# Waiting for the guillotine today



## jswordy (Jun 12, 2012)

The worst part of this layoff/termination thing is to see folks leaving that conference meeting room crying and whatnot, and here I am still waiting to go in there and get my severence package. So far, of all the folks going in, no one has come out with a job. We're talking some with 30 and 40 years seniority. I've been here 19 myself. I understand they want us to work til September, then we'll get a severence package.

Baaaa! I'm just waiting my turn to go through that door ahead. Baaaa! Baaaa!!!!



How can I laugh at a time like this? Because I have something of a *PLAN!*


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## ffemt128 (Jun 12, 2012)

Good luck with that, it's always good to have a plan.


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## keena (Jun 12, 2012)

Got some dirt on the boss eh?


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## g8keeper (Jun 12, 2012)

good luck, jim.....damn, i know that waiting must be awful....but i hope your back up plan works out, IF need be.....fingers crossed, my friend...


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## Rocky (Jun 12, 2012)

I feel for you, Jim. In the last few years of my career I was with a company that went through lay-offs just about every year for the last 6 or 7 that I was there. Sweating it out became a way of life until I got through the last one in 1998. I went home and said to my wife that I thought it was better for me to choose when I leave the company so I took early retirement in early 1999 and left the area for a more vibrant one. It was a good move for me.

Best of luck to you. I hope everything works out to your advantage.


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## JohnT (Jun 12, 2012)

jswordy said:


> The worst part of this layoff/termination thing is to see folks leaving that conference meeting room crying and whatnot, and here I am still waiting to go in there and get my severence package. So far, of all the folks going in, no one has come out with a job. We're talking some with 30 and 40 years seniority. I've been here 19 myself. I understand they want us to work til September, then we'll get a severence package.
> 
> Baaaa! I'm just waiting my turn to go through that door ahead. Baaaa! Baaaa!!!!
> 
> ...


 
Huntsville? Is this related to the NASA cutbacks?


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## tonyandkory (Jun 12, 2012)

Geeze that sucks!

Hope it all works out and may the Shwartz be with you!


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## jswordy (Jun 12, 2012)

It is related to Advance Publications cutting the daily papers in Huntsville, Birmingham, Mobile and New Orleans to 3 days a week. They will now be weeklies. 75% of the staff in Huntsville is being laid off, probably the highest percentage of any of the papers involved, because printing of this paper will move to Birmingham.

It is a rough here today but I am still smiling. I am so very happy I was ready for this coming and I think I have several future plans to work with. Many people chose to flagrently kiss up and were in denial right up to their meeting today. I knew there was no reason to kiss up. These kinds of moves are done to a template based on age, salary and available open positions, and people either fit it or they don't. 

Ironically, I worked at a paper in 1989 as circulation director. That paper was bought in aleveraged buyout and I had to fire half my staff bby their template. Now soon I will be able to say I have been on both sides of that table.


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## Flem (Jun 12, 2012)

Good Luck! I hope your PLAN works out for you.


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## Bartman (Jun 12, 2012)

It's a rare opportunity you have to know what is coming and to be able to reflect upon it, if only for half a day or whatever. It seems kind of like seeing the trigger of a gun pulled and knowing the bullet is going to hit you, but being able to see it in slow motion as it approaches. I suppose that's a little melodramatic, but I'm sure it's a big deal to you.


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## jswordy (Jun 12, 2012)

Bartman said:


> It's a rare opportunity you have to know what is coming and to be able to reflect upon it, if only for half a day or whatever. It seems kind of like seeing the trigger of a gun pulled and knowing the bullet is going to hit you, but being able to see it in slow motion as it approaches. I suppose that's a little melodramatic, but I'm sure it's a big deal to you.


 
Not that big a deal. I have been preparing financially for 4 years. I have identified a business niche in my local market. We'll see what happens from here. I am STILL waiting to be called in! But everyone around me in my division is chopped, so as they say down heah, it's all over but the shoutin'.


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## DoctorCAD (Jun 12, 2012)

My sister works in the newspaper industry. 7 years with no raises and some cuts. She has been waiting for 6 of those years for the very day you are describing. She gave up worrying about it, not good for your health (mental of physical). If it happens, it happens.

Her plan is to start a kennel and train dogs, she has been doing that on the side for many years.

I might have to buy her house from her so that she can get the financing she needs to start the kennel. Not too bad, at least it is in Florida.

Don't let the bastards get you down!!! Go in there and open with a joke, that will kick their butts!


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## Rocky (Jun 12, 2012)

Jim, you are in one of the toughest industries that there is today. With the internet and all the other means of getting news and adverstising, newspapers across the country, large and small, are down-sizing. One thing that I am sure you realize is this is not personal and believe me, as one who has been on the other side of the table laying off good employees and friends, it is very hard for them too. I will never forget one incident that happened to me. It was after I had let go about 25 people from my department with varying reactions from yelling and swearing at me to crying. I was talking to a very good, young person and laying out the facts to him, trying to "maintain his self-respect" as the HR people had counseled us and he put his hand on my arm and said something like, "I understand what is happening here and why. You don't have to go through all that with me. I just want you to know that I learned so much working for you and I really appreciate everything you did for me. This company has been great and I will never regret working here. Good luck to you." and he got up, we shook hands and walked out of my office. 

