Somebody I used to know

Sometimes, I think working in the Decade of Mass Layoffs is a little like being in an old World War II movie.

You know the kind I mean, the type of movie they show on Turner Classic Movies. Movies made in the late 1940s and 1950s, when the war was still fresh in the minds of the public.

It usually featured a Major Hollywood Movie Star (well past draft age) in the lead role as the Grizzled Veteran. Whether he lived or died was the major theme of the movie. But there is usually a fairly standard subplot that goes something like this:

A New Recruit to the Army/Marine unit tries to buddy up to the Grizzled Veteran, who quickly rebuffs the newcomer with a line like, “I don’t want to get close to anybody. You could be killed tomorrow! Leave me alone!”

Cue the screeching rocket that scores a direct hit on the New Recruit and obliterates him, or watch as the New Recruit makes a dumb move and gets blown away in a barrage of bullets. Next shot: A look of horror and pain on the Grizzled Veteran’s face.

Why do I bring this up? What connection does this have to the workplace of 2010s? Because on Friday, a woman colleague who I had become friendly with at the workplace was, you guessed it, laid off.

Now, the reason was her position was eliminated. And honestly, she knew it was coming and had not been getting along with her bosses for quite some time. So there was nothing unexpected about it.

Yet how often has this scene played out in offices across the country since 2008? How often have workers been given their walking papers? How often have workers had to say good-bye to colleagues they had known for decades?

Intellectually, we may understand the reasons. Companies shift direction, make budget cuts, have different staffing needs, and employees will lose their jobs because of it.

Yet that doesn’t mean the people being thrown away can’t be angry or bitter. It doesn’t mean those left behind can’t be sad to see a colleague go. We have every right to feel those emotions just as much as companies have the right to make staffing decisions. It doesn't mean we can't feel sad for what was lost.

Corporations may think they are doing the right thing, and that might be true. But they fail to understand the real-life impact on those they are jettisoning, or the workers left behind. Walking past cleared-out, empty cubicles doesn’t exactly give the impression of a thriving workplace.  Any worker who sees that is going to take the first train out of town.

How often have I heard family members or friends talk about how their workplace changed after so many colleagues were let go? “It used to be such a friendly place to work. Now…”

In this particular instance, my former co-worker’s job had been causing her a lot of stress, so in sense, she was relieved. But having been through the situation myself, I know she is merely trading one set of stresses for another.

Though the employment picture has improved somewhat since 2009 when I was laid off, it is still a pretty unforgiving market for job seekers. Companies don’t seem to want to hire workers (more on that in another entry). And they know they can be very, very picky when it comes to whom they do hire.

She could find another job in six days, or six weeks, or six months. Or her unemployment could stretch to 16 months, or longer. I hope for her sake she finds something quickly. However, there is no assurance her new job will be any less stressful than her former job.

Or she could follow her dream of owning her own bookstore. I wish her the best of luck.

In the meantime, she’d better grow a hide as a thick as a buffalo’s. Looking for a job means you are subjected to near-constant rejection. Even when you are lucky enough to get called in for an interview, you can expect at best, condescension on the part of the interviewer, or at worst, downright insults. I should know. I was subjected to both. It can be a stressful, demoralizing exercise, trying to find work.

What makes it even worse is that laid-off workers are characterized as “takers” or freeloaders. Nothing could be further from the truth. We want to work, but the so-called job creators don’t want to hire us. They’d rather rake in profits than put people to work. Some firms still have a bias against hiring laid-off workers. Absolutely shameful and possibly illegal.

But let’s get back to my original premise. Like the Grizzled Veteran stomping across Europe or the Pacific, just how close should we get to our co-workers, when we know any day our jobs could be terminated and we’re tossed in the dustbin, the unwanted litter of corporate cost-cutting?

We could see each other outside the office, of course. But in some cases, we may live hours apart, making it hard to get together. In all likelihood, the relationship ends once we no longer see each other at the office. That's kinda sad.

Perhaps the best course is to be cordial, helpful and respectful of our colleagues. A workplace of grumpy loners and backstabbers would be a pretty toxic place to work. So be friendly, but don’t make good friends at work.

Because when you or one of them is let go, they will be just somebody you used to know.