Surviving the Chopping Block?

2names asks: "Having been involved in cutbacks at several companies, I am finding it more difficult to remain focused on my job tasks even when I am not the subject of the cutback. For those of you who have survived the chopping block (sometimes repeatedly), how do you continue to produce quality work in the face of constant staff reductions?"

Comments

You don't

[Anonymous Coward]

You realize that you're doomed and start looking for another job.

Re:You don't

[Anonymous Coward]

this isn't funny-- it's good advice.

If the ax is swinging, it's often difficult to tell where it will land-- I survived seven rounds of layoffs and finally got hit in January. It was the best thing to happen to me. Unemployment (or a new job) is far better than the stress of the ax. Of course, I saved a lot of money, so I don't really need a job right now anyway...

Just do it

[DaRat]

Just continue doing your work and focus on what matters. Sure it's hard, and you do need to give yourself time to grieve and be pissed off. But, if you let yourself wallow in it and get distracted, you just increase your chances for being chopped soon. Focus on the interesting stuff and stuff that needs some mental thought so that you don't have enough time to wallow.

It does help to avoid getting into a bitching session with coworkers. Black topics and moods tend to multiply when you and others pay attention to them.

All that said, it's still a good idea to keep your resume polished and your ear to the ground.

Re:Just do it

[xploita]

The motivation is that only remaining top notch in your field is what will get you the next job.

Your skills might not be able to save this job, so use them as a test bed for new skills and (hopefully) land the next one.

Then... wash, rinse, repeat

I Just...

[GypC]

... work my ass off and hope for the best. I refuse to suck up. I just treat everyone like an equal, which many "higher-ups" appreciate. They like it when their employees say "Hi" and crack jokes and ask about their kids' soccer games. Some of them don't, I'm just polite to them.

I haven't been laid off yet.

Re:I Just...

[acousticiris]

I refuse to suck up. I just treat everyone like an equal

You really said it right there. From CEO on down, all of us are human beings. If you talk to your superiors as though you are afraid to speak your mind, they stop trusting your decisions. I don't tell people what they want to hear, I tell people what I believe is right and true. I won't say it hasn't caused me grief in the past, but it goes a long way to earning the respect of those who depend on your expertise.

Good managers depend on their technical staff to provide insight they either don't have time to research or don't have the background to understand. If you support something simply because you know management will like that thing better than the truth, it may gain you some momentum for a little bit, but in the long run when the project fails...they'll be looking back to you for the reason why.

Re:I Just...

[caseydk]

Good call.

I ran into the President/CEO of my company while getting some water this morning. A few address him as "Sir", but I actually met him a few weeks before I joined the company, so I call address him by his first name like most of the other people.

He asked how things are going and I described some of the advances on his pet project that we're working on. It turned into a few minute conversation where he mentioned that some more skills are required in my department and recommended that I be the one to get them.

Other than (obviously) defering to him and giving him respect, I make a point of treating everyone pretty much the same way. It also means that my boss puts me in front of the clients, so the additional face time helps all the way around...

Re:I Just...

[Shant3030]

If you talk to your superiors as though you are afraid to speak your mind, they stop trusting your decisions

Excellent point. I've found being upfront and honest with higher ups does earn their respect.

Being relatively new to the workforce, I've found this to be an important lesson.

Stay in the moment

[Grrr]

Fear is the mind-killer...

<grrr>

Re:Stay in the moment

[orthogonal]

Fear is the mind-killer...

My job as Emperor was out-sourced to an adopted Fremen worm-rider, and all I got was this lousy Gom Jabbar!

Easy

[psyconaut]

Move away from the U.S.!

-psy

Re:Easy

[biodork]

?becuase there aren't lay offs in other countries?

ahhhh.... clear now.

Re:Easy

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course they don't exist in other countries. That's why I went trough 4-5 layoffs and I'm living in Canada.

Re:Easy

[psyconaut]

Here in India, we are not having any layoffs! We are getting fat cat American job by dozen!

So move here. We give you free vindaloo on arrival.

-psy

Re:Easy

[Anonymous Coward]

Can I feed you God a peanut? Ganeesha, wasn't it?

Re:Easy

[Anonymous Coward]

What's vindaloo? Is that the same thing as 'putang'?

Re:Easy

[Anonymous Coward]

Its the stuff that dribbles through your ass the next morning!

Ignore the chopping block.

[acousticiris]

I work for a well known telecommunications company. We're not well known because we are a huge company that is in every household in the country...we're well known because we had a large bankruptcy shortly after the Enron debacle.
In the past 5 years, I have watched about 8 different "lay-off" periods (situations in which over a hundred people (sometimes a few thousand) were given their walking papers) and survived each of them.
The interesting part to me is that about 80% of the people who were let go were no surprise to most of the people who worked with them. Several of them spent most of their time worrying about how to protect their job rather than actually doing their job. In fact, if some of them put as much energy into doing their job rather than fearing their lay-off, they'd probably still be employed.
I'm not saying that everyone who got laid off deserved it (several good folks were lost due to whole department eliminations).
During two years there was (significant) uncertainty that we would survive as a company, relegating all of us to the unemployment line. The way to survive a lay-off is to ensure that you are focusing on the company's goals. If you're not, don't wait to be chopped. Start hunting now and get out.
I will say that if you look at who remained and still remains at my place of employment, you will find that 99% of those folks did their job to the best of their abilities, never complained, took on more work than they were asked to take on, and most of them never feared being let go.
I have to chock it up to attitude. I watched several folks with better degrees, more experience, more technical knowledge, and more skill than I get let go. But I remained because I work well on a team and am willing to take any task with a smile on my face.

I apologize if this sounds like a "buck up, camper" kind of speech, or if I come off not sympathizing with those who have been let go (I really do. I've been there!). But if you go to work worried about getting fired...you're probably going to get fired.

