Jul 20 2005
The Layoff
Last night I remembered a story that I wanted to share.
In 2000 I was working at a software company in Seattle. I was doing that during the day and recording bands at night. I enjoyed it, it was a young and modern company and I learned a lot about management.
I joined the company when it was 6 people. I was the 13th person ever to work there. It grew and grew, to about 65 people.
Well, as most other Seattle computer companies around that time, it became bloated and was spending far too much money.
One seemingly normal day, I get a call from the President’s secretary telling me to meet him and two other managers in his office in 15 minutes, no matter what I was doing.
So the three of us go to his office. First thing he says, completely stone faced, is “I am laying off 2/3 of the company in 30 minutes.”
I actually laughed for a millisecond – figured he was joking or something. I was the only one laughing, that’s for sure. He was dead serious, and basically told us to go for a long walk and come back whenever we wanted, later in the day.
So the three of us walk down to the pier and get beers and french fries. We talk all about the company, how we’ve all watched it grow over the past year or two.. They had been there even before me, so we all had really watched things get out of control.
Eventually we walk back to the office, and find the remaining 15 or so people there in a meeting. It was surreal, that’s for sure. The boss basically said “Now we’re at a reasonable operating size. For those that stay, you have a solid job. But if you have any doubts or plan on being anything less than a 100% team player, get out now.” And that was really it. We all went back to work and things were fine.
Learned a TON from that job.
An invaluable lesson to learn, and one that for some reason is often times forgotten when things start rolling. As I am the new player in a project that has been pretty much lethargic in the last six months, I feel like your story is something they may need to hear, give them a jump start. Thanks for the timely musing, keep them coming.
Some of us out here in the work world are scarred though. Has it happened to anyone else that you give your 100% best effort, day in and day out, while the company steadily rewards you and other employees with their best 97%, then their best 75%, their best 61%, 42% or even fires you?
Benefits like 401(k) matching or excellent, affordable health insurance used to be a benchmark for non-salary recognition of employee loyalty, but those benefits are drying up, nearly gone.
Perhaps another lesson is to do your best and be a 100% team player, but remember at the same time that loyalty, in the current marketplace, is not always, is even infrequently, rewarded. Finding employment, developing a career, or starting your own business that does not depend upon others’ perception of your loyalty is definitely a useful concept, too.
“…remember at the same time that loyalty, in the current marketplace, is not always, is even infrequently, rewarded…”
Not to pick nits – because I understand what you’re saying here – but I have to disagree over the wording (if not the gist). Loyalty and hard work are rewarded in a free market with a pay-check in regular cycles (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, whatever). That is all.
Loyalty is bought & paid for. Anyone who disagrees with that will only disagree until a competitor of your current firm offers you more money & better percs. It is incumbant upon the emplyee to remember that – and to PLAN for it.
Or, like me & others, hang your own shingle.