Saturday, October 3, 2009

Downsizing - Good, Bad & Ugly

You may ask what the difference is between Bad and Ugly and there is no Good in being downsized.
Well, the difference is in how it is done. Most of the downsizing is handled in the Bad to Ugly manner. The worst is showing up and the doors are locked and you have no where to turn and no one to ask questions. Next is they tell you they are going to downsize and they don't give you a timeline. That is what I am going through now. They told us last May that they would be transitioning our jobs to Rochester but didn't know exactly when. Some have bailed already, others are holding pat. I am one of those. Not from some miss guided hope that they will change their minds but because at my age, I don't know if I want to continue to work full time and from the perverse pleasure it gives me in taking every dollar I can from them.

The last time I was downsized was back in 1992. They told us they were going back to their core business strategy and our part of the business wasn't it. Those individuals who fit in other areas were offered jobs fairly quickly. If you weren't one of them, you pretty much knew you were going to be let go. When it came time for our section to be downsized, we were given a date and told what our severance package was going to be. We were even given the opportunity to buy some of our equipment. After all it wasn't going to be used anymore.

I consider that the best of the bad ways to be downsized. They were upfront, provided timelines and kept to them. It was tough but at least it was relatively painless.

This current downsizing will be drawn out, painful and will not make any new friends for the company in Rochester. It has been intimated that we might be offered jobs there but I would never feel comfortable working for a company that had already stabbed me in the back once. Who knows when they might do it again.

I will survive, God will see me through this trial as he did the last one.

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