Best of luck and give us an update, June.
Well, It’s barely 9 AM and I’m already back home.
I arrived at work at 8 AM, chatted with a coworker about some movies he let me borrow over the weekend, and at 8:05, I got a call from my boss. She asked me if I wouldn’t mind coming to her office for a moment. I was immensely relieved – I knew that, whatever happened, it would all be over soon. No sitting at my desk all day watching the clock and waiting for the inevitable.
She was quick and to-the-point. “I’ve got some bad news. Some job’s have been centralized by our corporate office, and yours is one of them. You can remain here until December 16th, and then you’ll get four weeks severance pay.”
Centralized. So that’s what they’re calling it these days. At least there were no armed escorts. No ultimatums to clean out my desk.
She offered me another position out in the warehouse. It would be a 50% pay cut, but it would be employment, and I told her I’d consider it. Maybe the bigwigs at my division would appreciate my loyalty for staying with the company even after a layoff (if they still understand concepts like ‘loyalty’ or ‘appreciation’ (the emotional kind) after so many years of corporate brainwashing).
All in all, it went well. She was obviously upset and, much to my astonishment, she almost cried after she told me. This made me start to choke up a little, although I kept my emotions in check and didn’t humiliate myself.
I did not expect this reaction from my über-professional boss. She’s young though, and this may well have been her first layoff too. To make it easier on her, I told her that I appreciated that she told me early. I also reminded her that I was young and resilient, and while being laid-off is an inconvenience, it certainly is not a life-shattering event for me.
She told me that the afternoon meeting was being held to notify the rest of the employees about the layoffs. I asked if it was necessary that I attend, and she told me I was under no obligation. Always on the lookout for a day off, I told her I was feeling a little shell-shocked and asked her if I could call in sick for the day. She was more than happy to accommodate.
So I’m home, and I’m going to try to have a little fun today.
I’ve been meaning to go to the zoo for awhile. It might be a good reminder of what my job was actually like, before I get too sentimental about losing it.
Yeah.
Around here (pharmaceuticals) that meant the DBAs got let go, and everything now gets routed through a central tracking system. The requests then get triaged and farmed out to mostly the same DBAs that were layed off, but now they’re working for the couple of preferred consulting firms we use. The system had serious growing pains at first but now it works pretty well. Maybe your company’s doing something similar and there’s a consulting firm you can work for?
It’s good you got some breathing room anyway.
I was thinking: if I take the warehouse position, I’d be giving up the severance pay, which amounts to about 3 month’s salary (in warehouse dollars). But if I get a job elsewhere, I’ll still get the severance pay, along with my new paycheck. So I have a bit of a disincentive to stay at the company.
Besides, the company has taken on a distinctive “sinking ship” feel in the last six months. It’s probably going to sink in a year or so, so why exactly should I stay unless I have no other choice?
This is the first real company I’ve worked for (at least in a white-collar, office environment), and I have a feeling that better companies exist – with better policies and more friendly work environments (and hopefully, a lower manager-to-employee ratio. Did I mention that none of the layoffs were in management?)
I did end up going to the zoo with my mom today. It was an enjoyable diversion.
One of the polar bears made me a little sad – I think he was stir-crazy. He would swim on his back toward the wall of his tank, turn around, kick off, swim on his belly toward the shore, climb part of the way out of the water, bob his head exactly three times, slide back into the water, and swim back toward the wall again. He repeated this exact ritual about 30 times while I watched, and something about the repetition and the ritualistic head-bobs reminded me of an obsessive-compulsive.
So I tried to think of how lousy my job was, and how this poor insane bear was unintentionally reenacting my workday – repeating the same boring motions over and over again, five days a week, with very little variation, and very little enthusiasm. The metaphor didn’t really strike a chord though. My job wasn’t that terrible. And I’ll soon escape my cage, whereas the polar bear will remain trapped the rest of his natural life, slowly going more and more insane. So the bear gets my sympathy vote.
I guess all jobs are repetitive to some extent, but I’m hopeful that my next gig will be little more interesting and emotionally fulfilling.
To my old company: good riddance. You had over two years to see what a smart and talented guy I was, but you used me like a cheap whore and tossed me out with the garbage. It’s your loss, not mine. Not even close. I’ll be successful someday, and I’ll make a genuine contribution to my employer. You’ll be bankrupt and forgotten, and people will wipe their asses with your stock certificates. I only feel bad about all the good people you’ll drag down with you.
The job with the 50% pay cut works only to the company’s advantage; you need to worry about what’s to your advantage. (Sounds like you’ve figured that out, but just in case…) The severance gives you a bit of a cushion while you’re finding something you like. If you’re working in the warehouse, you don’t have the time to be looking for something better… While many jobs are repetitive, many aren’t - this is your chance to find one of those…! Sounds like the whole thing went much better than you feared. Good luck!
GT
Agreed, make sure you understand all the terms, speak with Personnel about any paperwork you can/must do regarding unemployment benefits, etc. In my last US job, people who had been fired or left “without malice” still had medical benefits for a while. You can probably roll your 401K over into a different plan or leave it frozen until you get your next job, too.
My bro got fired by the first time this year, he was the treasurer for a largish company here in Spain; the partner who used to be his manager was on extended medical leave and the one who took over from her didn’t like my brother’s attitude (too plain-spoken). Reactions bro got:
- You lousy fuck! How did you manage? I’ve been threatened three times a month for five years and they never fire me! (from coworkers)
- Do they know what they’re doing? (from coworkers, customers and bank people; answer is “no”)
- Been in business with that louse for twenty years and the only reason I still work with him is that I only speak to his assface once a year. You’ve got my number if you need references (another one of the partners)
Bro’s been unemployed a total of 40 days; his new job is better (administrative manager), the salary is better (starting salary matches his old salary and his contract includes the specific rises he’ll get if he’s in the job come January and come next September), the company is much more serious and management is professional. I hope you will soon be able to say something like that.
(I was unemployed longer but I’m a lot less employable than bro, and the job I finally got is pretty much what I would have asked Santa for)
Well, it turns out I get almost 4 weeks of extra time off. Just before lunch on Tuesday I get offered the choice to go home, well, for good. So I did. Same severance package as before, just with almost 4 extra weeks tacked on, as long as I am “on call”. So, right now, along with being a little tipsy, I am unemployed, but I am looking.
I have enought severance to take me into next year, my wife is also in the job market, so I think we will come out of this debt free, with money in the bank. At least, I freakin’ hope so.