The Aftermath: When You Know You're Getting Whacked, Part 5
My 6-week odyssey with getting laid off from a job years ago culminated in The Day of Truth (previous entry). The actual moment of truth was surprisingly brief. But the... denouement... lasted the rest of the day.
Moving Out
After receiving formal notice of my termination in a morning meeting with my new boss- who both met me and fired me in the space of one short meeting!- I went back to my office to pack my things. Several of my colleagues were packing, too. A few of them had also gotten notice first thing in the morning. Of course, the funny thing was they actually knew five weeks earlier. That's the whole rub of this story: many of us on my team knew in advance. But people on other teams couldn't know we knew. We had to act outwardly like we didn't. That meant no packing up our offices ahead of time.
Packing up my office went quickly. I'd been there a short time, less than a year, so my "things" were two shelves of technical books and one box worth of personal mementos. Some of my colleagues had been there for 6-8 years, though. Their "things" were... basically their whole offices, minus the furniture and the computer. Back then people's offices looked lived in, often like college student dorm rooms but with way more expensive hardware. And a $300 nameplate next to the door.
The Aftermath
The nonchalance I'd practiced the 5 weeks leading up to that day cracked when it was finally real. I wasn't the only one. For my colleagues who'd been laid off, it was the end of an era. We loved what the company was even as we were frustrated with what it had become. But ironically the people hit hardest by the cuts were two of my colleagues who were not laid off.
There was actually one person laid off from our division who took it hard. It was a person who didn't see the ax coming. Fabio.
Fabio, my new boss as of 9am that morning and new ex-boss as of 9:05am, called me back to his office at 4pm. When I saw him for the second time that day his face was flushed as if he'd been struggling not to cry. Probably from having to fire people all day, I figured. But there was more. "I've just learned that I've been laid off, too," he explained.
At least there's some karmic justice in the world.
[This entry was cross-posted from https://canyonwalker.dreamwidth.org/25795.html. Please comment there using OpenID. That's where most of the action is!]
Moving Out
After receiving formal notice of my termination in a morning meeting with my new boss- who both met me and fired me in the space of one short meeting!- I went back to my office to pack my things. Several of my colleagues were packing, too. A few of them had also gotten notice first thing in the morning. Of course, the funny thing was they actually knew five weeks earlier. That's the whole rub of this story: many of us on my team knew in advance. But people on other teams couldn't know we knew. We had to act outwardly like we didn't. That meant no packing up our offices ahead of time.
Packing up my office went quickly. I'd been there a short time, less than a year, so my "things" were two shelves of technical books and one box worth of personal mementos. Some of my colleagues had been there for 6-8 years, though. Their "things" were... basically their whole offices, minus the furniture and the computer. Back then people's offices looked lived in, often like college student dorm rooms but with way more expensive hardware. And a $300 nameplate next to the door.
The Aftermath
The nonchalance I'd practiced the 5 weeks leading up to that day cracked when it was finally real. I wasn't the only one. For my colleagues who'd been laid off, it was the end of an era. We loved what the company was even as we were frustrated with what it had become. But ironically the people hit hardest by the cuts were two of my colleagues who were not laid off.
- "Kelly" was a young software developer, less than a year out of undergrad. His degree wasn't a strong one so landing this job at a storied tech company was the best thing that happened to him in his life. Moreover, the team had welcomed him in (he was a hard worker) and his boss, "Bert" had spent quality time with him to map out a career growth path. Kelly was so happy. His visible excitement just coming to work every day lifted the spirits of us around him. But with the layoff his cheer became visible despair. His project was gone, his boss was gone, his career path was likely gone, and the whole company was seen as circling the drain. He was still employed but everything had just disintegrated around him.
- "Bert" was a sharp senior engineer with a few successful new product launches under his belt. He'd been newly minted as a manager- a position he actually didn't want but took as a defensive play to steer the project away from interference by his arch-nemesis, "Fabio", a goofball middle-manager at the company who'd reached lifer status. With that project canceled and more than half the department being laid off, Bert assumed he'd be dismissed, too. He wasn't. Instead he was retained and reassigned, with no management duties, reporting to Fabio. Bert was pissed. He submitted his resignation hours later.
There was actually one person laid off from our division who took it hard. It was a person who didn't see the ax coming. Fabio.
Fabio, my new boss as of 9am that morning and new ex-boss as of 9:05am, called me back to his office at 4pm. When I saw him for the second time that day his face was flushed as if he'd been struggling not to cry. Probably from having to fire people all day, I figured. But there was more. "I've just learned that I've been laid off, too," he explained.
At least there's some karmic justice in the world.
[This entry was cross-posted from https://canyonwalker.dreamwidth.org/25795.html. Please comment there using OpenID. That's where most of the action is!]