Re:Ignore the chopping block.

[topham]

Bull shit.

Oh, I'm sure you feel thats why you still have a job.

But it is simple justification after the fact.

It's like the guy standing amongst a crowd of people, half die from some bizzar accident. The ones that live either: spend the next 20 years asking themselves how they survived when others didn't and feeling guilty, or spend the next 20 years telling everyone they deserved to live and they have a destiny.

typically the correct answer is neither. Random chance, luck of the draw, fluke.

But hey, maybe your the exception and the company you work for actually is trying to retain the people it needs... but I doubt it.

Re:Ignore the chopping block.

[utahjazz]

(-1) Bitter

I've been on the management end of this. Do you seriously believe we flip a coin to see who gets fired?

Managers are typically told, "you need to eliminate N people, choose them". The manager, trying to imagine how (s)he will continue to get shit done after the layoff, pics the people that (s)he could live without.

Managers typically have a list of people they'd like to let go anyway, but can't because of the near certainty of getting sued. When a 'round of layofs' arrives, it's a welcome opportunity to get rid of the dead weight.

Re:Ignore the chopping block.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, get rid of the bitter ones first. They'll always be bitter anyway.

Re:Ignore the chopping block.

[acousticiris]

Random chance, luck of the draw, fluke.

I must disagree. It was not typical at our company. In fact, for several of the people who were let go, the departments within which they worked seemed to work much better...My department included. When a supervisor of mine who operated as a constant "road block" to anything that came his way was let go, our job lives improved and we began to provide valuable services to the areas we supported.

Yes, I still have my job. But also yes, I have experienced a lay-off before and I've even been demoted at another company. In all cases, I would have responded like you, however upon reflection of those incidents I realized I had it coming. Whether it was my attitude, or the fact that I worked in a department headed by someone who thought it was his right to have a job and thus led us all down the road to irrelevance. It was my own damn fault for continuing to work at that job without making any effort to find new employment.

I won't disagree that you can't trim fat without trimming some muscle and bone. But--at least in my experience--it was more exception than rule. The ironic part is that the people who always said "this company won't survive without me" were almost always the first to go. Hence attitude determining altitude.

Re:Ignore the chopping block.

[gtrubetskoy]

Managers typically have a list of people they'd like to let go anyway, but can't because of the near certainty of getting sued. When a 'round of layofs' arrives, it's a welcome opportunity to get rid of the dead weight.

This is not how it worked in what I have seen. The way it happens in larger organizations is a law firm specializing in RIFs gets hired, who then weeds through lists of employees and comes up with a recomendation that is legally least troublesome. There is some negotiation in those lists, but generally they are used as is, and the law firm will also write all the necessary notices, memos, severance agreements, etc.

Since the law firm knows little about the organization, it is pretty much a coin toss.

Re:Ignore the chopping block.

[Anonymous Coward]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Corporate Survivor...they should turn THIS into a reality show to compete with Trump's Intern (or whatever the hell it's called). You have a bunch of fools kissing ass, acting like fools, some office bimbos getting on their knees, etc., all for a couple of fake office 'management'. Every week they have to downsize. I bet the most productive ones and best genuine employees aren't going to be retained - it will be the psychophants and cute bimbos with the nicest T's and A's.

Re:Ignore the chopping block.

[Evil Poot Cat]

I ran into one of these "org consultants" at the pub once. He'd finished carving up a local firm earlier in the week (or week prior). He tried to present himself as something beneficial, but three or four otherwise random people figured it out, and started thanking him for the layoffs. "Thanks for the layoffs," "On behalf of all the people on unemployment now, I'd like to say thanks," etc. The consultant didn't actually start crying, but it was close. It took an hour for the consultant's friends to talk him out of the tree. That was slightly sad, but still one of the funniest things I saw the whole year.

Re:Ignore the chopping block.

[ebh]

The last time I was involved in a massive layoff (site closure at a very large company), this is exactly how it was done. People were either let go or offered relocation to another site. We could not discern any logical pattern in the list of people who were or were not offered relocation. The only conclusion we could draw was that the lists preserved the gender, age and ethnicity proportions of the organization. Beyond that it was entirely random.

Some good people were kept, and some good people were let go. Some people in critical job functions were kept, and some people in critical job functions were let go. Some dead weight was kept, and some dead weight was let go. Of course, about half the staff were let go, yet all the managers but one were kept.

It was clear that they were doing everything in their power to keep from getting sued, and the work being done by the organization, as well as its collective skill set, were irrelevant. The list of people being let go was prepared by managers high enough up that they didn't know any of us personally.

The only reason this isn't (-1) bitter, is that we were offered generous severance packages (for most of us, four months' salary plus very good outplacement).

I would recommend

[Anonymous Coward]

getting the hell out of your current situation unless you're willing to hang in there for about 2-3 years when all the crap has subsided..

Always explore options

[cybermace5]

I've been in both situations: the one passed over for getting the axe, and one of several who did get the axe. All I can say is that no matter how secure you think you job is, always have a few tricks up your sleeve. Keep up with your professional contacts, maintain the skills that your current job doesn't use.

Waiting until farmer comes out to the henhouse is way, way too late. Companies today are less adverse to firing people no matter how long they've been working there. Often it's not even a manager's decision, it's bean-counter's decision somewhere that ten people will need to be laid off here and there to make year-end budgets.

Also, just because a company is large and appears stable, there's no guarantee that anyone will be working there a month from now. It's like playing Russian Roulette; somewhere out there, someone is falsifying financial statements. Are they in your company? Is it going to turn up tomorrow in headline news, sending the stocks through the floor? You just can't guarantee anything.

