Grim news, work is "Rightsizing"

[Dreamer]

I hope that everything works out for the best for you. It is hard enough working, without having to worry about your job. Good luck!

Dreamer

[KB]

Laurence..

You also might make it through this RIF, and the next one, and the next one....allowing you to accrue more seniority, more vacation, more 401K, get your masters. *And then move on when you're ready. *

I worked for the same account (once as an employee and once for a contracted company) for 20 years, through more RIFs than I can count. *The valuable people are needed to keep things running. *I finally left on my own terms for a lot more money and more vacation time.

Good luck with your decision. * *

[maddythebeagle]

if you do go, dont forget the red stapler and mumble "I am going to burn this place down".

[laurence]

I keep my swingline under lock and key!

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I didnt account for my stapler (although it and a couple more somehow came home with me), but I did keep a spreadsheet of projects in priority order, with headcount and dollars broken out by project. Whenever we had layoffs or headcount/budget reductions, I would show my boss the spreadsheet and showed her where the new line would be under those conditions.

Actually seeing what wouldnt get done, or what would get done optionally at a later date generally kept me from getting 'hit'. Some of my peers who couldnt quickly elaborate what wouldnt get done after the reductions usually ended up with the bulk of them.

A little work every few weeks to update the spreadsheet but...

Also came in handy when I wanted more money or people...I could show what new stuff we'd take on or get started on more quickly.

Strikes me that an individual could maintain the same project list to show what would stop happening if they got let go, and what the effects of budget cuts on their work would be...

[Brat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cute Fuzzy Bunny ... I did keep a spreadsheet of projects in priority order, with headcount and dollars broken out by project.* .... ....Also came in handy when I wanted more money or people...I could show what new stuff we'd take on or get started on more quickly. Strikes me that an individual could maintain the same project list to show what would stop happening if they got let go, and what the effects of budget cuts on their work would be...

And this is a great tool to use in an interview for another position and should you find one negotiate the payment of your tuition.**

It will be tough to look three ways a once... keeping the current employer happy, working on your Masters, while keeping an eye out for other opportunities.

As a former HR professional it bothers me to manage headcount by layoff, it communicates that managers do not know how to manage their business.* I can understand it when a plant is shut down or a major contract is unexpectedly lost but, short of those situations it makes managers look bad.* I coined the phrase "hiring pause" at my former employer, better that than staff reductions.

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brat I coined the phrase "hiring pause" at my former employer, better that than staff reductions.

I took my agency from 25,000 to 14,500 a lot of it through hiring pauses. It beat RIFs but it was still a very negative period. I ended up leaving HR and sidestepping over to IT which was a lot more fun - for a while

[laurence]

To be fair, that's exactly what happened, in actuality, we had ten major contracts either get reduced or cancelled! *They froze overtime, got 50 employees jobs with other divisions, created a new line of business and generated another 50 jobs...so the original loss was to be 150, and they got it down to 50. *We all saw the writing on the wall, we knew they couldn't carry everybody forever, but nonetheless it was a shock.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence You hit it on the head though, guys.* I survive, but in six months I might wish I hadn't with more work and low morale.* We will see!

warning warning warning young laurence robinson.

that isn't to say that morale hasn't already been shot at the other companies. after my company went down, i got to listen to many of my friends complain about the same problems at their companies over the following years.

as i've posted, anyone who says the grass is greener on the other side has never laid sod.

[BunsGettingFirm]

Laurence, good for you for making the decision to get a MS. I would only add one thing about doing a part-time program at a company that is going through "rightsizing". Make sure that inspite of the "rightsizing", your company has plenty of cash on hand. Otherwise, they're likely to find parting with the almighty cash very difficult. My company went through a very bad time. The first thing HR did was to delay my education reimbursement from 2005 to 2006. I got paid in early January of 2006, but by paying me in 2006, they have essentially locked me out of further reimbursement for 2006. Sneaky, eh?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence I'd love to work at PACOM. 8) DW is nervous, she's been home less than two months and she's already staring at her worst fear before she made the jump. She could ramp up her hours as a consultant, but health care is the big issue, especially with Tori's heart. But I'm not too worried, it's possible, but unlikely, and for all sorts of mundane reasons that always take precidence over being smart or valuable to the company. :P It has knocked me off the fence on one decision, I'm going back for my Master's degree, time to make myself more attractive to the marketplace in general! And Boston University has an on line program that is perfect for me (and work will partially reimburse)!

