Dot-Com Days
The email and phones went out just after noon on Friday, and we all got the word just before or just after that there’d be a mass meeting after lunch. Actually, there were three meetings, plus some individual asides, but it became clear very quickly that we were faced with a shut down at worst, a layoff at best, and no one knew what was happening or to whom. I was lucky, though, and get to stay on, but a 50% cut in staff is hard to take even if you do get to keep your job. Some took it harder than others, but it was tough all around. I had read stories of the dot-com deaths on-line and was amazed, appalled. The terminations were so brutal. I’d been through a tap-on-the-shoulder period in a financial company that had taken over another, and the big law firm retrenching of the late eighties. I hear my former employer has also just completed a layoff, although only 4%. I wonder if there is anyway to reduce staff, other than hiring freezes and attrition, that don’t brutalize the workforce. I’m lucky, though, not just because the angel passed by, but also because Meera’s been so supportive, helping me through a bit of a scare, and working out what we’d need to do, what we’re going to do, and how we’re going overall. This is a important as I am still new to Australia and business here, and not eligible for unemployment benefits for another year.