Laid Off

Today I was laid off, all of my speculation and weariness rewarded with the sinking stone of finality stemming from a demise of very awkward precision. With the stroke of a pen and a decision, controversial yet understandable from the viewpoint of the maker, my entire department was excised from the company; eliminated with no prior notice nor whiff of rumor. How did we miss that?

There is no prior notice of upheaval if there is no picking and choosing to be made; everybody goes and nobody knows. I suppose it is easier that way, McCain-style as it were, lacking finesse as reported during the debates. McCain was going to take a "hatchet to the federal budget" but Obama was going to "wield a scalpel" expertly removing the tumor of governmental budgetary waste like a surgeon.

Over the last month and a half, layoffs have taken center stage. So devastating an animal, so despondent a beast. This morning on the way to work on-time for a change, after utilizing the barter arrangement with our neighbors down the street for the occasional morning school bus duty (our school bus comes at 8:45 or so making me 5-10 minutes late to work on those days when my husband does not work from home) I turned up NPR, as usual, for the morning news.

I only listen to NPR/public radio in the car, news or classical music is all I need and my children will refer to this when they are grown as "one of mom's quirky habits." I have plenty, of which I am very proud, since many of them actually help my kids to get smarter, despite themselves; they may beg to differ. Anyhow, there was news of Dow Chemical's 11% workforce reduction, 5000 full-time and 6000 contractor positions plus the shuttering of 20 plants, that made me realize I had both hands on the steering wheel and I was thanking my lucky stars that I still had a job...until I arrived and found out some 15 minutes later that I no longer had a job.

I hate the whole stealth HR thing: swooping in, accompanying you to an office or conference room, rattling some prepared speech about severance - yadda yadda - the turning in of your badge, being accompanied back to your desk for your things and you are gone. No time to say goodbye, no time to clear the cookies from your workstation and definitely no time to go to the toilet. Though they are sorry and sad and it is not a performance issue, and in my case the severance was generous for my short tenure, you still are summarily dismissed like a leper.

Thankfully, a little loitering in the parking lot revealed the wicked truth, that it was all of us, not some of us, and some went home sadly, alone. I chose to go to the diner with some of my compatriots to commiserate and it was good. I hadn't had time for my usual coffee and oatmeal as I was motivated to dash out some emails before my morning meeting ritual began. Some coffee and a bagel was all I could stomach though; that same old wretched feeling of loss, perhaps abandonment, confounding me even though I felt armed with enough intellectual preparation.

A colleague of mine said, "maybe the Lord was telling her to stay home with her children" and how she was sad to have to let go her babysitter. It dawned on me that I was in the same boat having to release my afternoon care-giver, the person who had made my 9-5 so bearable, so seamless. We concluded that for every mother that was laid off, there was a caregiver who also lost a job and that is a sad reality of all of this mess, collateral damage as it were and an important point that is usually lost in the reporting shuffle.

Alas, I really liked this job, all of the pieces were right. May I find another soon enough that I might not sweat, at least not too long to sow seeds of regret.

Fine Time for a Rally: Dow jumps 889 points

This is all I heard or read today right off the top of my head: GM is begging the government for money to buy Chrysler, Consumer Confidence is at 38, the lowest it has been on record since the index began in 1967, the Case-Shiller Index which measures median housing prices in the top 20 U.S. cities is down another 16.5%, Whirlpool has joined the daily layoff brigade announcing its own 10% reduction and a bleak outlook along with most other retail for 2009, average consumer debt is now $17,000 per household, AIG is asking for still more money after already receiving $127,500,000,000, the Governor of NY revised this year's deficit upward to nearly $2,000,000,000 and next year's deficit at $12,000,000,000 and projected NY State job loss of 160,000, recession begets depression, its going to get worse before it gets better, the whole world is on the verge of a global recession, the Federal Reserve is having 2 days of meetings to decide how much more to cut the federal funds rate as if there is any more to cut and how will it help at this point since all the major financial institutions and corporations are getting bailed out anyhow, yet somehow, the Dow rallied on this expected rate cut to the tune of 889 points.

Double take. I must have taken a different boat to work today. The economic fundamentals couldn't be weaker; fine time for a rally.

