So It Begins…

A while back I mentioned that our company hired a new CEO, and that personnel changes usually accompany such a move.

Well, so it begins…

Several high-ranking execs at my company recently got the boot, replaced by others probably more to the new CEO’s liking. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It’s his prerogative to bring in people more in tune with his vision for the future of the company. Let’s hope, however, he handled any dismissals with respect for those individuals, who worked hard and have families to support. It’s always difficult to lose your job.

Of course, we don’t know why they were let go. They may have decided it was time to move on of their own accord. Perhaps they were asked to relocate and didn’t want to move their families. It may have been a mutual decision. As the old saying goes, did they jump or were they pushed? We don’t know.

And at this point we don’t know how far those changes will filter down. Will the entire upper management structure be overhauled? Will he replace every low-level clerk and IT person? That would be foolish, and overly disruptive to the running of the company on a short-term basis.

I don’t think economics is the reason behind these changes. The company made some cuts in products and people before the new CEO came onboard, and I don’t think they would have hired this new guy if all the board wanted to do was slash staff and products. They didn’t need a new CEO for that.

Contrast to that my former workplace. Revenues were down, the parent company was threatening to pull the plug on the entire unit and my former managers panicked and started slashing staff in a willy-nilly manner, all in the name of saving of a company that was sinking anyway.

Yet in both instances, favoritism comes into play. The new CEO and my former managers are simply hiring or saving their handpicked lapdogs, cherry-picking who stays and goes. It’s a form of corporate feudalism. (More on that later.)

How this all impacts the lowly serfs working the fields is hard to say at this time. But I do know one thing: We’ll be the last ones to know.

Healing the Wound

I was talking to a friend the other day about some silliness at work (you know what I mean; basically, the boss, being a jerk, criticized me for something I said, which was rather mild. Believe me, I’ve said much, much worse).

What probably upset me, I said, was that it reminded me of my painful layoff. And she replied, “The wound is still there.”

I agreed, and then she said, “You have to heal that wound.”

But how? Putting aside the lingering hurt over my layoff, how can any employee at any company feel secure in their jobs anymore? Companies can and will terminate you at any time for any reason without any foreknowledge or say from you. So it’s not surprising that I, like many other employees, are unnerved by any slight or criticism by someone in upper management decides to throw our way, justified or not. It’s not hard to make the leap to, “Oh, no. Better start cleaning out my desk,” whenever a critical remark is said to us.

Yet I often think a lot of my hurt stems from how my layoff was handled. So much in life depends on how we are treated and how we treat others. Treat others well, and they will respond in kind. Treat them poorly…well, you get my drift.

I understand the basis (or the excuse) for my layoff was economic. The company was downsizing, cutting products and people, my salary was too high, the economy is bad…blah, blah, blah. Yeah, WE GET THAT!

Nevertheless, I was a long-time employee. I spent many years there, loyal to a company that apparently had no loyalty to me. At no time during my forced exit interview did my boss say, “Hey, this was a tough decision for us. We’re sorry to see you go.” Or even, “Thanks for all the hard work you did for us.”

If either one of those statements were said to me, I honestly believe I wouldn’t feel so bitter now.

Instead, it was essentially, you’ve been here too long, you’re making too much money (although I wasn’t the highest paid editor on staff), so pack up your desk and leave. Nice, huh? And what kind of message does that send to other employees? That if they decide to stay with the company for a long period of time, they will get laid off like I was?

Contrast that to my sister’s situation. She knew layoffs were coming, so she took early retirement. She had a say in her fate, and she even got a retirement party.

Me? I got a cardboard box to my pack my stuff in and an offer of a car to drive me home. Yeah, they couldn’t wait to get me out of the office. Why didn’t they shoot me out of a cannon? It would have been faster.

I refused both of their generous offers.

So you can see why I’m still hurt over the layoff and the way it was handled, or bungled in my mind. I understand it’s never an easy task for management to let people go, but where does it say that they cannot treat outgoing employees properly? Is there a rule against thanking laid-off employees for their hard work? You know, treat us like human beings, not outdated office furniture.

My friend summed up my feelings best when she said I was feeling rejected after I got laid off. Yep, that pretty much nails it. That’s never a good feeling, and it’s one that takes a long time to, yes, heal.

