April 23, 2001: Mercator Day

First sign of an impending layoff – you start seeing HR people you never have before.

The next Monday most of the staff were assembled into the largest training room and notified that they were being laid-off, myself included. The product lines that our office supported were going to be sold and only a few were being retained for support purposes. Functions like sales and training would be consolidated to one of the surviving locations.

It was handled very respectfully. We received modest severance packages based on years of experience. We were told to take as long as needed to pack-up, no security escorting us from the building or any other horror stories like that. Despite the fair treatment I did see one individual gut the motherboards and hard drives from their PCs on the way out. Not being an ideal time to start a confrontation, nobody said a peep to him. However, I don't like his prospects if he ever applies for a job where any of the rest of us now work.

I felt relieved not to be one of the few remaining employees. I didn't look forward to unemployment but thought their position less envious. If they quit before the product line was sold it would be a voluntary termination, no severance package. If they stuck around they'd eventually collect an ever better severance package or employment with a new company but could face months of total boredom in the process.

Every April 23rd I celebrate "Mercator Day" by bringing my resume up to date.