My company conducted a workforce reduction today. As with every other company trying to remain competitive, profitable and sustainable, it was an inevitable step.
This is the fourth workforce reduction in twenty months. Another 11% of the workforce is gone this time around; a total of 27% of the workforce is gone compared to the prior year.
More friends and acquaintances are gone--just like that.
I still have my job. My team still have their jobs, for which I am very thankful.
Every time this has happened, the day starts out eerily quiet, whether we know it's coming or not. This time, I knew it was coming. Not everyone did, though.
Here's how it goes: HR comes over to the person and quietly says, "can I speak to you in this office?" A five minute conversation goes on behind a closed door. Shortly thereafter, the person emerges with drooped shoulders, head down, perhaps red-eyed. He or she quietly return to their desk where moving boxes have mysteriously shown up. It doesn't take long. The cube mates nearby talk in hushed voices, wondering whether they should approach the most recent victim of the process. Finally, a brave soul goes over and confirms the obvious. Hugs, more tears. They have been told they should leave the building as soon as reasonably possible. Oh, and it's not personal (in so many words...).
It's all over in a couple of hours. Then for those who are still left with their jobs intact, the quiet is replaced with guilt. Guilt that they were the lucky ones to still have a job and that they had to say good-bye. If they said anything at all. Guilt because they were stacking up the pros and cons, creating "what-if" scenarios in their head and the selfish sentiments of "better her than me." Guilt because they may be thinking, "that could've/should've been me."
It's no good. No good at all. But that's business. It's about right-sizing our company to run as efficiently as possible to drive sales. "Today was a very dark day in the company's history", said our COO of the company this afternoon. And he slept terribly these past couple of nights. "It was a difficult, difficult decision." He feels our pain. But it was doing greater good for the greater number of people--our shareholders. Our stock has gone from $0.28 /share a week ago to $0.54 /share at close of today, so I guess that's good for them. Oh yeah, we also learned today there will be a company-wide wage freeze and the company 401K match is suspended for FY2009. Did I tell you that it's all about business? It's buying more time to ride out this current economic shit hole we're currently in. I certainly hope we have enough cash...
And we still don't have an answer on where the board is leaning on the strategic alternatives review currently being wrapped up. I guess we'll know by January 31.
When is it all going to stop?
3 comments:
It hasn't even been two years since the NBCSports.com layoffs -- the ones that led me to go looking for something better and eventually got me out of Connecticut and back home to Minnesota. Feels like a lot longer.
I remember resentment toward the powers-that-be for not having a better plan for our launch. For pushing us through a redesign project and cutting some of the key players right after that. For cutting some people that were brilliant and leaving a moron who couldn't spell but was writing headlines and photo captions. For offering the people let go such crappy packages. For cutting a third of the workforce but not cutting the amount of work we were expected to do.
I got the bad news while I was in the car driving to a basketball game. Most everyone else (those who were left) was in a conference room on-site. Meeting lasted about two hours, during which I forgot I wasn't muted and cursed at a driver in front of me on the NY State Thruway.
Inadvertently lightened the mood, at least.
But I knew then I had to leave. And between the time I announced my departure and my last day of work, four other people gave their notice as well.
Somehow, my company (which will remain nameless, because they hire software to monitor such postings) managed to coax 2300 comrades-in-arms out into the courtyard last month without beining questioned; then they proceeded to blindfold each, give them a cigarette, and shoot them in cold blood. None was over 50, because they already had an age discrimination, class-action lawsuit to contend with; rather, some person had identified each of those 2300 specifically for capital punishment. [2300 is 0.5% of all those shot in December in this entire country.] They took out the heart of the company, the 45 year olds with 20 years experience, the future of the company, the folks who will provide my retirement. They lopped them off because they could, the same way I prune the shrubs along the hosta walk, because I have the power, because I have the pruner, and with that power to do what I want without considering the needs of the forsythia, just another engineer in the view of management. That branch of the shrub is gone, and I still get to put the tool away and sit on the patio, admiring my work, and drink a gin and tonic (my equivalent of a 5 million dollar bonus); because I have the pruner and they are just mere shrubs/workers and not as important as a garden/company.
My organization hasn't had to let anyone go, but we are enduring budget cuts, a hiring freeze and wage freezes. If things don't improve I am not sure we can sustain our current workforce, but I'm doing what I can to make sure we do.
We've got a strong plan, but it's hard when you control nothing about the current economic situation.
Good luck everyone!
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