My company is still in business. In a sense, our misfortune has enabled their continued success. But do they even remember any of us who were let go to make that possible? No, we’re all forgotten, like deck chairs on the Titanic. Knowing the personalities involved at my former office, I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m routinely badmouthed, if I’m acknowledged at all. In that way, they can justify the nasty way I was treated.

I know that several of my former colleagues have gotten fat raises. Good for them. Yet I wonder, how much money did the company really save in the long run by letting so many people go? Eventually, their workers are going to demand salary increases and at some point, they are going to have to spend money if they want to expand.

While they were busy congratulating themselves on their clever moves to save the company, going to happy hours and parties, and doling out raises, we endured months and months of unemployment in the worse recession since the Great Depression.

What was it all for? Couldn’t they have seen a way to hold onto to us, instead of discarding us like so much trash?

But, hey, who's bitter?

Flashbacks, Part 2

It happened on Friday. A woman in the office was let go.

She worked in another department, so my contact with her was minimal. However, one of her co-workers told me her job was in jeopardy for some time because the boss was displeased with her work. Since I didn’t work directly with her, I cannot pass judgment on her efforts.

Yet the “official” reason was that her position was eliminated in favor of a lesser job title. In other words, her boss took this opportunity to get someone else in the job at a lower salary while simultaneously ridding himself of a person he considered a troublesome employee. So she was sacrificed at the altar of profits and a supervisor’s power trip.

Now, to be fair, he may have done her a kindness by saying the position was eliminated, thereby enabling her to collect unemployment, something she would not have qualified for if she were dismissed with cause (poor productivity).

But I do wonder if she was given a fair chance to improve and possibly save her job. And there is no guarantee the new person will do the duties any better. You get what you pay for.

She knew it was coming. The few times I passed her in the office in the preceding weeks she had the glum expression and slumbering gait of someone who knew the fate that awaited her.

So now she must look for another job in our supposedly recovering economy (more on that later). I wish her luck.

But what happened to her is a stark reminder to all workers that people with their own hidden agendas decide our professional fates behind closed doors without any input from us.

Very scary indeed.

Workplace Zeroes

We’ve all come across these workplace zeroes. Those annoying and sometimes hurtful people we must put up with between 9 and 5. You may not know the names, but you know these pernicious types. Usually, they are very similar to those you knew in high school.

Here are just a few:

The Workplace Bully. He screams, insults and otherwise denigrates his underlings. And yes, this type is usually male and insanely chauvinistic toward women.

My previous boss would routinely yell at everyone around him; he even called people stupid in the middle of the office for all to hear. And he was even nastier when he was drunk. (Lord save us all from the self-medicators.)

At the heart of their meanness is a deep insecurity and a self loathing that can only be soothed by belittling others to make themselves feel better. It's either that, or a shot of bourbon.

Workplace bullies thrive in an environment where they have created a power base over the years. They have reached a position of authority that no one dares challenge.

The solution? You will never win against this type, so don’t try. If you complain to HR, he will say you are just a disgruntled worker who can’t hack the job. The HR person, who really doesn’t want to bothered, will try to see both sides, which usually means you have to confess your countless minor discretions that were the reasons for the bully’s overblown response. In other words, like most clever bullies, he will make it appear to be your fault. Unless the bully does something so egregious, he will never be fired or held accountable for his actions. He will never leave the job because where else would he get the power to abuse his co-workers? The only solution is to try to stay out of the bully’s line of fire.

The Backstabber. Oh, he/she appears to be so nice and will even tell you how much he/she likes your work. It’s only when they feel threatened that they will really turn on you and get you laid off because you are near them in seniority.

The solution? There really isn’t any, because they are so underhanded and sneaky that you won’t know you’ve been stabbed in the back until you’ve actually been stabbed in the back. By that time, you are out on the street anyway.

The Queen Bee. This is a woman who has reached a position of authority usually reserved for men. Yet instead of being supportive of the women, and men, beneath her, she treats them horribly. If she’s not being nasty, she is acting condescending. Why? Perhaps she doesn’t want to be seen as weak or too, well, womanly. She’s the only woman in a group of men and damn if she’s going to lose that authority. Perhaps she’s emulating her male counterparts. What she fails to understand is that bad behavior is not gender specific. Treating people badly is unacceptable whether perpetrated by a man or woman.

