Hell Day

This is the third one of these that I've been through in the almost 10 years I've spent working for a large corporation. They're always awful. The way it works is, there's a meeting where there's a general announcement by Senior Management, delivered very solemnly: "We regret that we have to make cutbacks" yada yada yada, after which everyone goes back to their cubes, stunned and a little in shock because despite the rumors, no one actually believed this would happen. Then the emails start: "Please hit "Accept" to indicate you'll attend the one-on-one which has been scheduled for you at x o'clock in Room X." At the one-on-one, the severance terms are explained. The invitees are then accompanied back to their cubes where there's a single box waiting for them to quickly pack up whatever fits into it, while the attendant waits and then takes the employee's ID badge and escorts the now ex-employee out of the building. It's humiliating and embarassing for everyone involved, including the attendant. I survived the first 2, but this time, I knew my head was on the chopping block, because my whole department is being outsourced. I called in to the 8:45 AM meeting where senior management announced "21 positions in FW have been identified as redundant. Affected individuals will receive a meeting invitation in their mailbox within the next hour for a one-on-one regarding how these changes will affect them."  At 9:17 my email arrived, making it official that my job had been eliminated. I was IM-ing with colleagues at work, saying goodbye before they were walked out, when it arrived. I'd made a list of questions for my one-on-one, including, because my main office is at home, "When and where do I need to turn my laptop and monitors", etc. But at my one-on-one, at 1:30, I got a reprieve, of sorts: Because I'm so close to retirement (or so they said) they want me to continue working until Nov 4. Then everything that happened to everyone today begins for me. I'll do it, of course. I need the money, and it gives me a little time to get things in order. The severance package is actually much better than I'd dared hope for. But I'm still having a strawberry margarita, because this was one hell of a day.