This is just not right!

“Well word has come down from the big boss that 11 people have to go in my company.
10 of the people are the sweet guys in shipping and recving downstaris.
But this is what is freaking me out. My office is pretty much at the top of the stairs and just down the hall from the guy that is dropping the Axe.
So i have been watching all morning my friends coming up the stairs smiling and saying good morning to me and I am the only one that knows whats going to happen to them. I feel so bad. Its like, go past my door to your doom..
geezs this is sucky!!
As much as I hate my job, I am thankful that I have a job.


Its just so sad.”

“I know how you're feeling Maple. Same thing has happened here, a bit more sporadically, in the last several months. Its hard to see nice people get laid off.”

“When they say, "Good morning", you could say, "Not necessarily."”

“That really sucks. It's a difficult thing that many companies seem to be going through. I am very thankful for my position, too.”

“Eventually you get the feeling that the people who do not go are really the unlucky ones. We get to stay behind, doing more work, missing friends, and dealing with an increasingly hostile management.”

“or just tell them that next month will probably be better.”

“Geo--no need to bum her out more!!! ;-)”

“another one bites the dust.

oh man this is just freaken wrong. I want to move my office....


well 1 guy walked back past me smiling. hhhmmm he looked happy..”

“I'm glad I'm in engineering.
Management is not for me. I lack the "flexible" morals that seem to be required to get ahead.”

“What makes you think you're not number eleven?”

“Stove, what do you mean by "flexible" morals? I see it as a #&%!$ty thing to have to do for a manager, but a necessary thing to do for the betterment of the company.”

“Geo nailed it. The jobs left behind just get crappyer.”

“geezr, I may very well have to start posting on TT at home come Monday. I was called in at 10:00am this morning.”

“Maple, you're a very compassionate person. Try not to get too down about it though. Perhaps for some, if not all this may be the way to go after their dreams. Kinda like being forced to move away from security and go after what they've always wanted to do.”

“Bingo. Sass nailed it on the head,I think. When one door closes, another one opens.”

“SG - You are young and still idealistic.
I've seen a good long time engineering tech, about 3 years from retirement, get told by security late on a Friday afternoon, to clear out his desk, and was escorted from the building.
His major "crime" was that he knew more about the job that his much younger boss.
I've seen this kind of crap for many years.”

“SS, My pop is in the same position. He's been politely asked to retire several times and is just waiting for the day that he's handed a box to clean out his desk, and escorted out. His crime is he's been around way too long (almost thirty years), and is paid much more than the new kids, right out of school. Belts are tightening and the more experienced guys/ladies are getting the boot, because they cost more. Problem is he still has two kids in colledge, is just sixty and isn't ready to give up his job yet.”

“SS - yes, perhaps I am.

My company laid off a guy in his late 50's less than a month ago. He was hired as the director of the largest group in our company (about 70 people in a company of 180). Unfortunaly, he wasn't doing his job, and was not meeting the expectations that were set out for him. Sucks to lay off someone who was that close to retirement, but he was a ROAD warrior - Retired On Active Duty. My company doesn't tolerate those kind of people, young or old.

He was also the reason I left my last company - he was my boss there, and he sucked then.”

“300 positions are being cut, and 185 people are getting laid off here. Our office knows in advance, because we put the position eliminations in the budget. The crappy thing is, while all these layoffs are going on our office is getting a new position - like we need one. So here we are forcing agencies to cut, and we're expanding. Makes us look pretty bad.”

“Stovestomper, I agree that it is often easier to flex one's morality to get ahead in management. I have known a few people who have gotten ahead without doing so, however. Your point is well-made, still. The good ones are few and far between.”

“The last time I hade to leave a job involuntarily it was the best thing that could have happened. It took two years to get to the good part but that good part would have never happened if I was still in that old job.”

“well It seems that I still have my job for now at least.

so that is a good thing. at least for me it is.

calls are coming in from all over the place (we have 25 branches across the states)
people are being let go left and right.
Hug your boss today people.”

“Hang in there. I've been thinking about you. You have mail.”

“Last night at the awards banquet for our pool league, the brother-in-law of my friend told me his sister was talking to a lawyer about divorcing my friend.

Talk about bull#&%!$. If he knows this, I don't think he should be sharing any info until the guy hears it from his wife first. What do you think?”

“Maybe she hasn't got the guts to tell him herself and sent big brother to do it for her.”