If you have no options elsewhere, the only chance you have is to just be a good employee, don't ruffle anyone's feathers. Never accept an upcoming slack period in the schedule; always seek out interleaving projects if your managers aren't finding you any. If you're always in the middle of two or three projects, you're more likely to be put on the "needs to stay for now" pile. But there is no surefire way to stay.

Just keep up your contacts and be on the lookout for any positions elsewhere. Investigate what it takes to become a consultant in your area. Companies no longer feel the need to offer loyal employees any long-term job security, so we should no longer have to feel guilty for jumping ship to suit our own needs.

Re:Always explore options

[Lumpish Scholar]

Waiting until farmer comes out to the henhouse is way, way too late.

What he said. The best time to look for a job, is when you have a job. Start looking. (And spend a small percentage of your time looking on the job boards. The majority of job offers -- maybe the vast majority -- come through personal networks, not electronic ones.)

Re:Always explore options

[caseydk]

What he said. The best time to look for a job, is when you have a job. Start looking. (And spend a small percentage of your time looking on the job boards. The majority of job offers -- maybe the vast majority -- come through personal networks, not electronic ones.)

And ALWAYS sharpen your skills. Even if you can't afford to take classes, if there's a local college, talk to a prof about auditing a class...

You can't say "Yes, I've taken a class in X", but you can say, "Well, I found X interesting, so I began to pursue this and took it upon myself to learn more."

Personal initiative is worth quite a bit.

Re:Always explore options

[Anonymous Coward]

Investigate what it takes to become a consultant in your area. Companies no longer feel the need to offer loyal employees any long-term job security, so we should no longer have to feel guilty for jumping ship to suit our own needs.

Any thoughts on how to handle the situation where you work for a large consumer of consulting/contracting services and no consulting/contracting firm would hire a resource away from one of their major clients? Thanks.

Leave

[CashCarSTAR]

Simple as that

Cutting back by that much, they should be listed on F****D Company.

Either they have no desire/wish to compete in the current market or they expect YOU to pick up the slack to make them more money.

Either way you lose.

Look for a job and if you can see something, jump for it.

For starters,

[Mordant]

I tend to concentrate on my work, rather than slacking around and posting inane questions to Slashdot.

Heavy drinking, incessant womanizing, and general debauchery also answer quite nicely, I've found. ;>

Downsizing sucks - if you let it

[salesgeek]

There are three rules for keeping your job when times are tough:

1) Be a profit center. Make sure management can associate you and your actions with revenue or with big time "profit recovery" (saving money). Do not spend money unless that money will make money for the company and it is crystal clear that is the case. Ask "how does this help the bottom line" before you ask for a resource. If errors loose money in your job, then don't screw up (easy to say).

2) Be a rock of stability. Don't get caught up in change. Focus on being profitable, saving money and not making money loosing mistakes. Make sure customers are taken care of. And always be nice.

3) Stay away from cancer. People who are negative or are creating disention are cancer and will be removed by management. If you are to close to the cancer, they'll remove you with the tumor.

Finally, one thing that will make the biggest difference of all: don't be aloof from management. Talk to you seniors regularly about things that matter to them. Ask how you can help the bottom line. Be an idea source - just don't be a spending source.

Re:Downsizing sucks - if you let it

[mdecerbo]

There are three rules for keeping your job when times are tough:

Erm, maybe on your planet. Here on Earth, there as many different kind of "tough times" and potential layoff situations as there are employers.

Some companies are facing a temporary cash crunch; some are facing dwindling market share; some are planning to trim or refocus their business; and some just want to outsource everything with legs and without an MBA to India. Your advice really only works for about one and a half of those situations.

For instance, a good friend of mine used to write the code that provisioned and monitored the VPN infrastructure for a now-defunct telecom operation. She made it through several rounds of layoffs by doing not only her own job, but those of employees on whom the axe had fallen. But she lost her job when they dumped the whole VPN operation. Instead of being "a rock of stability" and taking care of those VPN customers (your item #2) she should have bailed on the group and gotten into something with a brighter future, like their nascent VoIP operation, which lasted a while longer before Ch. 11. Better yet, she should have bailed on the whole company while there were still telecom jobs to be had.

And about your item #1, "be a profit center", some savvy people I know at another local tech company did their level best to get into sysadmin and support work when profits started to shrink. Layoffs hit the developers whose groups were not brining in revenue, but support staff had already been budgeted for and their jobs were left intact. Sometimes, be a cost center.

When layoffs are in the cards, remember that it doesn't matter how much your employer likes you. All that will get you is a nicer going-away lunch, or maybe an extra couple weeks of severance, if your manager can bend the rules. You have to make sure your employer needs you, in order to survive.

The best way I have found to do this, is to make sure that your particular job function is as closely aligned with your employer's main line of business as possible. That wil tie your success most closely with the company's success, make them more anxious to make sure that you have what you need in order to succeed, and make it more likely that laying you off would be seen as cutting into the "meat" or "bone" of a company rather than "trimming the fat", in the usual overused metaphor. In other words, if you are going to be a sysadmin, don't do it at a management consulting firm. If you want to work at a consulting firm, be a consultant-- and if you want to be a sysadmin, try to find a job at a dedicated sysadmin shop that businesses outsource their sysadmin work to.

Hey, didn't I just contradict my argument above that sysadmin and other support staff might be safe in a layoff? Yep, that's my point: every situation is different.

Re:Downsizing sucks - if you let it

[Crayon Kid]

Make yourself indispensable. Never comment your code.

Re:Downsizing sucks - if you let it

[salesgeek]

Good insights on most points. It's a good observation that customer support staff are deemed more essential than research and development functions when cost cutting happens.

You have to make sure your employer needs you, in order to survive.