The point of this story is I don't remember who the people were who swore or who cried but I will always remember this guy and how he handled it.


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## jswordy (Jun 12, 2012)

CHOP-CHOP! 19 years of making money for people in New York City, down the drain!



Time to make money for OL JIMBO now.

My last day will be 9/30.


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## Sammyk (Jun 12, 2012)

Hopefully as one door closes another one will open. It did for us when we sold our nursery garden center in MI and moved to NC. After the market crash on 9/11 we had to go back to work and out of retirement......


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## jswordy (Jun 12, 2012)

Rocky said:


> Jim, you are in one of the toughest industries that there is today. With the internet and all the other means of getting news and adverstising, newspapers across the country, large and small, are down-sizing. One thing that I am sure you realize is this is not personal and believe me, as one who has been on the other side of the table laying off good employees and friends, it is very hard for them too. I will never forget one incident that happened to me. It was after I had let go about 25 people from my department with varying reactions from yelling and swearing at me to crying. I was talking to a very good, young person and laying out the facts to him, trying to "maintain his self-respect" as the HR people had counseled us and he put his hand on my arm and said something like, "I understand what is happening here and why. You don't have to go through all that with me. I just want you to know that I learned so much working for you and I really appreciate everything you did for me. This company has been great and I will never regret working here. Good luck to you." and he got up, we shook hands and walked out of my office.
> 
> The point of this story is I don't remember who the people were who swore or who cried but I will always remember this guy and how he handled it.


 
You aren't saying anything I don't know. Those of you who are in biz, I ask you, who invests millions in order to produce a product and then gives it away for free? Yet that is exactly what papers have done on the Net. They have ruined themselves.

All that aside, this decision taken today is a business decision that is unrelated to the current economy. It is by far and away so distant from what other papers are doing now that it can be seen as revolutionary or de-evolutionary, depending on viewpoint. Other papers near here are preparing to move in, as mine voluntarily gives up a big chunk of its core biz to move to something it THINKS will work out.

After 9/30, I have no worries about that anymore. Thanks for all the kind words today, everyone. Now I have advice for you: NEVER be loyal to a company. Never.


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## SarahRides (Jun 12, 2012)

Stay positive Jim and hopefully that attitude will help you find something bigger and better! Good luck!


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## Wade E (Jun 12, 2012)

I agree with you Jim. If you can get away and make more money for another place do so as the minute your current boss is loosing money he isnt going to be worrying about your paycheck, just his!


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## Bartman (Jun 12, 2012)

jswordy said:


> Now I have advice for you: NEVER be loyal to a company. Never.



What if it's your own company? ::

Seriously, though, I think there is still a place for loyalty, so long as you know who is really in charge and how the company really operates. When you don't know who your boss's boss is and no one will or can tell you how the company actually makes money, it's time to jump ship. On the other hand, changing times sometimes means the most employee-focused employers and businesses simply can't stay around forever. Loyal employees who try to make it work for each other (rather than for the company itself) may end up losing their jobs due to no evil or greedy intents. 

The thing about capitalism is that there has to be some risk of failure for all kinds of ventures - none of us like the idea of 'too big to fail' do we? Some days you're the pigeon, some days you're the statue.


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## TxBrew (Jun 12, 2012)

jswordy said:


> Now I have advice for you: NEVER be loyal to a company. Never.



I wouldn't say that, it depends on who owns the company. Loyalty to a company can earn you a lot of rewards like equity.


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## Runningwolf (Jun 12, 2012)

jswordy said:


> Thanks for all the kind words today, everyone. Now I have advice for you: NEVER be loyal to a company. Never.


 
Jim, the last company I worked for in HR I spent three years having to cut many employees and watching my peers get cut and reinterviewing for my position three times. In the end there were no more interviews, they just eliminated the position of 1000 of us across the country.

I kniow exactly what you mean about loyalty but It's just something in me. Any place I have ever worked I have been very loyal, just the type of person I am. I have a feeling you are to with all those years of service.


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## phat (Jun 12, 2012)

Runningwolf said:


> Jim, the last company I worked for in HR I spent three years having to cut many employees and watching my peers get cut and reinterviewing for my position three times. In the end there were no more interviews, they just eliminated the position of 1000 of us across the country.
> 
> I kniow exactly what you mean about loyalty but It's just something in me. Any place I have ever worked I have been very loyal, just the type of person I am. I have a feeling you are to with all those years of service.



I dunno.. I consider myself very loyal when working for a company - I'm 100% on board with what the company wants to get done. 

