Layoff Watch Day 2
The cynical jokes continued apace as everyone waits in anticipation of whether they’ll still have a job come the end of November. These ranged from misinterpretations of “If I see you next week…” to others darker in nature. Truthfully the whole experience is something akin to a Survivor episode, except upper management is the one to vote you out. It’s precisely that unknown quality that makes this so difficult. While I would like to believe I have nothing to worry about, but like the New York lotto, “Hey, you ever know.”
I had an opportunity to talk to my manager for the first time since the announcement Wednesday, and though he had little to add, it was reassuring. While he has no idea what’s going on, he’s taking a more optimistic stance on the outcome of the layoffs. Hopefully he’ll be proven right.
The most interesting rumor of the day was that the IS organization is attempting to perform all their separations in one batch, rather than dragging out the process and the uncertainity longer than necessary. While I will commend them for this, at least, the potentially three week time lag has slowed any work to a crawl. Next week is, according to some timelines I have heard, the major decision week where most of the specifics will be determined, so the rumor mill should be spinning in overtime. Certainly, I hope so, as it provides a distraction from the actual work we’re supposed to be doing.