I survived the layoffs/downsizing and listened to the webex that was hastily put together by management yesterday afternoon. The last minute scrambling and notification of yesterday's webex is clue enough that the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing with respect to senior management. Those in positions of high authority in our company would have you believe that this is a perfectly normal response to a changing business atmosphere. But this is untrue. To the many fine employees that were laid off yesterday, this action happened because the decision-makers conducted themselves like damn slobs. Most within our organization were appalled at the headcount and liability the company was taking on in record number within recent years. The representatives scattered across the company knew better than decision-makers in Connecticut that this was a serious error for which we would one day all pay. Strange that all the bodies that were laid off in August 2009 were quickly replaced in a short period of time - so much so that our numbers actually suberceded the bloated headcount we had in July 2009. These layoffs of October 26, 2012 were NOT an action taken in response to a changing business model; this is a corrective action for gross MISTAKES that were made by senior management in recent years, and no webex seminars, conference calls or speeches will cover this up. How a company can quickly roll over several hundred contract representatives into our organization and take on such an employment liability OVERNIGHT, only to lay these people off less than one year later, is a result of poor forecasting and an inability to understand the marketplace as a whole.
What strikes me more, however, is the ability of the company to get so accustomed and cozy to such drastic action. Everyone recalls the weighing of conscience the company had in the weeks preceding the layoffs of August 2009. You could feel that the company had great remorse for such action, but was without choice in the matter. In fact, we recall our Sales VP standing before us explaining afterward, that Germany said to make the cuts as deep as possible so that we would not have to go through such an action ever again. But we as an organization have re-visited this awful action three years later. And this time, it was different, wasn't it? It was done swiftly and with very little, if any remorse. In essence, the company is getting more and more comfortable pressing 'the button.' It is becoming easier. What separated our company from others in terms of a moral compass and a general commitment to our employees has all but vanished. So much for the 'family-held company' atmosphere we once had.
Yes. Our organization has changed. It's the end of the innocence. But economic times will one day improve. And we will remember. The current economic uncertainties may keep us glued to this organization for the short-term, but once things improve, our loyalty to the organization as a whole will be as deep as the company's loyalty had once been to our people. And good people will leave. I only pray that Germany sees the mis-management that has grasped US operations and comes to understand that the truly 'displaced' positions should be those who hold positions of senior leadership in Connecticut - those who have caused these unfortunate business decisions, and not the representatives who yesterday, paid for them.
What strikes me more, however, is the ability of the company to get so accustomed and cozy to such drastic action. Everyone recalls the weighing of conscience the company had in the weeks preceding the layoffs of August 2009. You could feel that the company had great remorse for such action, but was without choice in the matter. In fact, we recall our Sales VP standing before us explaining afterward, that Germany said to make the cuts as deep as possible so that we would not have to go through such an action ever again. But we as an organization have re-visited this awful action three years later. And this time, it was different, wasn't it? It was done swiftly and with very little, if any remorse. In essence, the company is getting more and more comfortable pressing 'the button.' It is becoming easier. What separated our company from others in terms of a moral compass and a general commitment to our employees has all but vanished. So much for the 'family-held company' atmosphere we once had.
Yes. Our organization has changed. It's the end of the innocence. But economic times will one day improve. And we will remember. The current economic uncertainties may keep us glued to this organization for the short-term, but once things improve, our loyalty to the organization as a whole will be as deep as the company's loyalty had once been to our people. And good people will leave. I only pray that Germany sees the mis-management that has grasped US operations and comes to understand that the truly 'displaced' positions should be those who hold positions of senior leadership in Connecticut - those who have caused these unfortunate business decisions, and not the representatives who yesterday, paid for them.