You knew the call was coming, but the resolution of the issue was still unknown. A workforce reduction of 4% company-wide doesn’t sound too threatening, but you knew your little corner of the company was to be the primary target. More than 4% would be affected in your office; the only question was how many more.
It was 9:10 in the morning when the telephone rang. The caller ID screen displayed the number of your organization’s Vice President. This early in the morning? Probably not a good sign.
“How are you doing?” he asked.
You chuckle. “Well, I’m not sure. It’s been a strange week.” That is a true statement. It is a strange feeling, indeed, to fear for your job. The week of uncertainty is as bad, or worse, than the certainty when the call finally arrives.
“I’m afraid what I have to tell you won’t make your week any better.” You have a great deal of respect for the man on the other end of the line. The sadness in his voice is palpable. “Your position has been surplussed. This is the most difficult thing I have to do as an executive, but my hands are tied. When I brought you on board two years ago, I never dreamed something like this was on the horizon. I am so sorry.”
This is the conversation that makes one a statistic. It is the conversation your Vice President had to repeat with many other co-workers who had been with the company less than two years, men and women with families to feed and mortgages to pay. It is the conversation that makes you part of the 8% of workers in your industry who are unemployed, the industry to which you have devoted 25 years of your life. It is the conversation that ensues for far too many when the company that has given you a comfortable standard of living reduces its sales force by 25%. It is the conversation that darkens a season of the year that should be full of light. It is the conversation that is happening all over the United States, the consequence of unbridled greed and irresponsible activities on the part of a very small number of financiers and often foolish and gullible homeowners.
533,000 jobs were lost in November. The number will likely be higher in December. Now you are one of them: A statistic published in the Saturday morning newspaper.
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That day five of us were laid off. We were led into a room with a manager and someone from HR. We were given some paperwork and politely told to pack up and get out.
The department director for whom I had worked for years couldn't be bothered to show up that day. I never did hear from him -- no phone call, no email, no post card, no "best wishes" or "sorry dude" or anything else. But what the hell, it was only some peons being disposed of, and he had people to do that for him.
This is the icing on the cake: “Your position has been surplussed." Surplussed?? Are they freakin kidding??? Perhaps if the surpluss top execs who do little to nothing all took a pay cut, they could keep the employees who actually do the work. Damn.
GREAT post.
rated
"Your position has been surplussed." Yah, right. I got, "The decision has been made to terminate your employment." It carries a bit more of an implication of blame, but I was never told the why or informed of any failing or infraction.
Then again, my dismissal doesn't even compare to Mishima's.
At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter how poorly or nicely they do it to ya, you're still without a job.
This is really moving. Thanks for sharing what seems like an impossibly difficult story -- incidents like these are how people become statistics, but posts like yours are what make us all remember the humanity behind the numbers.
Two months ago my organization's CEO was saying firmly that we were in a position that would ensure no layoffs.
He isn't sounding as sure now.
It's just bloody terrifying out there and I don't think it's going to get better for at least another 9-12 months.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do. And let us go on the journey with you, if you can bear to blog it. We're pulling for you.
and so do your ex-colleagues think about you, if they think at all. ah-capitalism!. and christianity! what a lovely basis for human society: one to do the culling, one to sprinkle rosebuds on the bloodstains.
This post make my nostrils stiffen; my tear ducts swell and my eyes deliver the tears as I read this to the end. This is hitting too close to home for so many of us here and all across the country. Ane why do they do this right before Christmas and all our special family holidays that should be filled with joy and hope, especially now.
Yesterday, my husband's boss walked into his office, no notice, and told him that if he, my husband, didn't bring in a particular large account with a sizable order next week, that he, the boss, would be laying off some people. Not a word more was said. It's the sting that lingers in your head until the other shoe drops. Only positive thoughts and hope go out to you and yours at this time of transition. I can only hope that a new and better adventure awaits you very soon. Fingers crossed.
Sometimes it's better to just go out and dig up the golf course.
Find something that really moves and excites YOU, and re-create yourself...! It's alot more satisfying than going on job interviews, downsizing yourself, and in that diminished state of mind, looking for a position working for someone with half your IQ.
There's a bright side, and you're on it.
all the best
It feels like you're spinning when you lose your job. Getting drunk works for a few hours, but then you wake up in the morning with a very strange feeling of being abandoned. You learn who your friends are, and you learn a lot about your own ability to think more of yourself than others. I was lucky in my aftermath - I live in a community with many agencies, and I networked to high heaven until I got a job offer from a generous man. But, many aren't as lucky.
So, we are doing a number of things including job cuts.
Our approach has been:
-Combine management jobs...so the first eliminations have actually been forced retirements and lay-offs of high-level folks.
