It was 10 a.m., and I had just ... connected, I saw the faces of not only my manager but also our vice president and human resources representative. I knew what was coming. I was getting laid off. I had begun working at the company decades ago as an editor....
It was 10 a.m., and I had just logged into Zoom for a scheduled update meeting with my boss, but as the call connected, I saw the faces of not only my manager but also our vice president and human resources representative. I knew what was coming. I was getting laid off. I had begun working at the company decades ago as an editor.This time around, we were told the company was now profitable—successful, even—but we needed to make even more money. Hence Project Energize, a yearlong period of layoffs and offshoring. When Donna began her well-rehearsed speech, I thought, “Oh, now it’s my turn.”I would have to work there for another month, doing my usual job while my manager trained my replacement in India. After all, these weren’t the sort of layoffs where jobs were cut and reabsorbed by other staff. No, these were the sort of layoffs where your company builds an office overseas for the sole purpose of sending work offshore.His other favorite word was “family,” as in “this company is a family,” and he continued to use it in the meeting about layoffs. I don’t know how Daniel’s family works, but I have never kicked out one of my siblings so I could exchange them for a cheaper model.