Long term employee here, let go last Monday.
My background: many of you know me. Hired directly out of college, now layed off several months before I was able to retire at age 55. After our leader said “no more layoffs” in February I thought I’d made it to 55 and in fact reassured my family.
Monday I get a call from a conference room. Total surprise. They take my phone and badge, give me “the talk”, hand me the white folder, and escort me to the parking lot.
I’ve lasted through all the previous layoffs, too many to list here, many years besides lately, so readers will know I have skills and competency. I’ve gone where the company wanted me to go, taken challenging jobs, delivered value-adding results, been rewarded with stock options (years ago) and RSU’s (these days). I’ve taken calls from headhunters and told them I was happy here.
I know Texas is an “employment at will” state, and I’ve been given a nice severance package, but still... I was close to retirement at age 55. I was working hard. My friends and family know the sacrifices I’ve made. Yet last Monday I’m suddenly treated like an enemy of the company.
I have (had) contacts at high levels in the company, and I’ve been told that the managers and “leaders” you see in the organizational announcements who have “retired” were actually given huge severance packages with deals to stick around about as long as they wanted.
I’m treated as a criminal.
What happened to “People” ? “Integrity” ? Yes, I know as you work your way up, compensation changes, I’ve benefited from this myself, but where does it say it’s company policy that “friends” of the ELT get treated differently than other long-employed dedicated employees?
The company spends $200 Million to build a Health and Fitness Center to motivate employees and keep us healthy and happy. But they can’t keep me around for a couple of months so I can retire with dignity at age 55? Instead they pay me 14 months for not working? Where is the common sense in this? Does the ELT have a clue about the loss in productivity from employees talking about job losses for months, completely losing their trust in leadership who promised no more layoffs, and where the survivors no longer have any assurance they will continue to have a job day-to-day?
I know why I was let go. My skills sets that served and created value for the company were no longer needed in today’s environment. But to blindside me like this? Not allow me to copy my contact list or personal photos from my company phone?
Not allowed to say “good-bye” to my co-workers who have become best friends?
I know friends with similar skills sets who submitted their EOI and yet were rejected. Where is the common sense in this? I wanted to stay around for several months to reach age 55, and I’m severed with 14 months of salary, yet friends who want to retire are rejected? Who makes these morale-killing “death of common sense” decisions?
“Survivors” from this latest round of layoffs see and know how long-term employees like me have been treated. Company loyalty dies. It’s no longer a life and career, it’s a job. Employees no longer go the extra yard because they know someday this may (will) happen to them.
What happened here? When did the company go down this harsh path?
Don’t respond with comments about me getting through this and there’s light on the other side. I know that. I’ve a skills set where I’ll be hired soon. This is more of a documented memorial for a company I was once proud to work for and yes, loved, but has now gone bad.
Good luck to the survivors... until your phone rings with the Caller ID coldly announcing, “CONFERENCE ROOM”. Or, if you’re a manager/friend of the ELT, you get the call saying, “we’ve got a deal for you if you’re interested...”
In conclusion, watch “organizational announcements” with managers and executives through the end of the year and first quarter 2019. Read “between the lines”. The ELT will continue to take care of their own. This is no longer a company that should include integrity as a core value, but one that should highlight “cronyism” and”hypocrisy”. Remember what we were promised in February: except for normal trimming around the edges, layoffs were behind us. This is no longer a company that keeps its promises and values its employees.