Harsh Times

Based on my last blog some of you might be thinking that I killed someone either recently or in the past. Please rest assured that, that is not the case. I was just flexing my creative muscles.

But let us return to the real world (the matrix).

Credit crunch, housing market collapse, bad economy, recession, homelessness, skyrocketing unemployment, the end of the world, armageddon, 666, blah, blah yeah, yeah etc, etc.

Ladies and gentlemen, it might just be the end of the world as we know it.

But screw that topic, lets go back to talking about me :).

So yeah, had a general meeting on Tuesday. Got some bad news. The good ol’ be careful what you wish for.

Lets go back, back in time. It was a stormy night, or was it a sunny day?

We were rounded up like cattle for the slaughter and summoned to the meeting room.

The business isn’t doing well. We are losing revenue. So here is the plan. Three phases. The final phase will result in jobs being lost based on how important you are to the business.

After the meeting we were told phase 1 has already commenced.

The next month (January 2009) got an email saying we are in phase 2.

Phase 2 was apparently room cuts and a few other things but nobody getting fired.
However nobody was actually informed as to the specifics that the declaration of phase 2 would entail.

After sweating for 2 months we were all once again summoned on Tuesday. Basically one person who works off site is getting the chop at the end of this month. In two months time 2 more people will be getting the chop once the CEO is back from a business trip. People who are least important to the company and don’t work hard enough will be prime candidates (and here I am writing blogs instead of doing work LOL).

It was pretty intense because the first hour of the meeting was boring slides. Everybody was falling asleep. Then BANG. He just started talking about firing people and betting the house on a new business model…

Two people were even called out by names stating that their roles have become redundant of late due to the market. So either find new roles and functions or get a pay reduction or even worse the chop.

Harsh times are upon us. It is survival of the fittest. Who will survive? Only time will tell.