More layoffs at my previous employer

[Johnny L.A.]

It's been a year and twelve days since I was laid off from my last job. My contact there said that on Wednesday more people were laid off. (My contact said, "It seems to be a habit every October on a Wednesday.") She mentioned six people. Someone who was laid off a couple of years ago (and who is now doing volunteer work for the Kerry campaign) has a contact, and mentioned five other people who were laid off too. I wonder if Tata is taking over more functions, or if the VP is just nuts.

In my (former) department we had the "loading team". These were the people who loaded the millions of lines of data we'd process every week. The loading team is down to one person. He's in the office full time, and he's on call on weekends. A couple of years ago he was talking about selling his house, quitting his job, and moving back to Texas. There is nobody in the company who knows how to do his job. If he quits (or gets sick, or goes on holiday) there will be no one to load the data. And since his workload just increased (since the other remaining member of the team was laid off the other day), I don't think he'll be a Happy Merry Worker.

My contact says:
I don't know how [the remaining person] is going to load all the data and be on call every single weekend. They're putting all their eggs in one basket because no one else knows how to do what he does, even programming would need to be trained. If he walks, there's going to be serious problems. I wonder what will happen if he wants to take a vacation?

When we had our all hands [meeting] afterward, it was stated that [the VP] was done 'for today'. Also there are still alot of packing boxes stacked up by the freight elevator. That was the first tip yesterday that something was afoot. I know eventually that I will draw the short straw and it's just a matter of time. I've dodged the bullet too often and I there's one out there with my name on it just waiting in the chamber.

Oh well. What are you going to do?

[hajario]

Dude, it's long past time to move on.

Haj

[Johnny L.A.]

Dude, it's long past time to move on.

Haj
Dude, some of these people are my friends. Am I supposed to not care about them, just because we no longer work for the same company?

[hajario]

I could be wrong but I get the feeling that you are a bit obsessed and bitter about your former employer. The concern about your friends is reasonable. Keeping in the loop about corporate gossip beyond that is not healthy. I've been laid off a couple of times so I can relate.

Haj

[ouryL]

It's been a year and twelve days since I was laid off from my last job. My contact there said that on Wednesday more people were laid off. (My contact said, "It seems to be a habit every October on a Wednesday.") She mentioned six people. Someone who was laid off a couple of years ago (and who is now doing volunteer work for the Kerry campaign) has a contact, and mentioned five other people who were laid off too. I wonder if Tata is taking over more functions, or if the VP is just nuts.

In my (former) department we had the "loading team". These were the people who loaded the millions of lines of data we'd process every week. The loading team is down to one person. He's in the office full time, and he's on call on weekends. A couple of years ago he was talking about selling his house, quitting his job, and moving back to Texas. There is nobody in the company who knows how to do his job. If he quits (or gets sick, or goes on holiday) there will be no one to load the data. And since his workload just increased (since the other remaining member of the team was laid off the other day), I don't think he'll be a Happy Merry Worker.

My contact says:

A friend of mine was laid off then brought back as a consultant at twice the pay sans benefits. His spouse placed him on the family plan, so he's a happy camper at the moment.

:eek: :eek: :D

[yosemite]

I understand you being concerned about your friends. It's good to keep in touch with old friends, to see how they're doing.

But screw this company. Screw them. Their problems are their own, and it sounds like they're generating a whole lot of new problems for themselves.

I left my last job over a year ago and I sometimes wonder what has become of the people there. But since I am a coldhearted bitch (okay, not so much that) I haven't kept in touch. Now, I might and should keep in touch with some coworkers that I was particularly close to—but as far as how the administration is going? Don't really care. They made a lot of mistakes and did a lot of messed up stuff going on at that job and I am just so glad that I'm not part of it anymore.

There are other factors going on at my old job and I do think about them with concern from time-to-time, but it's a place that I NEVER, NEVER want to go back to, so not being reminded of it is a good thing.

Sorry, sort of hijacked the topic for a moment. All I can say is, screw this damned company. They seem to be making dumb decisions. I hope your contact takes care of herself and has her resume out. I hope that the guy who is the only one who knows how to do that certain thing also thinks of himself and his family first, and doesn't work too hard just because the company has now put all their eggs in his basket. I hope that he insists on proper vacations when appropriate, and I hope he puts out his resume when he's had enough.