Black Tuesday :(

[mjs1973]

So far this week, about 40 people that I know personally have lost their jobs, and it's only Tuesday. The company I work for is restructuring and my deptartment was hit pretty hard. I was one of the lucky ones tho. There was no warning that it was coming so everyone was shocked to say the least. One second you have a job, the next you don't. There were 3 married couples in my dept, and all six of them are now without work. Can you imagin going from a 2 income home to a zero income home in a matter of minutes? My dept. was informed yesterday afternoon. The rest of the company was informed this morning. After yesteday, everyone knew it was coming today, but nobody knew who, or when. They basically told everyone to stick around and stay available in case you were next on the list to go. What a nerve wracking way to spend the day. Needles to say, I don't think much work got done today.

I know this isn't the first time this has happened, and it wont be the last... but this time it hit pretty close to home, and without any warning. I think I'm still in shock by it all... I already know what I will be thankful for come Thanksgiving.

Thank you for letting me vent my frustrations.

[another view]

Wow, now that's a rough day! Were all 40 at the same company? That's pretty tough to lay off both a husband and wife like that - in three cases.

Our industry is just coming out of a few really tough years. My two person department shrank to a one person dept (me) with all the same responsibilities. The other guy was retirement age and financially set, so it wasn't bad on him but he liked being there (well, some days ). Several other stories within the company like that too. And of course, those of us who are left tend to get a little overwhelmed from time to time. As of a few months ago I finally have someone to help me and work's getting better. Tough it out, it doesn't last forever!

[mjs1973]

Yup, all of them are from the same company, 34 of them are from my home dept. Others that I have worked with or for in the past, or just people that I gotten to know over the years. By the time it's all done with there will be 400+ people layed off from my company. Some of the people let go have been with the company for 20+ years... My girlfriend also works for the same company and she was also one of the lucky ones. Five members of her team weren't so lucky tho.

My dept went from a staff of around 60 to a staff of 25. I have been working in a seperate area of the company since the the first of the year. I was suppose to stay in this temp roll until April 15th, but with the changes, I will be back to my home dept on Monday. I will be doing pretty much the same thing as I have been doing for the past few years so it shouldn't be a hard transition. The biggest transition for me will be the schedule. I was working from 5:00am to 1:00pm before, now I will be working 8:30-5:00pm, but it's a hell of a lot better than the alternative.

[Chunk]

I heard the news report about the layoff this afternoon and was hoping that you wouldn't be hit. Thanks for posting.

[mjs1973]

Thanks for the kind words and thoughts Chunk and Penny. It's really hard to discribe what I'm feeling right now. I'm very thankful for everything I've got, my friends, family, my extended family here at PR. It just seems like the wind has been completley taken out of my sails. A bunch of people from my girlfriends team stopped for a drink afterwork last night. One of the guys that lost his job walked in and I just felt like crying, and I have never even talked to the guy before. It's just such a strange range of emotions that just sprang up out of no where all at once. I know I will get thru it and maybe some great opportunities will come out of this change. I'm trying to stay positive and I'm looking forward to the future.

Oh, and I'm picking up my first set of slides tonight!!! So I have that to look forward to for the rest of the day!