“This morning we eliminated two staff positions.”
No human wants to read the above sentence in an email. No company should convey this type of information through email. And yet – both of those things occurred first thing this morning. After a struggle with getting my computer to let me log in to my desktop, I opened my email to find this at the top of the pile.
“These reductions were necessary based on new strategies and tactics driven by our new ownership and leadership.”
Second sentence you do not want to see in an email. This implies that we are all unsafe. Although the departments that were downsized today are being incorporated into the larger company, this could happen to any group. I work as a team lead for the Account Managers. We are currently working on an implementation of JIRA Service Desk that will allow the staff to work more efficiently through tickets. Standardization is usually a good thing because it allows the employees to focus on more important things, rather than fighting with a system that does not work to their advantage. Today, I am presenting this new system to the whole company and I have a huge pit in my stomach now. Introducing efficiency into the system could also spell downsizing on the Client Success side because it is basically like bringing in the robots.
“It is not an easy decision to terminate staff. If you have questions about our future direction I encourage you to connect with me directly.”
The above quotes are from the CEO, but he is merely a shill for the bigger corporation. A few months back we were acquired by a parent company that assured us no cuts would be made. Senior leadership has continued to reinforce this company line for these months. And now this happens. Two of our staff were let go without warning. What the parent company wants, the parent company gets.
I used to work for a community bank in Buffalo (Greater Buffalo Savings Bank). It was about 2 years old when I joined the ranks at an entry level. I worked my way up from receptionist, through teller, operations assistant and analyst, and then on to IT Project Manager. During my 6th year of employment, things started to change. People at the top were shifted around and things started to seem shaky. At the time I did not know what was truly going on, but after the fact, I can look back and see clearly what was happening. The Chairman of our Board was looking for another bank to buy out GBSB and after a search of a few years, he finally found a Bank President willing to take the offer.
When the bank closed, they gave us severance packages. They helped us with job placement and other services that they thought would help us land on our feet. It was actually not a bad deal for those of us that had been there for a while. But it was still a shock. It is always a shock. Even if you have lived through it before. It will always be a shock.
So although I do see the signs of demise, I am still shocked. The people that were let go this morning were valuable and seemed valued. Their positions were necessary, but with redundancy comes downsizing. And we must never forget that it is always all about money. The bottom line is more important than humans. We are part of a bigger company and if we do not learn how to dance, the robots will take over.
Good luck out there.
