I got that kind of layoff once. From a director who knew that I knew (as part of the project management office) that he’d been playing with the numbers. He asked if I had any questions and I replied in a wink, nudge voice, “I have lots I’d like to say, but no questions.”
I was supervised while I packed my gear and left with a goodbye shout down the hallway. They could do nothing to stop it and the co-manager escorting me cracked up. It got better when I got to the hallway outside where coworkers were gossipping. I then shouted “Free at last! Free at last!” About 25 percent of us were laid off that day. At that point, I was glad to go.
It was scary for a few months but I landed in a career path I like much better.
Damn, I was hoping the bump was to say you had a new job.
Keep your head up, keep plugging, & remember, the end of the year isn’t the best time. Don’t get down on yourself; between people using vacation & having to get their own EoY work done there isn’t necessarily a lot of interviewing going on. It gets better in Jan.
I’ve been working for pharmaceutical giants for the last 20 years and was involved directly in one big layoff and watched another from the sidelines since I was a contractor. I’ve also been laid off several times as a contractor, but it’s pretty much expected given the circumstances at the time (end of a project, maxed out on time, etc.). I’m at a point now where I’ve been toggling between two companies. When I’m applying someone eventually recognizes my name and asks around. My last interview consisted of a 20 minute phone call and it was basically this is what’s happening, am I interested, and when can I start. Which is great and all but this is after being jobless for 6 months, growing a beard to entertain my daughters and shaving it off, my unemployment literally ran out the Friday before the Monday when i started, I was about to get a hack license so I could drive for Uber (oops, I mean be an Uber partner), begging for extensions on my bills and so on…but I digress.
The big layoffs usually started a year or so out with auditorium-filled “Town Hall” meetings where restructuring is first hinted at in general terms and then what happens to our little corner of the company came increasingly into focus over the next few months. After one or two of these things, and knowing the trends of the industry (outsource heavily), we pretty much got the drift. There was also the part one time where the Christmas party was scaled down from the grand ballroom of swankiest hotel in town to a steam table in an upstairs room of a bar that nobody heard of. Eventually we were presented a picture of the company we no longer have a place in and the meetings got smaller until my supervisor wearily sat down in my office and told me when my last day was going to be. She told me, I nodded my head in resignation, she said a few things to try to bouy my spirits, and off she went to the next person. No one was even remotely surprised.
We were given opportunities to apply for new positions, or we could move to where the sort-of-our-old position is now being performed. Or (drumroll) we could take a severance package. I can’t remember the formula but it was pretty good but they also taxed the hell out of it. On top of the payout I was paid full salary for 6 weeks but didn’t have to go into the office. One big shock was how the $100 or whatever I was paying a month for my sweet health insurance became $2000+ when I had to make the whole nut myself if I wanted to continue it through COBRA.
I’ve been on both sides of the table, and I’d rather get laid off than lay people off. My own circumstances can take a hit (I volunteered for my last layoff), I have skills that can get me into a new job fairly quickly (three weeks from laid off to offer - six before I started), savings and a husband who contracts - but has consistently had a client since he started contracting - but I don’t really know what the circumstances are when I lay people off - will they find another job? Can they pay their bills on unemployment? How about their mental state? The guilt of doing that to someone is really horrible. Now, if my own circumstances weren’t good, I’d probably feel differently, but its easy for me to understand why you’d say something like that.
For me it took about a month for the initial shock of losing my job to wear off which is when I would start the job search process. I been laid off 5 times and each time it was the same shocking feeling because I never saw the signs.
I think that is the other reason I’d rather be on the “getting let go” side of the table. If you are involved in the “who do we let go” process it was always weeks of preparation and anticipation, where you knew - but at best they knew only that the axe was falling (the company I worked for for a LONG time would let you know when they had to RIF - at least a month out - in fact, right now my friends tell me “there is one coming in January” - so while WHO is a surprise, people can wrap their heads around maybe and some of them jump before the axe.) That period of knowing when they don’t know has always been hard.
Not entirely true. Some of my best projects have been landed in December because they wanted to get the project off the ground right away in January. In fact, I just landed a project yesterday that will keep me in paychecks through March. (Contractor here.)
I never liked people hugging on me before I left the job after being informed of a layoff. You only hug when someone is resigning not when they are laid off.:smack:
Take into account that in the US, many people don’t even have a written contract. It’s just a completely different system. In many European countries the only time there wouldn’t be several weeks’ time to do handover, wrap things up or whatever is if the person is leaving in a police car; in the US it’s likely to be completely sudden.
Drove me nuts. That and “When God closes the door, he opens a window.” Got news for them. When the company slams the door, I holler “fire” and break out of whatever is holding me back so I can move on.
Bumped for an update, in case anyone cares – I start my new job on Tuesday (office closed on Monday for holiday).
It’s a two-month contract, but the hiring manager was very upfront that they’re looking for someone to stay on permanent at the end (though he admitted saying it would get him in trouble with HR), which is also what I’m looking for. The pay is way better than my last job, it’s doing something I really enjoy (data analysis and reporting), it’s in the healthcare industry which is HUGE in this area, and assuming I stay on after my contract the PTO and benefits are way better than my last job. It’s really more than I could have hoped for.
Taking into account how miserable the last year of my old job was, the three months of paid time off they gave me for the holidays, and the fact that I landed a better job in a better industry with better compensation – getting laid off was the best thing that happened to me in 2015!
That’s great news Skammer. Congratulations buddy, but I suggest you don’t let your guard down, and keep on updating your LinkedIn/Resumes. There is nothing wrong with actively receiving job offers, even when you’re happily employed.