“Trust me, she has the guts to say anything. I think the brother just spoke out of turn. I think it's really too bad because these guys have been married for over 20 years I believe.

They also just completeed a big addition on their house, which they funded from the sale of his interest in Visionary Communications (internet provider).”

“She sounds like a piece of work. It may be hard for him to understand at the moment, but he'll be better off without the likes of her, if that's the way she is.”

“I almost wish they'd lay me off instead of what they did - cutting all our wages, bennnies, taking impossible jobs to be done in an impossible amount of time...

but, there's nothing else out there. I doubt I'd find anything when the unemployment ran out.

It's not looking like it's gonna get better anytime soon.”

“Sounds like she's cashing in, Chief.”

“If she wants a divorce give it to her and just make sure they sell the house. At least he will get some of his money back (hopefully)”

“I am in the electronics industry, and of the trhee companies I have worked for in the past 3 years, one is out of business, and the other two have reduced their staff sizes by approxiamtely 75%. Watching the people dissappear was a very hard thing, and then one day my boss asked me to lunch...”

“I used to work in the television production industry in Chicago. I left it to go back to school for my masters. This was just before 9/11. After that, the bottom fell out of the production field in Chicago. I am now a financial analyst for a law firm. Made the switch just at the right time. I am one of the lucky ones.”

“I've said it before, but what the hell.

I used to work for a large oil & gas producer here in Cody. They were selling everything off in the Rocky Mtn Region. I had an offer to go to work for a small independant in the same town. Got a little more money but lost two weeks of vacation. Now the large company has been transferring people out left and right and there is hardly anybody left. I made the switch at just the right time and I have no regrets. It's nice being happy and NOT having to worry about involuntary terminations, layoffs, and early retirement programs anymore.

I think we counted about 15 different programs in the 15 years I was there. It sucked.

p.s. There are 4 people, out of 10, working here for the small independant that worked for the large company.”

“Mark my words, people: Medical and HMO IT is the most stable industry to work in.”

“And don't forget about funeral homes. That will always be a stable business.”

“Yep, especially if we don't do our job right :)”

“Phaedrus, that is so very true. I read in the CBS MarketWatch that the Med. Ind. is the way to go.
So im re-thinking things.
Im thinking of going for something like an X-Ray Technician. But I would then continue on to the Animla field with it.
you know, work in a vet hospital or wildlife unit.”

“Tell me about it Phaedrus...If I had a medical, pharmeceutical, or biotech degree I would have been hired months ago, especially in this area (Raleigh/Durham/RTP)”

“There are also a lot of positions within the medical insurance industry that are just business positions with a medical "flavor", so to speak.”

“Once I get my ten years in I'm gone to head into school for either nutrition/dietition or theraputic massage. My industry (cleaning schools) is so stable it's ridiculous, but it's mind numbing and killing me slowly. I'd walk away in a heartbeat if there wasn't any retirement at stake. I have alittle over a year to go. It's going to be awfully hard to give up my wages, but I'll survive and in the long run be much healthier for it.”

“Depressing people. Makes me real motivated about going to school.”

“well all hush on the work front.
But come Monday
5 more people in an office of 20 will be let go.
so we will have to wait and see on Monday. Im not going to let this bother me. Too many other things going on in life that need my attention.
I just hate Still Not knowing. :)”

“Yeah, maple, I know what you mean. I used to worry about getting layed off from the big company all the time. Then I had some things happen in my life that changed my whole attitude. Then i WISHED I would get offered a package to leave. I told my wife that if I got layed off, I was going to take the first month ang go backpacking the whole time.

Unfortunately, I quit before they offered any packages and didn't get my month off.”

“so then i guess if i do come and live with you I really will need to get a job right?

j/k”

“After the ten people in shipping are let go, maybe mapleleaf will be number 11.”

“Bacpac, is it really necessary to be an a-hole all the time?”

“Is it necessary for you to call me an a-hole? I was just making an observation.”

“Death & taxes... and haircuts.”

“A rather cruel and hopeful sounding observation.”

“"Bacpac, is it really necessary to be an a-hole all the time?"
treebait
01:01:30 PM
05/09/03

"Is it necessary for you to call me an a-hole? I was just making an observation."
bacpac
01:15:56 PM
05/09/03

When you act like an a-hole, why would you be surprised when people call you one?”