CAPTAIN’S LOG-MY STORY
January 12, 2009. I was sitting in my car staring blankly at the big windows of one of the Directors’ office. Could this actually be it? I was laid off and unemployed!
It was almost eight years ago that I joined the company’s Data Network Team. It was interesting back then because the company was growing, and there were only five of us on the team. Now there is triple that amount, not including those who worked in our offshore office. It seemed like many local jobs were moving offshore – we had been told that.
There was a short period in 2005 when I left for another position, but that company was sold four months after I started, and the new owners talked about closing the division I was working at. So I let it be known that I was looking, and eventually was asked to come back to my old job.
In early 2008 the primary customer our site served, told our company they were going to back down on some of their major projects and hold off until business stabilized. With the lack of work that special projects created, many of us on the team found ways to be proactive and find things to do. The company had also given me added responsibility as an acting group lead so that kept me busy for a while, but not for long.
With the financial issues coming to the surface in our economy, the company locked down the budgets. That essentially provided many of our team with nothing to do in the way of projects unless they were critical.
Toward the beginning of fall in 2008, the rumor mill spit out some notices that there were going to be layoffs. Since the company hired a lot of contractors, it was believed that letting the contractors go would supply enough downsizing that no full time employees would be let go. As I look back, I see that the previous sentence was what management told the site in site-wide meetings, fully knowing it wasn’t the case. Over the fall some contractors were released, and a few full time people were let go but not many, so the tension eased a little.
Our entire IT team made it through the Christmas holidays without being hit. But bonuses are paid on the last paycheck of January which brought on a new wave of concern. Just before bonus time would seem like a logical time to lay people off, and the company took advantage of it once again.
On Friday January 9, a close friend told me that the next week would bring some layoffs. As I pondered this over the weekend, I justified to myself the fact that I was immune to a layoff.
Monday morning was normal. I worked through the morning, but did question another local manager and asked if anyone was getting the axe that week. He said that in that day, some people will be getting laid off and the systems team would be hit with one layoff. Surely not me!
Lunch came and went. Around 1:30 I received a call from my manager who asked me to come to the IT Director’s office. At that moment my heart sank because that was unusual. The next 30 minutes would prove to be a life changing time for me. I was told that my layoff was because my position was being eliminated, and they were all sorry. The HR representative said her piece, and I was given the opportunity to take my things at that time which I took them up on.
As I look back on that day, I’m excited about new challenges and opportunities ahead of me. Maybe it was time to leave the company and stretch my wings. Anyway it’s a good time to get a new perspective on life, and spend some quality time with the family and move on to a new career.