Notice how I’ve avoided using the word bitch. Frankly, I have nothing against a woman being assertive and standing up for herself. Too often that word is used to put down strong women who are really behaving no different than a man who is applauded for being aggressive. The best tact for bosses of either gender is to find their own management style that balances treating those around them with respect while also ensuring the work gets done properly.

The Solution? Humor her. Arguing with a boss, whether male or female, is counterproductive. Hey, it’s always nice to see a woman in a position of authority, so try not to undermine her. Maybe her nasty management style will change over time.

The Sorority Sister. These chicks where popular in high school and college, so why shouldn’t they be the most popular in the workplace? And you know the type: They’re only friends with their handpicked BFFs and leave you out in the cold because, well, you’re just not cool enough to be in their inner circle. Forget about ever being asked out to lunch with these bubbleheads. You just have to endure their sophomoric behavior and their singing of songs in the middle of the office.

They are also extremely two-faced. While she complains about the boss as much as anybody in the office, she has somehow snowed the boss into believing she is just so wonderful. You, meanwhile, are the one who feels the wrath of the boss instead of the “good girl.”

Their sense of entitlement knows no bounds as well. Don't even think about going for a promotion they want. You will fail.

Sorority girls aren’t really a problem…until they mock you loudly in the middle of the office or when they argue in favor of keeping one of their buddies while you are laid off instead. Then their mean girl tendencies became apparent and harmful.

The Solution? Ignore them, and roll your eyes, a lot. Eventually, if they cannot do the job, upper management will see them for what they truly are, which are overage sorority girls who can’t hack it outside college. And really, there is an age limit on sorority sisters. After age 30, they just come off as pathetic.

Well, there are just some of the workplace zeroes I’ve encountered. Any more you’ve had to deal with? Which one am I? Well, that’s for another blog entry. Or I may never tell!

Why Facebook is "Like" Junior High

So Mark Zuckerberg plans to take Facebook public and reap billions. Nice chunk of change for a guy who has made a killing off the social media craze.

Yet I contend that he has made his fortune not on the social media phenomenon, computer technology, coding ability or his sheer entrepreneurship.

No, he’s made his money off of social insecurity. You know, the kind that plagued you back in junior high school, when all you cared about was how many friends you had and whether they “liked” you or not.

Think about it: How many times have you gone on Facebook and wondered why so-and-so has so many friends, like in the hundreds, and you barely crack 50? Why don’t more people comment on your posts? Or at least like them?

Frankly, I think it’s silly for adults to think like junior high school kids, but sometimes it’s hard not to. I think a person should have as many friends on Facebook as they are comfortable with. (Although I do think those who have friends in the thousands are venturing into crazy land. Seriously, do you want to be a cult?) It’s really not that difficult to get a lot of friends on Facebook if all you want is a long friend list.

In the interest of full disclosure, I was not popular in my school days. Well, that doesn’t quite do it justice: I was a bottom feeder, a total nonentity to my classmates. I was shy and sickly and was dealing with a very bad home life. So it’s no surprise that I was unpopular and I can’t blame my classmates for not recognizing the stress I was under. They were young and had their own problems to deal with, like who was going to take them to the prom.

Fortunately, my social skills have improved a lot since then and I’ve learned to become a better friend. Yet I am still insecure in social situations and don’t make friends easily. The root, I believe, is that I automatically think someone won’t like me and reject me outright, instead of believing they would want to be my friend. Being unpopular in junior and senior high can have lifelong consequences.

Which makes me wonder why a handful of friends from my school days want to now friend me on Facebook. I honestly believe these people could not pick me out of a crowd if you put a gun to their heads and paid them a $1 million. They either mocked me or totally ignored me in junior and senior high. So why be my friend on Facebook now? More likely they were trolling FB for people from our hometown and happened upon my name in an attempt to plump up their friend list. As Teresa from the Real Housewives of New Jersey would say, Go Scratch.

So what has me ranting about Facebook at this moment?

Yep, you guessed it. I was un-friended recently. Nothing catapults you back to that seventh-grade lunchroom than having someone anonymously dump you on FB.

I have no idea why this person did the deed. But isn’t that point? To un-friend me without me knowing about it or why and making me feel like crap? You know, like kids used to do in junior high.

