Update

Remember this post?

I can almost, kinda, but not quite scream I TOLD YOU SO.

But, only almost and kinda. Because this tragic story has a good ending.

I am a magnet for layoffs. I mean that, or at least I meant it because I am SO DONE with that. (P.S. Read The Secret, it will change your life.) And I’d just been expecting something to go wrong. And so, just like the The Secret said it would, it did.

The bottom line is this: of the eight positions on my team, four would be eliminated. Mine was, obviously, one of them. Two new positions would be created, and one position would be “outsourced” to our advertising agency, which would presumably hire one of us. Long story short, it was a cruel game of musical chairs, one of us is out. We all had to re-interview, and wait. And wait, and wait, and good gracious it’s been five weeks already! (I am working on that “patience is a virtue,” bit. So far, I haven’t done well.)

Well today, my friends, I accepted one of the new positions on my team. I get to keep my job. Okay, collective sigh in 3, 2, 1…

No more am I a magnet for layoffs. I am a highly sought after, very valuable employee. So there. End of story.

There is the update you seek. Get back to work.

State of Fear

I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in December 2004. And in that short amount of time, I've been laid off twice, people. Twice.

So you can't call me crazy for being just a little more than paranoid right now. Nevermind the fact that I couldn't possibly be in a better business, doing advertising for a very large grocery wholesaler. (Because, while anyone can decide not to buy that TV this year, everyone needs food.) There's been no talk of layoffs at my company, in fact, they're still hiring. But still, I find myself in this state of mind numbing, paralyzing fear.

Even the minuit detail that I managed to land this job as the economy was sliding and I was 30-weeks pregnant can't subside my confidence that anytime I get called into my supervisors office it is to hear the words no one ever wants to hear, "Your job is being eliminated." Nor can the knowledge that while I was on maternity leave I got more than one dire message that I needed to return. None of it matters. I can't shake the notion that in this big, big world I'm still just a peon. And as such, I'm easily disposable.

Back in February I interviewed with Best Buy. I didn't get that job, not least because I applied more for the great perks Best Buy offers than for my skills related to the position. This week I hear that Best Buy is offering buyouts to every single corporate employee. That's right, from secretary's to VPs, they will offer an average of 7-1/2 months of pay plus a year of medical and life insurance if you quietly walk away.

Which begs the question. What would you do? Take the buyout and keep your fingers tightly crossed that 7-1/2 months is enough time to find something else? Or, stick your heels in the ground and refuse, knowing that in six months your job could be eliminated anyway and without such a generous offer?

These are uncharted waters. And why do I bring it up? Maybe to help me stay sane. I think/worry/fret/obsess about it on a daily basis, so I want you to join me. But maybe also so that when the day comes that my job disappears too, I can say, See! I told you. I TOLD you!

For now, I think I'll gaze into my future. Melodramatic? Not a doubt about it.