I’m trying to be sensible, but going to work after being told I am going to be laid off is weird. They want me to be committed, but how can you commit when you can’t trust your employer any longer? For another thing, I feel rejected, vulnerable and powerless. I’m being dumped. I want to get angry, but I can’t because I’m suddenly walking on thin ice. I want to grieve, but I can’t do that either. I have to go to work tomorrow; I’ll go to work until they tell me not to come in again.
Are you being given impossible jobs with no chance of success? This one is underhanded, which is why it’s so popular. The company may need a big reason to give you the boot, especially if you’ve done everything right and are the life and soul of your department. Enter the impossible task. “Ahh Wilkins, we need you to expand our new line of warm, alcohol-free beers to construction workers.”
Quotation from Paul Michael, You’re Fired! 20 Signs That a Pink Slip is Coming
Obviously they’re total fools, and who wants to work for fools, Smarter, Wiser and Richer people are looking for you and your which you have so much of…
PS LET ME know if you need help with your cv-resume and if you need to tailor it to another job, or just vamp it up, I’m good (I’m a resume consultant) well I’m retired ffrom my position as Career Advisor, but occasionally I act ast consultant for a free fee x
It must be so hard. I can’t imagine what it might be like for you to have to show up and work hard and pretend that you have a future there when clearly you don’t. One foot in front of another..
Tough stuff!!!
At this point in time, consider yourself working for yourself – for your own sense of satisfaction of doing a job well. Your commitment is to yourself – you do not owe the company any sense of loyalty.
And you may be vulnerable – in this particular situation – but you are NOT powerless.
Such a terrible sense of limbo though, isn’t it? This too shall pass…trite but true.
you up late? or up early? are you worrying? fretting? i remember when i left my last job, i was a computer programmer for heavens sakes and they had somebody stand by me to make sure i didn’t steal office supplies, yes, they certainly have a way of making sure you KNOW that you mean less than nothing to them and they enjoy humiliating you…. just think hun, this too shall come to pass….
Gosh, I really like what Beth said. Again.
XO
I don’t know how things work in the US but can you not use this as an opportunity to look for new and better work while still being paid in your old job?
What beth says is pretty much how i treat all jobs. I do a good job for myself because one thing is TOTALLY clear and that’s that most companies couldn’t give a shit about you or your efforts for them. They just don’t care. It shows in many ways, so how they expect us to swallow that “team” bullshit and work our asses off for them is beyond me. I just do my best so i can look back and know i at least did what i could and have no regrets.
I came by much earlier – too early for me to think or write coherently as it turned out. Now I’ve returned to see that Beth and Matthew both expressed what I feel. When you’ve lived with the understanding that competency and care will be rewarded you certainly can’t be blamed for feeling bitter disappointment at this very shabby treatment. It’s like drive by financial meltdown.
Rotters! Not much you can do about them, so leave them in the dust. Complete the task at hand with dignity and integrity. It’s probably not about you at all. Get letters of reference from people you work with there who value what you do. Don’t burn any bridges.
Meanwhile, target an employer (or, better yet, several) you see as a very good fit. Don’t wait till they advertise the position you want. Make up a beautiful resume and portfolio, and take it to the employer of YOUR choice. Know the name of the senior person you would work with, who would be involved in the hiring process, and march in and introduce yourself. Tell them who you are, what you do, hand them your resume’ & portfolio, and explain why you want to work for them. It’s the sincerest form of flattery to an employer; if they’re proud of what they do, it will mean something to them that you are ‘courting’ them. i once did this, and got a dream job designing and constructing window coverings in a gorgeous little high-end shop. It was a very small shop, and it took the proprietor 6 months to find a way to hire me (i’d decided long before then that i’d made a fool of myself being so ‘forward’)…. but my skills were exactly what she wanted, and it impressed her that I sincerely wanted to work for her, and had the courage and confidence to say so. it was one of the best jobs i ever had, and i was the last person to be let go years later, as she went through the process of downsizing, and, eventually, retiring. i loved the job, i knew it was a perfect match for my skills at the time, i worked very hard, and she valued those things.
it seems like a cliche’ to be told that one thing must end for another to begin, but it’s true. Consider the end of the old job an opportunity to look for something BETTER.
the thing about boiling lobsters is, they’re not plunged into boiling water, but into cool or tepid water, which is then gradually heated to boiling. science says that, due to the gradual increase in temperature, and to their primitive nervous systems, they really don’t feel pain. this is one of the criteria for determining that lobsters are not ‘sentient’ creatures….. ‘course, nobody’s asked the lobsters what they think of that.