This is one of those statements that I hear or read in intra-company email from people I fire. Why? Because they often try to rig my company so if they leave something blows up. Instead of creating systems and processes that run with minimum labor or can be taught to lower level employees, they build rube goldbergs that rely on themselves to provide the figurative boot to the bowling ball. When I see this pattern - and often it's IT people and engineers that are prone to doing this, I fire and deal with it because I can't afford to have my team controlled by the person that has to manually run their data migration script at 6:30 pm every night or we are shut down in the morning... and no one else knows how to do it (or so they say).

I actually had a sysadmin tell me that I couldn't fire him - our systems would be down next week without something he had to do.

Re:Downsizing sucks - if you let it

[irontiki]

This is good advice regardless of the number of recent layoffs at your employer. As a professional in any field you need to be making more $$ than you cost. That said, no one is ever bullet proof.

Surviving the first round of layoffs is pretty easy. That's when they take cut out the dead wood. Once they get to latter rounds of layoff and their cutting muscle all takes is for your number to come up is that the decision maker feels that you're less valuable than someone else. Not being dead wood is easy. Being the most valuable person in every potential decision maker's eyes is impossible.

Once the layoffs start you're wise to polish the resume and start double checking your network of employed friends.

Quality work? hahahahah

[topham]

Your spending your time creating quality work at a company that is downsizing.

Don't know about the company you work for, but when I worked for a company like that quality work wouldn't save anybody. Politics does.

sad but true.

Too, too true

[fm6]

It does help to avoid getting into a bitching session with coworkers. Black topics and moods tend to multiply when you and others pay attention to them.

Good advice, and not just for this specific situation. I've worked at places where the bitch session was a company-wide addiction. Needless to say, such companies are in a permanent state of dysfunction!

Born Digital on Water Street -

[bob_calder]

There was only one guy who would/could help me set up our digital TSU/DSU and I didn't know what one was at the time.
The rest were in perpetual meetings. Pioneer used to be honest at least. I hated the lies from the born digital crowd. "Oh, didn't you say you wanted that in July not January?" Wasn't that their mantra? Or was it "Girdling the World with copper?" How about "Dominating the Low Voltage World."

Back on topic. A medical study was published in the last month or so that indicated early death risks are high for survivors of layoffs. Of course they didn't keep track of the lay-ees who presumably expired on the spot.

And if everything fails ....

[Via_Patrino]

And if everything fails ... when your boss show you your new indian collegues to you train them your job, just say goodbye and your boss will be the one with problems.
With no one to teach how to do the job.
And if he take you to court for that just say: "if they're all that high trained (the official reason they don't hire a local) why did they need training in the first place?"

My answer:

[jrivar59]

Look, I already told you! I deal with the goddamn customers so the engineers don't have to! I have people skills! I am good at dealing with people! Can't you understand that? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!

I for one welcome our new unemployment office overloards......

Re:My answer:

[Anonymous Coward]

you are a walking cliche

Re:My answer:

[Anonymous Coward]

In Sovyat Rooshya, IT FAEL YUO!!?1!!

I don't have constructive things to tell you...

[Clover_Kicker]

But I can give you some advice on poisoning the well for your successors, if you do get fired.

-=-=-=-

HOWTO: write bad documentation

In every tech's life, there comes a time when management starts to insist on better documentation.

Perhaps a round of layoffs or outsourcing is imminent. Perhaps the simmering disdain between techs and management has escalated into open hatred. Either way, you are clearly on the way out, and management wants to grease the wheels for your successor.

Objectives

You wish to produce documentation that:

• will impress your management, and facilitate your remaining time in that job.
• will not substantially help your replacement(s).
• does not betray obvious signs of sabotage.

Try reading this newscientist article.

[Wycliffe]

Try reading this newscientist article.

Downsizing raises risk of death in workers

And then start looking for a new job.

Remember you're a human

[basking2]

I work for a company that gives you 1 day notice of your termination. They don't think to retain your documentation or even curtiously let you know that you might like to go look for a job. It's sad that it is a small company and you would think that folks would know each other better than to just axe someone and shoo them out of the office so quickly.

But, managerial delites aside, I keep a journal of what bothers me and why. I date it and it comes in very handy for talking with coworkers and expressing exactly why I'm distracted. It helps me vent and there are two folk I trust enough to vent with at coffee shops.

Things have gotten particularly bad recently and so I'm writing a letter of resignation (with footnotes) explaining why I have chosen to move on. I don't know if I'll hand it in or not, but it's confirming that what I believe is well founded and I have a right to feel nervous. It's not a bad thing, but a natural thing.

Finally, many bosses are very very ignorant of what their actions can do to moral. If you have a feeling-human for your boss, still (and saddly that can be a rarity) talk it over.

Something I have that gets me through the day, though, which you may or may not have, is hope in Christ. (How's that for a seeming non-sequitor?) :) Seriously, if your primary purpose on Earth is to tell folks, "Hey, all that guilt you carry around can be gone via Jesus" then doing your Perl code or C driver gets pretty easy. Even dieing isn't as scary as it used to be. The catch is that you have to realize that you have to be saved from your sin before it makes any sense to go looking to Christ as your savior. If you aren't looking to be saved from your own sin, then you're just playing church.

Hope this is helpful!

Re:Remember you're a human

[ubiquitin]

"Hope this is helpful!"
Actually, your comments are both helpful and hopeful.


Take care.

Re:Remember you're a human

[Synic]

This was somewhat relevant and interesting until I hit the last paragraph. The rank fumes of triteness smacked me in the face and I recoiled in horror. In fact, if you replace every instance of "Christ" and "Jesus" with your favorite Hindu god/goddess you will see how ridiculous the message is. "Yea, believe unto me you flock of sheep; for you have the brains of peas and I will tend to your ignorance with the most mollifying rhetoric you have ever experienced."

