BrewBlog

Staying Put

A few months ago we decided to take our house off the market.  It's a very bad time to sell and had we known it was going to be this bad we wouldn't have bothered trying.  Thankfully we're not in a position that is forcing us to sell.  I feel badly for the record many of those that are being forced to sell right now.  We learned a lot going through this process and I don't mean we learned a lot about real estate.  We figured out just how much we liked our house and wanted to stay.  It's somewhat the house itself but it's mostly about the roots we've developed so far.  It's our home.  It's the house we chose prior getting engaged and moved into after we got married.  It's where we bought Jackson home from the hospital and where we had our first everything as a family.  Once we decided to stay I was more relieved than I expected to be and with that behind us I'm looking forward to the future. 

Your Services Are No Longer Required

The Mothership is at it again.  A significant number of people are going to be forced to seek gainful employment elsewhere.  It was this same time last year when we went through this.  It's looking to be a predictable cycle we do.  It's just business, yes, but that doesn't make it any easier for those impacted.  I've lost count but I'd guess this is the fourth time we've been through layoffs of a significant magnitude since I've been on board.  Part of me completely understands the need to cut costs and reduce headcount but an even bigger part of me finds it unsettling that we continue to hire between the layoffs despite the so called headcount targets even though those same targets are used to justify the cuts.  Americans are losing their jobs because it's cheaper to hire workers overseas.  But it's just business, right?  It's a trend that's hard to get used to because I want it to mean something that I'm an American working in an American company.

It's up to me and everyone to remain employable and it's unreasonable to expect any kind of loyalty in this hyper competitive market.  Just thinking about it for a moment you can understand the challenges and the reason behind many of the decisions.  Even though many can accept what is happening, there is a reaction.  The Mothership workforce that I'm exposed to have not ever really recovered from all these layoffs.  It's not the business decision people are struggling with necessarily.  It's the way The Man dishes it out.  Calling layoffs "redeployments" is a slap in the face.  Being told to "keep our heads down during these  tough times" when we all know it they mean "shut up and get back to work".  Morale issues seem to be annoyances as if to suggest we should just be happy to have jobs.  Unmotivated workers are not coming in early or staying late anymore.  The parking lot is evidence of that.

I really do like my job and want to focus on it and not worry so much about my future.  It will be sad to see people lose their jobs.  I hope I don't ever need to be the one that has to tell someone that they are being let go.  No matter what happens with work, it's important to keep it in perspective.  It is just a job after all and there are others out there.  I've worried less about it the last few times then I did the first few times and I'm pretty sure it's because I have more confidence as a professional and also because I'm just happier these days.