-Stop recruiting for open positions...except, in some cases, there are unique skills and you have to look outside to get the skills you need...which means some current employees still lose their jobs.
-Eliminate contract roles...except sometimes the contractors have roles that are more directly related to production than employee roles so we need to cut employee jobs and retain contract roles.
-So, you are left with eliminating some employees because the market for our products is smaller and we simply do not need as many people to supply our customers.
In answer to Al, the reason that across the board salary cuts don't work is that it causes your best people to leave since they are the ones who can get the "unique skill" jobs at prevailing wages at other companies. Losing the best people is a recipe for bankrupcy which, again, hurst everyone worse.
We try to handle these things respectfully. Everyone is communicated to in person. There is a published severance plan. The termination date is not the day of notifcation but usually 60 days in the future.
I wish everyone well who is impacted.
Sometimes short, sweet and to the point makes the best post.
You nailed my friend, as usual.
Thanks
Thank you so much for writing this, it really touched me. If this is autobiographical, keep your chin up. Best wishes in your job search.
My personal situation is better, I'm sure, than that of hundreds of thousands who find themselves in similar straits. My company provides a generous 2 month transition period, as well as a severance package (albeit a small on for those who have only a few years tenure in the company). Many firms on the brink cannot offer their laid off employees anything like that.
Another factor that lessens the immediate impact is savings. Fortunately, I have two life insurance policies, one of which can be redeemed for cash value if the need arises, preventing the need to tap a 401K account. Anyone in their late 20's or 30's would be wise to consider something like that. The purpose of the second policy was to add to a retirement nest egg, or to retire debt if something should have happened to me. I never foresaw the need to use it in the manner I might have to, now. But I am extremely grateful it is there.
Now is the time for people to evaluate personal finances, for as so many have already commented, no one is safe. Not even a 50 year old with a family and long, reasonably successful track record in an important, relatively healthy industrial sector.
From a fellow Tex-pat (19 years now), here's hoping you find work very soon, sir.
Best,
P
I went through this six years ago and it took 30 months to find a new permanent position. Hopefully this time will be shorter.
Good luck to us all.
My point is-now is the time to do that networking in hyperdrive. I had planned to lick my wounds til after the holidays and come out swinging in Jan. I went out and showed my face, said goodbye to colleagues without pathos, and got a heckuva lot of mileage out of it. I felt pretty strongly early in the year that I was being traded for a 'newer model' in my position. Seems well worth getting ourselves out there pronto to show we are still "on it".
And I echo the folks talking about self-employment. I'll give it six months trying to find a comparable position, but will be preparing my biz plan and networking to start my own gig by summer if not.
Let's all remember we aren't remotely alone in this and that great things can come from reaching out.
Our company continues to behave in ways that bewilder me. Decisions seem to be capricious in nature and not entirely logical and not a little political in nature too. My sales group was hit particularly hard, exactly half the team was laid off on Friday ... the other half have no idea what's going to happen to them. Where this gets bewildering is our team was the number one sales team in the country in our segment the past two years. We absolutely perform higher than 98% of our peers yet somehow half of us lost our jobs. I personally was neck and neck for number two on the team and at 110% of my number for the year. As I said, Friday was a kick in the nuts that is going to take days to recover from.
If I could lose my job under those circumstances then I fear no one is safe. To the larger economy my "downsizing" just turned me from a consumer to non-entity. I earned a good living and spread the wealth, not any more. God bless you and watch over you and all here who share the same fate. You are in my thoughts.
I always find your posts so thoughtful and thought-provoking; this one is sad.
I might add especially not a 50 year old. Being closer to retirement myself, I've realized the older you get the harder to get rehired or promoted. Ageism is very real and next to impossible to prove or redress. Thank you for, as someone else said, putting a human face on the numbers. You are eloquent.
I wish you the very best of good fortune at this juncture, P. Keep writing and keep us posted on future developments, please.
I wish you and family well.
Yes, this hits all well too close to home. My husband was laid-off from his job at Verizon. He had worked for 30 years for MCI, which was gobbled up by Worldcom (did you hear that Bernie Ebhers is asking for a fucking pardon), which emerged from bankrupcy as MCI, then was bought by Verizon a few years ago. 30 years, and now just a statistic.
I like the fact that you wrote this in the 2nd person!
Toni
We will be thinking about you in days to come and hoping that this may lead you to an even better place, career, and life experience.
Fondly,
Mary
So sorry Procopius. It is with a heavy heart that I read your brilliant post.
It doesn't matter financially, but it *does* matter in other ways. Take it from me -- I've been "surplussed" rudely and politely. Politely is better.