Having said that...

I look out for number one. While Equity is a good thing, I just tossed away a bunch of it to leave while the leaving was good. The fact is while most companies will tout retention is such a big deal to them, that is exactly it "retention" - most places aren't interested in developing employees. They're interested in avoiding costly turnover. It may be (and often is) cheaper to lay you off an hire someone else for what they want for the "changed" job. Yest that's dirty. Yes it sucks. Life sucks sometimes. 

The difference for you, the little guy, is do your job, do it exceptionally well, and keep your eye open for your next opportunity - most managers (including myself) do *NOT* view it as a disloyalty in this day and age when someone leaves for something better. that's called "career development". (Heck I'm *happy* a lot of people who have
worked for me have moved on to some really amazing things). 

Yes, some companies are perhaps an exception - but that can change real fast on things like a buyout or reorg. Don't
bet on such things.


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## jswordy (Jun 12, 2012)

Thanks! I is done! And DRUNK! See you tomorrow!

DO NOT be loyal .. it'll screw you! Bye! I have cut employees .. what goes around comes around, eventually... this is for the young folks... do not make that mistake...


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## JohnT (Jun 13, 2012)

Let me tell you, You are absolutly right! Never trust a company. 

Comanies will NEVER put your needs over their own. I have seen lots of stuff, and here is what I have learned the hard way.... 

1) When the owners of a company are offered a big pile of cash, they WILL sell the company and not care about their employees disposition.

2) When the owners of a company are loosing money, they WILL layoff employees. Only the methods of doing this vary.

3) No matter how close you are to your coworkers, when there is a raise or promotion in the works, others WILL throw you under the bus to get it. 

4) When a company decides to move locations (in order to save money) they WILL move (to hell with what that might do to your family). The decision one needs to make in this case is to 1) uproot your family and move to East WARDOHEKAWEE, or 2) Stay where you consider home and do without a paycheck.

5) To save money, a company WILL fire you and send your job to someone in India.

The above might sound bitter, but it is not. It is simply fact. Money is king in a company. A company can not have loyalty to its employees and stay afloat in today's market. Any company that says it has loyalty to its employees is nothing but a bunch or liars! 

Keeping above in mind, I do not ever have loyalty to a company. I only have loyalty to myself. If there is a move that I can make that either gets me a higher salary or better position, I WILL make that move without even a smidge of guilt. 

johnT.


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## jswordy (Jun 13, 2012)

TxBrew said:


> I wouldn't say that, it depends on who owns the company. Loyalty to a company can earn you a lot of rewards like equity.


 
I actually started out this reply by outlining specifically how my own experience undercuts your premise. Then I realized I am gagged for the next nine months by the termination severence pay agreement. LOL.

I'll just say that it was a place that valued its employees until 2009, then new people came in and it changed in a matter of a few months. What once were primary wage jobs you could count on to raise a family are now second jobs. 

All the great corporate promises can evaporate in an instant, even if the situation doesn't really call for it. Just the sense that things are generally bad can give a company incentive to chop employee benefits and numbers. In our case, 3/4 of the staff is leaving. I wish I could be more specific. It's quite the story.

I am not bitter about any of this. It's business, man! Be loyal to *yourself. *Don't lose 19 years like I did to figure that out, you younger folks out there. I used to swap jobs every 3 years, but got lulled by all the nice promises. They are all broken now.


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## Minnesotamaker (Jun 14, 2012)

Good luck Jim with your new adventures. I was in the print industry for 20 years and left it about 10 years ago when I saw some bumps developing in the road. Took some of my savings and experience and started my own business. The pay isn't as consistent as a regular 9-5 job, but what it lacks in consistency, it gains in flexibility. And now when I put in extra effort, it goes into my pocket (or the guv'ment's) instead of my employer's. But the important thing is that my boss is smart, handsome, makes me wine, and treats me well.


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## WineYooper (Jun 14, 2012)

Good luck Jim, it's a hard thing to go thru. I worked for a company in engineering for just short of ten years, 5 months short of vested retirement and was laid off. I grew up under the old belief that you do your best and work hard and you could retire from that job. Wrong!!!!!! I'm now 58 and doing HVAC work, just got hired back with a previous company, owner called me up to see if I wanted to come back. The engrg. I quit after 4 layoffs (over 25 years) from the same company, I designed industrial heat processing equipment. Got used to being laid off and not take it so hard, really helped my mental health. The one thing I learned is no matter how hard I worked, long hours at work and sometimes at home never made any difference to them. When the economy took a downturn or the orders stopped coming in people were let go because they wanted to cut their expenses and keep the owners profits the same. They don't care a lick about you. So when you hear companies talk about workers loyalty it's a bunch of B.S. they don't have any. Now I know why I saw the younger guys and girls coming in leave after a few years, wish I had learned much sooner in life. I hope now my body can withstand the riggers of this job for a few more years and I'm heading back to the U.P.


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