Ah, man, they are heartless! I’m not sure it makes you feels any better, but I’d feel the same way you do. It’s super awkward to ask you to still come work — do you know how long you have to stay? Could you take holidays in lieu of your notice (I have seen people doing that)?
A bunch of people were laid off in my office recently and they were gone in a day. Not sure whether it’s any better, but at least it was fast.
I think some labor laws allow employees who will be laid off to take a few hours during their workday to look for another job and go to interview. It may apply to you (not too familiar with US labor laws obviously…).
Seraphine: At this point, all you can do is strategically play it out for the remaining payroll ahead while you network and make new connections. I am thinking good thoughts for you!
I’m with Michael. It gives you a chance to prepare a little maybe, if that’s possible. You can brace for impact.
Plus, you really are VERY talented, and maybe you can get into career mode with your bloggy stuff? Hey, other people make money from it, why can’t you?
why not bolt the place and burn it down instead of the wait? hugs for you seraphine. this is hard.
that’s right hun, right now you can’t see the forest for the trees
what shall we do today pinky? same as we do everyday, try and take over the world
sending you some big hugs xx
I hate it for you, Seraphine. That’s why in some jobs they let you go the same day…but I’m not sure which is worse. Actually, I was fired from my last job when a new executive director came in and let all the senior staff go (assisted living). It devastated me for about one hour and then suddenly I felt free. In your case, it must feel like…Pergatory?
I am sorry to hear that. Being laid off seems to affect a lot of people negaively. In my case (a year and a half ago), it was actually a relief. I had a good job, but not being able to see greener pastures elsewhere, I continued to stay.
I was escorted off the premises, but I didn not find it humiliating or oppressive. I even offered to keep working until my work was finished. We were just a few weeks from final testing and I wanted to ensure it was good enough (it probably was, I am a pretty good programmer) – they declined.
One thing I learned from being laid off is that there is a lot of crud in one’s life that needs to be gotten rid off. Still hoping to make something of myself, though (but, adsense is certainly not going to do it).
I don’t know really what to say Sera. I am in the same boat. It is a hassle. Even the lower end jobs are hard to get these days – and I am trying for those as an interim situation until I hopefully get that teaching job in September (Long Island). So far, I had not much success – and the wages are low, including a lot of competition.
As for lobsters, you actually throw them into a boiling, steaming hot bath for 10 to 20 minutes. I don’t mind to eat those carnivores once in a while, but I do prefer crabs and their meat.
What I like even better are mussels, steamed in a fine spiced garlic white wine sauce served on angel hair or linguini and a fresh garden salad on the side.
Trout is good too.
Trust is even better. I trust you to find your way despite all obstacles.
Be well and all the best in your hunt for new opportunities.
Work for companies which have nothing more human, is more or less the same as to be a donkey to be loaded and to be thrown…
The jury is still out about whether or not boiling alive lobsters, crabs and other crustaceans cause pain but as far as I can gather the tide is now turning against the Norwegian researchers who, a few years ago who concluded the animals’ nervous systems were not complex enough to experience pain. Scientists have since demonstrated neuronal processing occurs rather than a simple reflex response as was previously assumed so they think it’s very likely crabs and lobsters do feel pain and suffer, particularly since their observed behaviour indicates they also remember it, by avoiding it in the future. Part of the evolutions survival kit. The metaphor of the boiled lobster trembling is good one since losing one’s job ranks just behind death and divorce on the stress scale- you’re bound to feel bad about having to work in that same company for any prolonged period before collecting a package. Surely they are better off giving you the package now? or at least giving you the option to work to the designated period on the proviso you’re allowed some time to devote to future job searches and not lecturing on commitment etc which seems totally bizarre to me! Apart from that I can only commend the other sage advice put forth by previous bloggers.
Best wishes
I hope you’re okay.
You are totally in my thoughts and prayers my friend.
They don’t deserve you.
it is a strange thing to go to work every day when you know you are going to let go…but something to think about…you are not committed to them you are committed to who you want to be..know know you always did best…also give you a chance to look and think will make me happiest in the future best of luck
ps… the boiled alive comic really explains the feeling very well you did nicely with that one!
Limbo and chaos…time to feel lost. Also sometimes births a creative, flexible time. It’s the in-between that feels wrong. I’m pulling for you.