Re:Remember you're a human

[cybermace5]

Heh, I don't know why you're so affected by it. What if he'd said that what keeps him going is his absence of belief in any god? Or would you have "recoiled from the fumes" if he really had advocated Islamic, Buddhist, or Hindu beliefs?

If you don't believe in Christianity, that doesn't mean there's open season on Christians. If it's so vapid as you claim, then why worry about it?

Considering that Christianity accounts for a large proportion of our population, it's probably not to your advantage to go "eeew, fumes of triteness" every time you find a Christian.

Re:Remember you're a human

[basking2]

My friend, chill out. :) I'm sharing my personal experiences. If you think the Christian God can't or won't help you for whatever reason, that's your choice.

Not to start a debate -- well, maybe I am, but your last sentence can easily be said about folks in popular culture's graces too! Don't just reiterating a mantra-like line from the cannonical highschool book of Why Chuch is Whack but tell me that you disagree and then go your way. If you really want to learn via a good chat/debate, offer up some substance and we'll go at it. Otherwise, as said, chill out.

Re:Remember you're a human

[Synic]

What? So I should cower and refuse to express my opinion, or posting as art, for fear of retrobution by the Christian masses? My constitutional rights aside, morally I'd be opposed to anyone proslytizing on a public forum for technology no matter what their personal religious (or anti- or non-religious) cause. I came to read the beginning relevant portion and was disturbed by the writers need to press his opinion into my face. My reply was simply a creative attempt to shock and grab attention to this.

Re:Remember you're a human

[Synic]

My reaction isn't to your Church, your Christian God, nor anything else you mention here. I'm simply offering a garish contrast to your inanely hopeful preaching. If you had been epousing views about the magnificence of Hare Krishna more people would understand why what you said was so frightening. It's only because the majority are within the fold of Christianity already that none object to your ranting. Frankly, this is what gives me more respect for the Jewish faith than popular American Christianity. They have the decency to refrain from incessantly trying to offer immediate salvation those who wander by into their conversations.

Re:Remember you're a human

[basking2]

What I said was "frightening"? I'm not sure you have any clue what Christianity claims or what I might possibly believe as a Christian. I also disagree that most of America is in the fold of Christianity and that my previous two posts were "rants."

Regarding the Jewish faith, (as you've brought it up) it is from the very start, a non prostletizing religion. They were the chosen people of God from the start and were never told to go tell folks that Yhwh would save them. Quite a few Rabbis today will claim that everyone will be saved or that you are saved by the faith you profess in the God of your choice along with the works you do in keeping with that faith.

A cursory knowledge of Christianity can clue you into the world view it posits; All people are naturally rebellious toward God and justly deserve an eternity in Hell. God offers undeserving sinners salvation from those sins by faith (and faith alone) in the sacrifice of His son, Jesus. What you call a "rant" is the manifestation of my conviction that you need to hear this offer as much as I did so that you can reject or accept it.

I have met countless collegues in the IT world that have been indoctrinated with the most odd stereo types with nominal understanding of their subject matter. There is obviously a horrid lack of understanding on this and I would rather take your written abuses to my view and possibly open up an intelligent, rational, mature dialogue on these things in the hopes that someone would be saved than be a sheeple in the masses.

Re:Remember you're a human

[Synic]

1) That was my point about the Jewish faith.

2) I understand Christianity very very well, I was brought up in a family that pressed it into my skull as a child and have had long in depth conversations with college educated Born Again Christians.

3) Your unquestioning faith in the intangible is what frightens me.

Re:Remember you're a human

[basking2]

That was my point about the Jewish faith.

I'm not quite sure what they have your respect for. They follow their faith as they believe it is layed out for them. I could very well be missing what your getting at with this one, though.

I understand Christianity very very well... have had long in depth conversations with college educated Born Again Christians

You may have had some great philisophical discussions, but claims like the majority are within the fold of Christianity make me wonder regardless of depth, how accurate those conversations you had before were. The Bible isn't something you can just grab and apply your own interpretation too. There are things that denominations disagree about, but largly there is a concensus between folks who bother to apply a fair hermeneutic to their exegesis. If you stop following the rules, that's where lots of amazing and wacky doctrine starts popping up.

Your unquestioning faith in the intangible is what frightens me.

Ok, that's just silly. Firstly, the Bible never talks about a blind faith. John Calvin, regardless of the many opinions for and against the man, wrote chapters on this in his Institutes of the Christian Religion refuting the notion that people should just believe with no reason. It makes for a humerous Chrstian charicature where evangelicals go running around yelling "believe believe." I know a few that acctually fit this description and I do what I can to correct them.

Secondly, is faith in the intangible unreasonable? Hardly, because you and I both have quite a few instances of faith in the intangible. For exmple, the quality of chair to support your wait is an intangible quality. You can't touch the chair's strength, but that doesn't make it any less real.

If I can be really frank, it sounds like you were taught via the "just believe this" method for a while. Then when you got old enough to start asking why you got fed, "just believe this." If that's the case, it explains the misuderstandings your exhibiting and reactionary comments. Quite seriously, you may want to snag yourself a Bible and read it outside of the structure you were shoved in to. Reason out for yourself why it is wrong or right. It's not like this is a niche religion that is going to go away. Lots of folks are running aound with it in their heads and hearts and even more are running around with something in their hearts that they are calling Christianity. The latter folks are those who would give you another wave of crusades and they must be held accountable to their own book or be shown to be no Christians at all. I also highly reccommend finding a friend you trust who has some solid theology. Make them agree to talk w/ you without evangelizing you. I have a lot of friends I have this relationship with. They've heard the Gospel, they know my thoughts and opinions and we disagree. The ball is totally in their court, as it is in yours.

