I used to have many friends who worked for a Fortune 500 company's IT department with over 150 in all departments. Not long ago ALL the *NIX and Windows System Administrator were laid off and the Server support contract was awarded to HP who hired back a grand total of 65. Whuffo is right - start looking now. You'll find yourself feeling a LOT better than the rest of the grumblers and even improve your chances of making "the cut" with that sterling attitude!
The issue should never be how much does it cost to have a working car (read: system administrator) but how much "pain" can be absorbed when its "unavailable" and you have to get someplace (like a wedding). In that case a you can always send a proxy (read: outsource) or suck it up and ride your chopper bicycle through the inner city (don't forget your helmet).
I work in a manufacturing facility where it I sit alone but when production is stopped "they need me really bad." Because of the perception of underutilization I get a LOT of projects (which is good) but when Production is literally pounding on the door, then the situation is transformed. Calling a proxy who was "awarded" the cheapest Service Level Agreement gets in the way of getting stuff working again. A fifteen minute proxy callback can run into a lot of money that failed to get made.
So. My suggestion is to calculate how much it will cost if the worst case scenario happens and then work backwards.
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I used to have many friends who worked for a Fortune 500 company's IT department with over 150 in all departments. Not long ago ALL the *NIX and Windows System Administrator were laid off and the Server support contract was awarded to HP who hired back a grand total of 65. Whuffo is right - start looking now. You'll find yourself feeling a LOT better than the rest of the grumblers and even improve your chances of making "the cut" with that sterling attitude!
The issue should never be how much does it cost to have a working car (read: system administrator) but how much "pain" can be absorbed when its "unavailable" and you have to get someplace (like a wedding). In that case a you can always send a proxy (read: outsource) or suck it up and ride your chopper bicycle through the inner city (don't forget your helmet). I work in a manufacturing facility where it I sit alone but when production is stopped "they need me really bad." Because of the perception of underutilization I get a LOT of projects (which is good) but when Production is literally pounding on the door, then the situation is transformed. Calling a proxy who was "awarded" the cheapest Service Level Agreement gets in the way of getting stuff working again. A fifteen minute proxy callback can run into a lot of money that failed to get made. So. My suggestion is to calculate how much it will cost if the worst case scenario happens and then work backwards.