One day the axe just fell

My position was eliminated. That’s how I was told I was suddenly unemployed. No longer the most senior of my little group in Professional Services. Gone. Today. There’s no good way to tell someone that they’re out of a job, though my now-former VP did his job the best he could, and the way that he was supposed to. My now-former boss was on the phone, as was an HR person from our main office in Pennsylvania. “Your position has been eliminated”. Takes a minute to sink in. Sorry, Charlie. Thanks for the four-plus years, three dozen clients, eight major user community conventions and god knows how many road trips. You have until 5pm today. That’s actually far better than “we need to escort you from the building right now”. I’ve seen that happen at other places. This was done with some sense of humanity, which can’t be discounted. I had time to clean out my desk, take personal files off my work laptop, and say goodbye to friends and coworkers. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.

Everyone saw it coming, in a general sense. When your business is working with clients who are doing charitable fundraising and everything remotely related to money, charity and disposable income has just dried up like a mirage in the Sahara, there’s an inevitable trickle down effect to all concerned. The fact that I had just finished a long, difficult project didn’t matter. For the foreseeable future, I wasn’t going to be doing a whole lot to earn my keep. It also didn’t matter that I personally had no control over what gets sold and handed to me to work on.

It was a great four-plus years. Wonderful coworkers, great clients, interesting software, fascinating industry. The company had some issues to be sure, but doesn’t every organization? It didn’t detract from the bottom line, which was that I loved my job, right up to the moment that I was told I no longer had one.

The good news is that friends, coworkers, former coworkers, and even people in the industry have already started to appear out of the woodwork with good wishes, virtual (and real) hugs, and even possible leads. In the short term, I think it very likely that I’ll be doing training and consulting on a contracting basis. Long term, I’m not sure. I do know the universe’s machinery seems to be kicking into motion, and gears are turning. I don’t know how it'll turn out quite yet, but I’m not as devastated as I might otherwise be. You see, I’ve been laid off before, and in vastly stranger and scarier circumstances than today. My mom is fond of saying that you always have options, and my dad likes to say that everything happens for a reason. And they’re pretty damn smart. There is good news: P is very well employed, and the health insurance is through her company. My car’s paid off, and hers will be as of this month. And I have to simply believe, however naively, that this is going to work out. It has every other time I’ve been laid off, and I’m far more credentialed now, with more contacts and more experience. Then again, this is a lousy climate in which to hunt for a job.

Perhaps the first order of business will be a glass of red wine and some Chinese food. That's what Jews do. When the going gets tough, have an eggroll. The rest will sort itself out after that.

Stay tuned for coming episodes in the saga.