One by One

I had the unfortunate experience this week of watching my coworkers (and friends) get called to the "new" bosses office one by one to receive there walking papers. As each person did (to quote one of them) "the walk of shame", the rest mingled about wondering who was going to be summoned next. It soon became apparent as we mingled that this layoff would be far more reaching and "transformitive" than we had expected. In the end 6 out of 9, including the "old" boss where relieved of their jobs.

In nearly 15 years of work i have never been this close to a major layoff. Often in the past you would have an idea who was going to get whacked because they often where slackers or had some issue working with people. This time seemed different.

The callousness of management to the whole matter was just shocking. Especially since many months of time and effort before this event were spent telling us how it was important to have integrity and that they were managing the company with integrity. Several weeks of consistent lying have shattered any illusions about managements intentions. In the end we are all pawns to be used up and spit out when we are no longer useful.

What is odd about the whole situation is that in my 15 years of work i have been through as many layoffs, but have never been affected until the last year. I was laid off from my previous employer not even a year ago and then nearly laid off from this one. I do not know if it is a sign of the times in general or something specific to engineering, but either way I do not want to be caught in this situation again.

I finally realize that in spite of all the education and experience i have, that i am just a factory worker. I have a job not a career. It is this realization that inspires me to find a solution to the problem of having to work for people like this, but for now I have a job and it's a job I'm lucky to have.
--Staff