Survived another round of layoffs

[Tradd]

Well, I survived another round of layoffs. Our receptionist was let go (there will now be an automated menu) and someone in another dept. My dept. wasn't even up for discussion on the chopping block.

I'm in int'l shipping (on the import side) and it was a SLOW month. Very slow. You can definitely tell from the amount of freight coming in that the economy has slowed down. There had been no talk of layoffs at the whole office monthly meeting on the 18th (I was on vacation and missed that meeting).

The receptionist had been there not a full year, but the guy in the other dept. had been there 8-9 years. The guy is single but the receptionist has two sons, one of whom is mentally handicapped (but fairly high functioning), plus he had one leg partially removed at some time in the past. Poor lady - she was on the way to the hospital because this son had been having chest pains and he had to be taken to the emergency room, and here today she gets laid off, too! :(

It's a little scary. There had apparently been a lot of closed door meetings earlier in the week, but I was off Monday through Wednesday and only came back yesterday. Boss told my dept. that there will be a full office meeting on Monday, where we can talk freely.

Why my dept. hadn't even been up for discussion on the chopping block: they looked at cost of compensation (salaries/benefits) vs. revenue and we were the healthiest dept. in the office of revenue-producing departments. The non-revenue depts. are things like accounting and IT. The dept. where the guy was laid off was one of two really off kilter by the calculation.

Yikes! My boss said she could - and was able to - look us in the eye and tell us that no more would be laid off. Apparently there is a lot of new business, etc., positive things. We shall see.

The automated menus will be set up for import, export, accounting, inside sales. When someone hits a particular dept's option, then the phone will ring at every desk in that dept. So, my phone will go from ringing very little (my customers like to communicate via email much more than by phone) to probably a lot more. Although we all have direct lines and the customers who are used to dealing with us will call us direct as they have always done.

I think this was round seven since the downturn began.

<sigh>

[Zigzagman]

Congratulations!!! I feel for you. Work is stressful enough without the constant issue of just being able to keep your job. Maybe this time it will be different but regardless you have dodged another bullet and hopefully things will improve.

Peace

[cdttmm]

Tradd, glad to hear that you survived this round, but the fact that it is round seven is rough. Hopefully the Monday meeting will give you some additional insight into what lies ahead for your organization. I was laid off a year ago from a company I had been with for 15 years; they closed the entire division and more than 50 people were laid off as a result. I'm hoping to never have to live through that experience again. I was well-prepared and anticipated that it would happen, but it was still a rough transition.

[Tradd]

Congratulations!!! I feel for you. Work is stressful enough without the constant issue of just being able to keep your job. Maybe this time it will be different but regardless you have dodged another bullet and hopefully things will improve.

Peace

It's gotten pretty stressful. The boss (and those above her) are always going on about "the numbers." Well, I'm not in sales, nor do I have any sort of control over how much profit we make on each shipment. So, I have very little to do with increasing the revenue. I can try and sell our other services (export, customs brokerage) to my current customers, but you can only mention that stuff so much before you irk someone. I simply provide excellent customer service and that DOES retain customers in a major way. We've had two customers I handle leave in the past year over shipping rates. They went to another freight forwarder that was cheaper, but the customer service was cruddy and they came back within six months.

[lhamo]

We've had two customers I handle leave in the past year over shipping rates. They went to another freight forwarder that was cheaper, but the customer service was cruddy and they came back within six months.

I just mentioned in another post to zoegirl the concept of a "yay me!" file -- sounds like this is something you could definitely put in yours!

Congratulations on surviving the cuts. I hope the automatic phone thing doesn't drive you nuts.

lhamo

[Tradd]

Well, more job news. We're merging with two other companies - I still have job! The office moves in a month. Unfortunately, my commute doubles from 15 miles to 30 miles roundtrip a day.

[lhamo]

Ooh -- bummer about the commute. But good news about still having a job.

Hope things start looking up for your company after the merger.

lhamo

[Lainey]

Also chiming in to say congrats, Tradd. Rounds of layoffs are unnerving but you must be proud that your professionalism has been noticed and rewarded with your continued employment.
And I know now may not be the time, but I hope in the future your work colleagues will schedule some small treat - would a half day outing at a ball game or other event be possible? I think it can go a long way in offsetting the bad stuff.

[Shari]

Even if you are still left standing after a layoff, it doesn't seem to make it that much easier does it? You still have the fear you are next, and feel badly for the ones that did not make it.