I hope you find the truth. As I said in my original post, faith in God is something that is quite real and quite founded in evidence in my experience. If you find this to be true or not is dependant on you seeking out your reasons why. Go find em, they are out there. It's been fun chatting. :)

Re:Remember you're a human

[cybermace5]

Your opinion of your own abilities is way too high.

Lots of things...

[bluGill]

First of all, update your resume. No matter what you do, how good you are, sometimes you will end up out of work anyway. Take any reasonable offer, even if you would have stayed on, someone else can be transfered to your position who would otherwise be out of work.

I know one person who handed her 2 weeks into her boss. He closed the door, and told her to tear it up. One week latter she was laid off, with 2 months severance. Thats your best case. (Note that she was in management, most of you don't have a boss high enough in the chain to help you like this)

Make sure your boss knows you are willing to do other things. Another person I know survived a couple rounds because the department was eliminated, but another department was hiring, and a few people got transfered. If the boss doesn't know you are willing to do work for that department he might not suggest you for a position. (these positions were not posted)

Keep contact with those who are let go. Hard to do for some I know, but it is a good plan. When they get a job, odds are it is with a company that is looking for more people. When you are hit, send them your resume. One place I worked hired a lot of people by the manager going to one person and asking who would be good for a position. That guy gave them a name, and position was 90% filled before the person named even knew it existed.

Don't worry about it. Worry affects your job performance. If worry motivates you, worry about getting your current job done, at least your are seen as worrying about the right things.

Save your money! Pay off dept, and don't take on more. If the worst case strikes and you end up flipping burgers to make ends meet, your savings might have to fill in. Take the burger job after unemployment ends, and well before you run out of money, better to have some income than none. You can make good money (not great, but enough to live comfortably) if you move up in the burger world, but it takes time, so start before you are out of savings.

If you are laid off, consider volunteer work. You can often meet the spouses of important people this way, making it a good path to a job. If nothing else you generally meet people in other areas, and they can show you more about life. If you have kids, chaperon their field trips, a good way to see museams and things that you didn't apprecate as a kid.

Re-evaluate your life. Are you married with kids? Perhaps you should be a stay-at-home dad/mom. If nothing else remember that when you are not working you don't have to pay for day-care.

If you are single, can you pack up and leave? Europe is beautiful and worth seeing, sell just about everything, store the few things you can't live without at the parents, pack a bag and disappear for a while. You might or might not come back. If you live in Europe, substitute North America. Actually anyone can substitute any other area they have never been. Asia, Africa, New Zealand (you can spend a long time in that tiny country and not see it all), South America... If you can't pack up and leave, there are nice areas close to home that you should explore.

Check the local library. Get those books on starting your own business, even if you don't want to run one. Get books on tatting (making lace) and start a new hobby. And get books in your own field and update your skills. Not the word "and" above, do all of the above. If your local library is small they often can borrow from other libraries if you ask them to. You can buy the books you like of course.

Get religion. (or re-get if you have it) It may or may not help with any other part of life, but it can answer some other need you have. Obviously this is personal, but you should be giving it a thought anyway just in case. Don't make this a primary goal, but once you have one, you have a bunch of contacts who can help with a job search.

Do not fear losing your job. It will happen. It may or may not be your fault. How you deal with is up to you though. MIT says their graduates switch careers 7 times in their life. I've already had 3 and I'm not yet 30. (though I love the one enough that I'm trying to stay in it) Don't be afraid to switch.

Re:Lots of things...

[Bronster]

Keep contact with those who are let go. Hard to do for some I know, but it is a good plan. When they get a job, odds are it is with a company that is looking for more people. When you are hit, send them your resume. One place I worked hired a lot of people by the manager going to one person and asking who would be good for a position. That guy gave them a name, and position was 90% filled before the person named even knew it existed.

I don't know about where you work, but I've signed a piece of paper saying that I won't headhunt people away from the company if I leave. It's for 6 months, but I think it's fair enough. Of course if they leave of their own accord, then I can hardly be faulted for dropping hints that somewhere else is hiring...

(not that I'm actually planning on leaving any time soon)

Writing as someone who has been downsized...

[ThenAgain]

it's not the end of the world. I spent a long period looking for tech world while trying to keep things together with independent consulting work.

Last week I found myself being paid to fly (actually pilot the plane) across the state to deliver a machine and make a service call for my new employer. I've always wanted to fly and thanks to being laid off I'm being taught how and being paid in the process.

Take heart. The economy may be sucking, tech work being imported from India, but there's always options.

Breathe. Wash off bad karma. Start the Jobhunt.

[bolix]

Quit. Think about the assholes you will never be forced to listen to ever again. Always remember the pent-up aggression and frustration. Gone. Sure, replaced with a large amount of anxiety but anything is better than the soul-sucking dread and constant pinkslip juggernaut.

Move on. Don't hang on. Don't ride the gravy train. Don't be a yes-man kowtowing to the axeman. Staying only serves to destroy your soul piece by piece. Stand up and reclaim your sense of self-worth.

Corporate culture promotes a hothoused atmosphere where you are deliberately blinkered to believe things suck all over. They don't.

Retrain, flex your intellect, rediscover yourself. The world is now your oyster for the first time since you left school. This is an opportunity, not a setback. Seize the opportunity to live again.

Unite

[Michael.Forman]

Use your nervous energy to organize a union. When the union is formed, initiate worker contracts that would guarantee a 2-month notice before termination. In return you would provide your employer with a 2-month notice, if you're quitting.

The benefits to both are obvious. Workers can focus on their work without waiting for the axe to fall. Employers will benefit from the increased productivity. Additionally, employers will also be freed from the onerous burden of treating humans like objects, something for which I'm sure they feel much guilt.

Michael.

Insurance

[almaon]

Unemployment insurance in volitile businesses like IT are a smart move, with so many tallented and smart people unemployed due to layoffs, find a new job can be tough.