[BunsGettingFirm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgeeeee That was my experience. While I was working I was never layed off, but I did work for companies that went through the downsizing process on several occassions. I noticed a couple of common things about these episodes: 1) Being smart and being productive were not guarantees that someone would not be RIFed. Large companies in particular often manage the downsize process very poorly. They sometimes lay off good people for stupid political reasons related to who their boss is or what their current assignment is. 2) Survival is never that pleasant either. When people lose their jobs it affects the work environment for those that remain in ways that are not good. Managment gains power through fear and what they do with that power is not usually desireable for the employee. Frightened employees sometimes begin a personal campaign to make sure they aren't next. They can choose to work harder or they can choose to undermine their fellow workers who they now view as competition. Most will avoid the latter, but it doesn't take many to make the workplace miserable.

Speaking of ruling by fear, my ex-manager likes to cite trade journals about various layoffs. He thinks that we're too stupid to understand his "subtle" ways. Yeah, I can find a job anywhere because I have real skills. The last time I checked, doing nothing all day and trying to scare employees by citing trade journals about layoffs at other companies is not a skill in high demand, at least not at $120K a year.

[BunsGettingFirm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence Hmmm, we just got a FAQ on the RIF. They are accepting volunteers, but either way, if you are laid off you get ten weeks pay, health care paid for a little while, tuition reimbursment for a year, pension accrual for two years, and a few other odds and ends (like computer purchase reimbursement - who's spending money once they get laid off?). That plus unemployment benefits and my accrued vacation time would get me quite a bit of time to find something new. Hmm, I've been told they actually hope to add someone to my group to save a job/fire one less person. I guess my group is still a "revenue center" or whatever. :P You hit it on the head though, guys. I survive, but in six months I might wish I hadn't with more work and low morale. We will see!

Wow, 10 weeks pay plus unemployment pay plus vesting in pension plus education reimbursement? Now I know my last company sucked for sure.

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laurence But yes, I have quite a weekend of resume building and job hunting planned.* (sigh)

Just make sure none of those potential new employers can find you here on a Google search...

... you'll know you've been unmasked when you sit down at the interview and the first question is "What does FIRE stand for?!?"

[HFWR]

Or "Whattaya do all day?"...

[wabmester]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Just make sure none of those potential new employers can find you here on a Google search...

That's a good point.* *I would always google anybody I was thinking about hiring.* *Just make sure you use an alias when posting to alt.sex.beastality....

[HFWR]

Or at least wear a mask...

[Andre1969]

I've tried googling my real name, and there are plenty of hits. Thankfully, none of them are me!

[maddythebeagle]

:P Now all of the perves are going to be searching the internet and end up here. ...or are they already here

Another suggestion is for L to remove the thread about being bored at work…

[saluki9]

I'm very lucky in that sense.

my legal name (right down to the middle initial) is identical to an (in)famous politician.

Anybody looking for me on google has to sift through a couple hundred pages of crap related to that guy.


of to the bestiality forums I go...

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BunsOfVeal Speaking of ruling by fear, my ex-manager likes to cite trade journals about various layoffs. He thinks that we're too stupid to understand his "subtle" ways. Yeah, I can find a job anywhere because I have real skills. The last time I checked, doing nothing all day and trying to scare employees by citing trade journals about layoffs at other companies is not a skill in high demand, at least not at $120K a year.

Nice work. The only problem with this approach is that as far as I see it, employees fall into three broad categories. Your "A" players that do most of the really important work and are the people who kick in when the going gets tough. Your "B" players who show up every day, get some stuff done, push some paper around, make and go to meetings, and pick up some slack. And your "C" players that really dont do anything but are part of somebody's network, they've been around forever, or they're good at lying low when the bad stuff comes around.

You play these fear games, and you lose your "A" players. Those people can get jobs anywhere, anytime. Or at a minimum you have them questioning their committment and hard work. Once they slow down or drop out, the work dumps down on your "B" players. The better of those will follow the "A" players out the door or to unproductive gripeland.

Now you've got your headcount reduction...from the wrong end.

Funny thing is, in every organization i've been in...we all knew who the "C" players were, but they never got the axe.