Still standing

It's been a long week. Just waiting for the East Coast head honcho to arrive, probably to lay people off. After all, she had said all "affected Associates" would be notified by end of February, and she was to be here the 27th and 28th. And with our unit being potentially redundant after the last internal organization, things weren't looking good.

But she has come and gone and I am still standing. I was sick yesterday and working from home, and spent the whole day checking voicemail every half hour. With each call I waited anxiously to see if a "summons" was on my voicemail; fortunately I always heard "no new messages" awaited me.

They have taken a new quiet policy and are not announcing layoffs, but I know something was supposed to happen yesterday. Of course word always gets around when people are let go, so our minds will not be eased just because a formal announcement is withheld.

Or maybe it's just not a big deal any longer. What a great topic for our internal corporate web site: "Click here for the latest layoff news!" "Check back often to see if your name is on the list."

Sometime ahead they will be analyzing in detail redundant positions after this reorganization is complete. That may be a hard exercise to survive. But for now I'm still here.

But each layoff round leaves one battered and bruised. How much can someone take without becoming perennially demotivated?