Having some unemployment insurance really can save your butt.

Invest in ramen noodles while you're at it. Never know when the doorknob is looking for love in all the wrong places.

Liquer is my anti-drug

[crapnutassneck]

I've worked in telecom for a while as well. Wireless for a stint, even more unstable. How did I make it through the countless "reductions in force?" simple:
0800: Bailys and a triple mocha
0900: Rum and Coke
1000: 2nd Bailys and quad mocha
1100: Light lunch
1200: Couple of rails of trailerpark snow as a pick me up
1300: 2 shots of Vodka to level out, couple of percoset as needed
1500: One more line of trucker speed or some Twinkies
1645: Sneek out and head home, I really need a drink after such a long day.

Keep up the good work.

[Plake]

If you've survived the chopping block 1 or more times there's probaly a good reason for why you are still around.

I've been around for 2 major cutbacks in the last 2 years, which have totaled over 20% of the company being let go. In my team that was as many as 4 has been cut down to 2 of us. We're keeping on top of things just fine. People understand if we're a little slower, but just as long as we keep on top of the task at hand everyone stays happy and polite with you.

Have a good reason to stay

[obtuse]

I made it enough rounds of layoffs that I lost count, and I knew my time would come.

Know why you're there. If it's only terror of being out of work, you're in trouble. Find a good reason to stick around.

One good reason is to help your remaining coworkers out, even if you expect to be in the next round. This includes those who are doomed. This will also help you out when it's time to start looking for work.

Don't encourage the whiners, but don't treat them badly. It does suck, and some people will be hit harder by it than others. You just don't want to get dragged down.

Figure out how to have a good attitude, otherwise you'll hate and or lose you job. Don't whine, don't pass idle rumors, and don't read Fucked Company (maybe a very little bit) but keep your ear to the ground. Pay attention!

Work hard, but don't kill yourself. You've still got to have limits, and if your company is the least bit competent, they'll be willing to treat you with some respect.

Keep the negative attitude BS to a minimum, but don't be a cheerleader. You won't earn anybody's respect by pretending that nothing is wrong.

Find out who could be a reference for you if you get the axe, or who might be doing something interesting. You can talk with people about it, once it's publically acknowledged.

This sucks for everyone. Think of it like death. Unavoidable, and horrible, but inevitable. There's no point in dwelling on it, although being prepared is helpful. Act well, and be remembered well.

Think about a career change. Even if you don't change careers, you may be freelancing soon, like it or not.

If the company was _____ it could be avoided, but it ain't so. So now you've got to deal with it. So does everybody else. If they're not bastards, you're in it together.

Just keep doing your job

[barzok]

I managed to survive a 30% cut of our IT staff in one day a little over a year ago. About 9:15 AM, we all knew what was going on. The rest of the day, nothing got done, and everyone was looking over their shoulders, afraid they'd be next.

Just keep doing your job. Keep your head down and your production up. Don't bitch to management. Don't publicly (in the office, I mean) bitch to/with anyone. Call up your former co-workers and take them out for a beer. Let them vent. Vent some yourself. Get it out of your system that week. Then move on.

It's easier to get a job when you have a job

[Kris_J]

So start looking now. You have no future at your current job. Even if you stay on, you career will stall. Time to move up and out.

Here is a hint

[Bishop]

how do you continue to produce quality work in the face of constant staff reductions?

You can't.

Constant staff reductions cause a high stress environment. Most people have a hard time preforming their best when stressed[1]. Some workers burn themselves out by working longer hours in a futile attempt to reach goals made unobtainable by the stressfull environment. Narturally, this leads to more stress.

A reverse approach is to dedicate more time to yourself and stress reducing activities. Pick your activities wishly. Your goal is to not simply relax, it is to reduce your stress. Try new activities. Consider trying those activities that you have put off "until you are more settled." Many people find that physcial activity is an excellent way to reduce stress. As a bonus physcial activity will improve your health which helps combat stress. Along the same lines, get a good night's sleep everynight.

By reduceing your overall stress level you will be able to better manage your working stress. You will have more focus. You will be able to produce better work. You may not perform at your peak level, but you will be closer.

[1] Some people work best under pressure. But not under this kind of stress.

Well

[dtfinch]

You survive the chopping block by producing quality work. If you still get cut, it's their loss. If they later realize their mistake, it's your gain. Otherwise, if you really were worth your pay, you should have no trouble finding another job.

Here's one option

[Shirov]

Start spreading rumors about co-workers you know, say that they take 2 hour lunches, or that they dont really know to do their job.

Be sure to copy the VP of every department when they happen to send an innocent email that you can put a spin on to make the person look obsolete...

If that does'nt work, pucker up and hope your boss/bosses took a shower today... :-)

Best of luck!

DO NOT DOCUMENT YOUR CODE!!!

[mosel-saar-ruwer]

1) Do not document your code. Or, if you have to document it, make sure your creation is so arcane that it would take someone years and years to recreate it. In the case of Network Administrators: Do not document your network.

2) Under no circumstances are you allowed to train your replacements. If they outsource you, let your replacements spend a year of their lives trying to figure out just what it was that you created, or five years of their lives re-writing from scratch what you just spent the last five years of your life writing. For Network Administrators: Ditto.

I cannot tell you how important these two points are. Your only leverage over "THEM" is that you know how things work, and they don't. Why do you think Microsoft refuses to reveal the internals of NTFS, or the .DOC format? Answer: So they can make money off them.

PS: Get the hell out of any environment where you even think you might need to be engaged in this sort of pre-emptive intellectual sabotage. Find people you can trust [don't ask me how you know they'll prove to be trustworthy, but I'm not so cynical yet that I don't believe they fail to exist altogether] and do something constructive & rewarding with your life. The very best way to do this is to START YOUR OWN COMPANY AND BE YOUR OWN BOSS!!!

