Death Awaits Yet Again
Today is Black Wednesday. According to one very reliable source and about 100 nervous rumor mills, before the close of business today, about 450 (20%) of my co-workers will be unemployed.
Apparently senior management decided it’s time for yet another round of layoffs – the 12th round of job cuts in the past 5.5 years. In December 2000 we had 38,000 employees worldwide – after today’s cut, I figure we’ll be down to somewhere around 1,600. That’s 95.8% of the staff laid off.
It just sucks to see hard working people escorted out the door. They’ve busted their butts for this place, and this is the thanks they get? We went 3 years without any pay raises, put up with jacked up insurance costs because the company wanted to spend less, were given false promises of shares of stock that never materialized, and tried to work under a general feeling that any day could be your last day. Yet they tell us that one of their “Company Values” is fun.
As for me, as far as I know I’m safe from this round of cuts. (Insert the sound of me knocking on wood here.) Someone has to write the content I write, and as they told me a couple of years ago when I asked why we’d been spared from the layoffs, “We can’t find anyone to do what you do as cheaply as you do.” Gee, thanks. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not. My department has gone from 16 writers to 3. My former department went from 150 writers to two. Yet I’ve never had a manager who has been laid off.
So I say they should start with all the management – get rid of some of the middle layers of supervisors – managers – senior managers – directors – executive directors – VPs, senior VPs, and executive VPs. There are far too many chefs in this kitchen, and for the most part all they do is stand around and argue while us poor little dishwashers pay the price.
So good luck to my co-workers who’ll be affected by this. It’s not fun; I know. I’ve been there, done that 5 times in my life. I’m hoping to avoid #6.
Here goes...
Apparently senior management decided it’s time for yet another round of layoffs – the 12th round of job cuts in the past 5.5 years. In December 2000 we had 38,000 employees worldwide – after today’s cut, I figure we’ll be down to somewhere around 1,600. That’s 95.8% of the staff laid off.
It just sucks to see hard working people escorted out the door. They’ve busted their butts for this place, and this is the thanks they get? We went 3 years without any pay raises, put up with jacked up insurance costs because the company wanted to spend less, were given false promises of shares of stock that never materialized, and tried to work under a general feeling that any day could be your last day. Yet they tell us that one of their “Company Values” is fun.
As for me, as far as I know I’m safe from this round of cuts. (Insert the sound of me knocking on wood here.) Someone has to write the content I write, and as they told me a couple of years ago when I asked why we’d been spared from the layoffs, “We can’t find anyone to do what you do as cheaply as you do.” Gee, thanks. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not. My department has gone from 16 writers to 3. My former department went from 150 writers to two. Yet I’ve never had a manager who has been laid off.
So I say they should start with all the management – get rid of some of the middle layers of supervisors – managers – senior managers – directors – executive directors – VPs, senior VPs, and executive VPs. There are far too many chefs in this kitchen, and for the most part all they do is stand around and argue while us poor little dishwashers pay the price.
So good luck to my co-workers who’ll be affected by this. It’s not fun; I know. I’ve been there, done that 5 times in my life. I’m hoping to avoid #6.
Here goes...
posted by Tommy G at
8:10 AM
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