Perhaps she decided to pare down her friend list and decided that I was not worthy of any more communication with her. That I can understand. She doesn’t have to be my friend anymore if she chooses not to. I’d just like to know why. Don’t I deserve that much common courtesy?

Did something I posted on Facebook offend her? That’s doubtful. I don’t post that much and what I do post mostly has to do with funny things, my lame attempts at humor and dogs.

An aside here: If you are going to post political comments on Facebook, fine. But just be warned that you will get pushback from those who may disagree with you. I don’t post political comments myself but others are welcome to do so.

Since going on Facebook, I’ve chosen whom to friend carefully. A lingering hangover from my junior high days, I prefer not to court rejection by asking people I doubt would respond positively to my friend request.

Yet I don’t confirm every friend request I get, just as some people (one guy, really) I have requested to be friends with have ignored my request.

I’d rather do it that way instead of friending someone and then later un-friending him or her. I don’t want to hurt their feelings, even when I’m forced to read numerous posts on their children’s pooping habits.

I actually thought about asking the person who un-friended me why she did so, and even thought about sending another friend request to her. But I decided to respect her wishes.

Too bad she didn’t have the same respect for my feelings.

But that's the beauty of Facebook. It allows some people to be as nasty as they were back in junior high.

You Know You’re Going to Get Laid Off When…

Despite some cheery reports in the media about a recovering job market, I’m not buying it. Blame it on my brutally laid-off-after-16-years-with-the-same company cynicism, but I don’t think this economy is recovering. Not by a long shot.

With that in mind, I still think its imperative for fellow workers (or future 99’ers) to be aware of the signs that changes are a-comin’ in your workplace and those shifts just might put you on the jobless rolls.

First and foremost and the most obvious are changes in upper management. Both times when my former company undertook massive layoffs it was preceded by a change in ownership. (For that matter, my current company is looking for a new CEO. Yikes!)

Whenever a new CEO comes in they want to put their mark on the company and that usually means shaking things up and “restructuring” (read: reductions in products, services and people). Think of it this way: When you buy a new house, even if the house is structurally sound you’d want to make changes, like painting the rooms and upgrading a bathroom. So it is with corporations. Forget about innovation or finding new sources of revenues, cost cutting is the new mantra for CEOs. (Not that they say that outright. It’s usually phrased as “We looking for business efficiencies.” Efficiency, my potential unemployed butt. They’re looking at layoffs.)

Now, how that affects you and your division is hard to say. It can happen suddenly or play out over time. You have no way of knowing since those discussions are held in board rooms (or in my case, at some bar during happy hour), far from your lowly little cubicle.

So what can you do? Of course, you can search for another job, but again I’m not sure that will reap immediate results even in our supposedly recovering employment market.

You can also keep you ears open for any gossip, but that’s assuming someone knows what it is being discussed, what’s going to happen, or if they will divulge such information. Office gossip can be notoriously unreliable…until that is, it turns out to be true. But you won’t know that until the day they actually tell you to pack up your desk and leave the premises.

What other signs are there? Here are some I personally encountered:

Your boss is either nasty to you or stops talking to you completely. Yep, after 16 years, my one boss started treating me like a piece of dirt, nitpicking and criticizing everything I said and did. The head of the division, who had hired me 16 years earlier, stopped talking to me altogether. Was my work any different? Nah.

So why did they do it? You’d think the mere fact of putting someone’s livelihood in jeopardy would be enough. No, they have to heap on gratuitous cruelty.

First, both were trying to justify my termination. You know, put the blame on me rather the company’s poor revenues and the bad business decisions made by them. That way, they didn’t have to feel bad about the scummy thing they were doing to me or other layoffs. I know my work was no different than before; in fact, it was better and I was doing more tasks than ever before. As tough and painful as this situation is, you just have to suck it up like I did and remember it has nothing to do with you as a person or an employee. Try to maintain your dignity and work ethic. It may not save your job, but it will preserve your self-respect at the very least.

Second, and this is a fairly common practice, bosses think if they treat a potential layoff badly enough, that person will leave the job, thus sparring them paying the unemployment benefits and severance package. Obvious, cowardly and pathetic, really.

That only works if the person can find another job quickly, which is difficult even in a good job market. I remember one time a colleague of mine was getting flack from the head of the division. It was obvious the woman (a real bitch) was trying to push my co-worker out the door. I was looking for a job at the same time, so I passed along a job lead to her, which she was hired for. She was able to get out of a bad work situation and avoid a painful termination.