"EMPLOYMENT" IS JUST A POLITE EUPHEMISM FOR "SLAVERY"!!!

Freelance is the ONLY way to go

[l0rd]

Boss getting you down for the umpteenth time ? Afraid of getting fired and replaced by some numnuts that can't tie his own shoes ? Tired of comparing your life to office space ?

The answer to all your problems is to become a freelancer. Work for who you want when you want. Play your cards right and you could earn in 2 days what you would otherwise earn in a week (netto after taxes, expenses etc. etc.). Just 2 days to maintain your standard of living. This means 5 day weekend if there isn't much work that month ;)

Otherwise, if you feel like you're going to be fired then find a new job and leave BEFORE you're fired. If you output good work there's no reason you should suffer for someone else's (*cough* managements *cough*) incompetence.

True, but ...

[brokeninside]

... oftentimes (not always) management doesn't have a clue as to who the good workers are. For example, I know a guy at my last job that was pretty pissed off at the way the company was handling layoffs and pretty much stopped working. In the eighteen months following the layoffs, he maybe put in one or two man-months of work and spent the rest of the time goofing off. At his performance evaluation, he got put into the top quartile of the companies workers and was promoted to the next level of the food chain which came with a 17% raise at the time when most workers weren't even getting cost of living raises.

While I have no doubt that there are good managers out there, in fact I've worked for some of them, it seems quite clear to me that there is frequently a disconnect between a manager's perception of who the good workers are and who the good workers are. So, when managers are the ones making out the lists of who to let go, it very well might seem random to the rank and file.

Re:True, but ...

[Ryosen]

Was his name "Peter Gibbons", by any chance?

You don't...

[gtrubetskoy]

how do you continue to produce quality work in the face of constant staff reductions?

One cannot produce quality work in the face of constant staff reduction. Having seen one too many RIF situations in the past 3 years, one thing that I learned is that reduction in force and downsizing is in itself an enormous amount of effort which consumes all of organizational resources. It requires a whole lot of strategic planning on the management side, a lot of extra work on the employees (shifting projects, transferring knwoledge, locking down accounts, figuring stuff others did, etc), all producing nothing in the end. It also creates an enormous amount of tension and sets off the panicky types which results in a very counter-creative athmosphere.

I think a good analogy would be severe weather - when there is a hurricane or a snow storm outside, people don't go to work, watch their house, stock up on candles, board up windows, etc, etc, until the storm is over. Or ilness - when you're sick, your body is all consumed with fighting the infection and you simply cannot do anything else but sleep.

I've tried my hardest to maintain the level of productivity that I once had before the .bomb, but lately I've resigned to the idea that I should just take it easy until things stabilize again (which, I have no doubt, they will, but probably not until 2005).

Re:You don't...

[jayteedee]

I agree with the original poster. It is very hard to be productive and more importantly to maintain a positive attitude around layoffs and downsizing. I was layed off my first job after seven years. I was never really worried, but the company kept laying off for several YEARS. I was layoff round number 43. That is decimal number 43, as in 43 rounds of layoffs, and each round included hundreds of people. Staggering really to me even today. Makes me really wonder why I hung on.

But, the good news was what I learned. I should have jumped ship earlier, maybe a year or two before I got laid off. It was the downturn in the defense market that got me, but I found there were still jobs available. I had to look for a few months, but the jobs are there. Plus the feeling of productivity and usefulness is far, Far, FAR, greater than the horrible atmosphere at my first job. Plus, I now look out for myself better and leave a company before the layoff start affecting people and attitudes. Don't get me wrong, some lay offs are useful, particularly in today's litigous atmosphere. I'm subsequently been at two companies that have had minor lay-offs and have stayed for years after because the situation wasn't the same as my first employer. Nice to get rid of some deadweight sometimes. Plus some people just shouldn't be engineers or programmers and a lay off notice is the right kick in the pants with the clue-by-four.

If your facing the negative environment, I say it's time to move on. You stand a very, very low chance of performing in that environment and your satisfaction, salary, family, etc will suffer. The only good out of those situations are for the company itself and rarely for the individuals. Even most companies don't fair well, but are sometimes backed into the situation - ie defense companies are ALWAYS cyclical.

How to focus - 15 minutes at a time

[Embedded Geek]

A lot of posters comment that you should stay focused on your duties. Good advice, but sometimes easier said than done. Of late, I've been fighting a lot of turmult, including a transition to a less interesting project that is understaffed and has very poor direction from above. I find myself wasting large amounts of time (yes, posting on slashdot), having trouble focusing because I feel so overwhelmed.

To counteract it, instead of concentrating on the gargantuan tasks ahead, I try to force myself to simply work for 15 minutes at a time. If the task is interesting and I get in a good stride, I wind up building momentum and have a productive day. If I fail to get fired up, I take five minutes for a quick break and change my focus to another task or equal priority or go at the same task from a different angle (e.g. tackle this other routine instead of all those variables).

Obviously, it doesn't always work. Still, I find I'm not dreading status meetings as I used to because I can say I've actually done something.

suggestion

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh...perform sexual favors?

Sign above my desk...

[pixel_bc]

reads: The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Layoffs make baby Jesus cry...

[Anonymous Coward]

EOM

learn to be a professional

[sir_cello]

The essence of a professional is that they continue to produce appropriate quality as a result of being paid for that work, irrespective of what else is going on. You don't sound as though you meet that standard yet.

Don't be a highly-paid white male.

[Nonesuch]

I've noticed that in the last three rounds of layoffs, 90% of the employees let go were white, had a "senior" title married men.

Men whose wives had very recently had a child kept their jobs, while single men and married men with toddlers got the ax.

Or Perhaps his name was

[Anonymous Coward]

Mike Pabon?