Monday, January 07, 2008

Happy Freakin’ New Year

Today is my first day back at work. Last week, I started logging on to check my email, and what a doozie I found on Friday.

Our VP of the division sent out an email, which I will paraphrase below:

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a very well deserved break that was relaxing and fun.

Too bad that our industry is in the toilet and won’t pick up until early next year. This means that we will have to lay a bunch of you off before the end of the month.

The easiest way to do this is to ask for voluntary resignations. You have one week to decide if you want to take the voluntary layoff. Of course, not all requests can be honored, and we will make the final decision. If we don’t get enough volunteers, we will make our own choices by the end of the month.

Thanks for your sincere dedication to our team.



To paraphrase even more: Happy New Year. Screw you!

It’s not a secret that I am not happy with my company, but I do need the paycheck. Oh, and this email came out at noon on Friday, but by that time they had already canned 20+ people from our plant and our sister plant. Not to mention that a lot of people didn’t even come back to work until today, so this announcement was made when over half the employees were still on vacation/holiday.

So, this morning my boss calls an impromptu meeting (who am I kidding, all of his meetings are “drop everything and meet me now, who cares that we have a meeting scheduler”) to discuss the workforce reduction. He tells us things we already know, then says our department should be safe (I’m not believing anything anyone says, though), and that we need to stay upbeat. What? STAY upbeat? No one has been upbeat for a year. They did away with our bonus, forced us to take vacation the first 3 days of the year, cancelled our Christmas party, put us on a hiring freeze when we have tons of work to do, and they keep us in the dark until the last possible moment...and we’re supposed to be upbeat??

Then he asked if we had any questions, comments or concerns. When we mentioned a few, he just said, “Thanks,” and ended the meeting. Typical.

My friend in HR for a different company thinks I should be pretty safe since I’m pregnant. That may be true, but I’m not sure I want to be around here through all of this.

Happy Freakin’ New Year!

11 comments:

Chelf said...

I have to remind you that you will still be insured, especially if you get laid off. Your insurance HAS to keep insuring you and your baby by law. They cannot drop you. At least until the pregnancy is over...

Doesn't make it any more fun to face losing your job. I wish I could help there. I am praying for you.

Sunshine said...

Wow, that totally sucks. Even if you don't think you're in jeopardy, the upheaval will be stressful to everyone.

maddie said...

ugh. that is awful, but chelf is right. you are protected so they can't fire you. keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Sally said...

Thanks for the comments everyone.

I'm not worried about insurance because we switched over to The Colonel's (WAY better coverage) effective today (w/o knowing all this would happen).

But, the drop in morale and everything else totally sucks. I didn't have to take a single Tums while I was off work, and I had heartburn by the time I got home tonight. Fun!

Jana said...

One word: INDY.

suezque said...

Praying for you!!!

Angel said...

Man I have been gone too long.

CONGRATULATIONS ON THE UPCOMING BUNDLE OF JOY!!!

Good luck with the job. I know how hard the uncertainty is at a job. I had one like that once and it sucks. Hang in there.....

Jennifer said...

That's the tackiest (a coward's way out, in my opinion) way to inform someone that they might be losing their job. And, what's the point of calling a meeting to discuss it if all you're going to get is a "Thanks" in response? I will certainly be remembering you in my prayers.

Jennifer :-)

Terri said...

ohhhh girlie; you know I know what you are going through! Hang in there and you'll be fine. Think long and hard though if they offer separation packages, maybe you can take the money and run and find a job you like better...I often wonder if I made the right choice myself....that was a crappy way to inform everyone but there probably isn't a nice way to put it, you know?

Sally said...

Terri - I thought of you when I posted this yesterday. They are offering decent packages if you've been here longer than 15 years. I would only get 2 weeks pay.

Angel - you HAVE been gone too long! Welcome back! =)

Thanks for all the prayers, everyone!

Heather @ Marine Corps Nomads said...

That's horrible. My brother-in-law is dealing with the same thing; only he found out before Christmas. He's "done" in February -- Merry Christmas, right??

Sorry you're dealing with all of this. (((hugs)))