice) for years which caused her to work 70-hour weeks sometimes, she wrote and developed several classes, including a core class which only she knew how to teach, and she was widely loved by the staff.
She lost her job because she doesn't have a PhD. She only has a master's degree. I know it is common in academia for those with master's degrees to lose their jobs in the first rounds of budget cuts, but she went above and fucking beyond for her university. But to the president of the university (And his band of lawyers), she wasn't good enough to keep her job.
My Mom has Type 1 diabetes, which she needed her insurance to cover most of the cost of. Also, as a 58-year-old woman with a master's in a Global Pandemic, it was pretty much impossible for her to find a job.
And fucking WHOOPSIE, the University realized after she was cut, that she was the only person who knew how to teach Grant Writing, which is a required course for all students in the humanities. So the University salted the wound by offering my Mother an Adjunct position and gave her as many classes as they could without making her full time. She wouldn't be eligible for benefits, such as Health Insurance, but she would have at least some money.
Let me tell you what I mean. When she was full time, she had a 65K job with benefits. As an Adjunct, she made 4,000 dollars per class, per semester. She could only teach three classes a semester as an Adjunct. So she would make 24,000 a year. It is so ridiculous.
She couldn't say no. She had kids to feed, Insulin to afford. Thankfully, my oldest brothers and I are adults and we help her out as much as we can. She can't find a better paying job, and hasn't been able to since March of 2020.
She became a Professor to help people, to help the University inspire young adults to chase their dreams. And that was all spat back in her face. It's so unfair.
Edit: I mean it was impossible for her to find another Professor Job. Before she got offered her Adjunct position, she worked at Starbucks.