Seven people at my work got laid off today

[Cloral]

So yeah, like the title says, seven people at my office got laid off today. The sent around an IM for (most) everyone to come to a quick meeting at the front of the office, and basically told everyone, "if you're here, you're not being let go". I guess I shouldn't see it as that big of a deal, since that sort of thing happens all the time. And I should be happy that I'm one of the ones they're keeping. It just was one of those things though where you get this feeling in your stomach where you can't wait for the day to be over so you can get the hell out of there. I do have to say that I can understand why they let a couple of them go. One of them was basically ignoring his instructions on how to do things, and when the others in his department found out and had to fix his stuff while he was on vacation, they basically said, "don't bother coming back". So I guess you could consider him to be a firing. The rest though, I really felt bad for. One of them had been with the company for seven years. Again, its one of those things where I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, but I couldn't help but feel that he deserved to stay a lot more than I did. The only thing I can figure is it was salary-motivated, since I'm less senior and certainly make less than the older guys.

Again, I know, I really shouldn't see this as a big deal. This happens in business all the time. I just wanted to get it off of my chest.

[Beldaran]

I really shouldn't see this as a big deal.

It's kind of a big deal. It has revealed the character of management. As soon as they have to start paying you what you're really worth, they will start looking for an opportunity to get rid of you.

[MasterSwordUltima]

Thats why you should never get your Ph.D. Because then you have to get paid more, whereas if you don't have one, you're up for negotiations.

[ShadowTiger]

Aye, my dad was laid off the same way. They wanted to replace him with someone a lot younger, but less experienced. My dad lived for the stuff he was doing. Studied it at every opportunity.

... geez...

[rocksfan13]

Lucky for you Cloral. I was one of those unfortunate souls a couple of weeks ago.
This economy totally sucks.

At least I'm getting a good severance package.

[Prrkitty]

Cloral... your feelings are pretty normal for that situation. Hang in there hon *hug*

rocksfan... sending you some more positive energy hon. Something better is coming around the corner for ya :)

[AtmaWeapon]

It's a cruddy time to be a developer. I had just noticed the Midway offices next to where my wife works when a couple of weeks later I heard they were closing the Austin studio. I'm not too worried because my company tends to do internal projects rather than lay people off, but here's hoping the next round the axe doesn't fall on you!