Alas, that’s not always the case. Most of the time, people cannot find another position quick enough and the most viable alternative is simply to wait for the ax to fall, go on unemployment, and then look for another job.

Your boss gives the “no one has job security speech.” Yeah, no kidding, right? When that phrase is uttered, you might as well start packing up your desk. But did you ever notice how the boss who gives that speech miraculously escapes the chopping block and is the one who decides who no longer has job security…or a job?

So, what can we do as workers do when all or some of those situations present themselves? Wait, worry and take home that coffee cup you brought to the office.

Lessons Learned

It’s been two years and a month since I was laid off, and the memory still stings and haunts me.

Why was I laid off while others with less time in the company and at higher salaries were kept on? Why did my former co-workers throw me under the bus to save another colleague? Was my work poor? (If so, why wasn’t I let go earlier?)

Stupidly, I even tried to talk my way out of getting laid off (like that ever works). I often wonder if I should have tried to save my job when I knew I was about to get dismissed. But would that have meant another co-worker got the boot instead? I don't think I could have lived with that (although others didn't mind saving their jobs while I got laid off). And would it have saved my job? That's doubtful.

What was the real reason behind my dismissal? I wish I knew, but considering the personalities (backstabbers, douchebags, liars and drunks) involved, getting a truthful answer is near impossible. I will never know the real reason behind my layoff, and that tortures me.

I know some people will say, “Get over it. You have a job now.” That I'm being negative. Well, I have a right to my feelings, and I think I'm justified in being hurt by their actions. Perhaps I was unjustly jettisoned in favor of lesser people whose only saving grace is that they were the favored puppets of upper management.

Being laid off is a stark reminder that some things are beyond our control, that our fates are in the hands of others who only know us as a line item on a spread sheet.

Bitterness aside, being told to pack up your desk and leave as if you are a criminal is a traumatic experience. What about the stress of being jobless for 16 months? How dare anyone say I shouldn't be hurt by my layoff.

There are times when I think I am almost over it, but then I remember that day I was told to pack up my desk and leave and the bitterness and hurt wash over me again as if it were yesterday.

And the people who say to get over it are usually those who have never been laid off or are safe because the drunken morons that run my former workplace protect them. Lucky them. I’ll say it again, nobody thinks getting laid off is big deal until it happens to him or her. Those same people who tell me to get over it would be the biggest whiners if they were to get laid off.

Alas, the company has survived since I and others were laid off, so I guess they did save the company while we took one for the team. My bad in thinking I was a valuable employee. Never will I make that mistake again.

The effects still linger. After a layoff, I no longer have a sense of job security. That is something that will stay with me for a long, long time. How can I be sure my new company won’t lay me off? How can I think of moving to a new apartment or buying a new car when my position is tenuous? I’m even hesitant to buy a smart phone.

Then there is the economic impact of being jobless for 16 months. Not only didn’t I make any contributions to a 401(k), but also I had to take a job that pays me much less than I was making at my previous job.

Still, I would be foolish not to look back and think of mistakes I made, mistakes that may have made it easier for my former bosses to kick me to the curb. This is my chance to be a better worker and colleague and I want to learn from blunders.

Was I let go because my poor tech skills? Maybe. At my new job, I have taken great pains to learn new systems. It’s not easy, but I’ve made progress on some programs; others, well, will take more time and training. I hope my new bosses will give me the time. (Of course, being out of the workforce for 16 months didn’t help improve my tech skills. I’m playing catch up now.)

I’ve (pretty much) stayed away from office gossip, mostly because I don’t know the people in my new office very well.

I’ve also stayed away from sending ill-advised emails. (The reply all function is not your friend.) I’ve only questioned one work edict, but I did so respectfully.

All in all, I’ve tried to do a good job and made every effort to do my duties to the best of my ability.

But is that enough? I did a good job, or thought I did, at my previous workplace and I was still dismissed. Employers want employees to be hardworking and loyal, but what are they giving us in return? Crappy health plans, puny raises (if any) and no job security.

It’s hard to give a job your all when you know that it will never be enough to save your job if budgets must be cut and your bosses don’t have your back.

You can work hard and still get screwed.