Layoffs

There were layoffs at my job today; a 30% cut of my department. We were quivering in our boots. My company has seemingly solid financials but in order to stay competitive, maintain profitability and survive through the economic downturn, they have to be shrewd; conserve cash, trim unprofitable sectors, and reduce headcount.

As we struggled through each hour and minute waiting for the tap on the shoulder, there was an eerie quiet, we did not speak, we did not speculate and we did not work. I sat with a heavy heart and hollow gut even though I thought I was prepared. Since I was just hired, I am very aware that I am LIFO (last-in-first-out) especially in these economic times; there is no expectation of job security. I know I was fortunate to land the job in the first place but I still expected it to last a little longer than 5 weeks.

Nevertheless, no amount of expectation or preparation can reduce the emotional devastation of layoffs; the organizational ties that are suddenly and unexpectedly shattered. You immediately feel the loss of those who are let go as you try to assess your pecking order; you are on a rudderless ship, all the bosses are behind closed doors; your fate hanging in the balance.You find your thoughts turn to the realities of finding a job especially in a tight market until day's end and the firing stops and you have survived. Then you wonder whether or not you have witnessed the first round as you look around at the empty cubicles; will there be more? You pledge to tighten the reins and save even more emergency cash as you digest that the sad reality of this day could have been yours.

Long Island Economy Under Pressure

The numbers are creeping up around us:

The unemployment rate on Long Island hit 5% in July

Lenders repossessed 150 Long Island homes in July and there is a 55% increase in foreclosure notices nationwide

Though gasoline prices have come down, they are still averaging close to $4 a gallon on Long Island

Consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in 17 years.

We are losing our jobs, we are losing our homes and everything costs a lot more than it did last year. Our debt load is high and our sources of funds are low. These are tough times for the middle class and there are a lot of us on Long Island. The general consensus is that things are going to get worse before they get better.

What are we going to do about it?

It’s Official: NY State is in a Recession

Kudos to Governor Patterson today for taking a realistic stand on NY’s economic woes before they become completely unmanageable. The Empire State faces tough economic times having suffered serious revenue losses due to the financial crisis on Wall Street. Funny how over the last 2 days, the Dow has increased 451 points. Is there a disconnect here?

I agree with Governor Paterson that we should face facts sooner than later and take the painful steps now to get the state’s financial house in order. Below are excerpts from Governor Patterson’s speech reprinted in the online version of Long Island Business News July 30, 2008.

“When I took office (on March 17, 2008), I was apprised that the New York State budget deficit for next year was $5 billion. I immediately ordered cuts to state spending, but the situation has gotten worse. Tomorrow I will submit a budget plan that places our deficit for next year at $6.4 billion - that is $1.4 billion higher than it was just a few short months ago.

In the beginning of May, our budget director projected our New York State deficit over the next three years at $21.5 billion - that was a record. But things have changed. That number has now erupted to $26.2 billion - a staggering 22 percent increase in less than 90 days.

In June of 2007, the 16 banks that pay the most on taxes to their profits remitted $173 million to our New York State Treasury. This June, just a month ago, they sent us $5 million - a 97 percent decrease. Our economic woes are so severe that I wanted to talk to you personally this evening about where we stand. The fact is: we confront harsh times. Let me be honest: this situation will get worse before it gets better.

But the time to act is now. We cannot waste any further opportunities. We can’t wait and hope that this problem will resolve itself. If we do, we will lose our opportunity to turn this situation around. These times call for action and today I promise you there will be action. Today I am calling the legislature back for an emergency economic session on Tuesday, August [19th]. “

The Governor has requested that the Legislature work with him to trim another $600 million from this year’s budget in addition to the $630 million in cuts that he has already proposed. He stated that no element of the budget is immune from cuts; a reduction in state workers and a hiring freeze have already been proposed including cuts to school aid. Senator Dean Skelos, the Republican Senator from Long Island and recently appointed Senate Majority Leader, has pledged to protect state education aid. He knows that a decrease in school aid will be a devastating blow to Long Island, where school taxes are among the highest in the nation despite what the state currently distributes to local districts.

Governor Paterson said yesterday “My concern is that people sitting in their homes already know what the pain is…I want to make sure that people in Albany understand as well.” I hope that the Legislators heed to the gravity of the situation and respond in-kind. They must resist the political grandstanding and partisanship that usually impedes their progress and work with the Governor to find efficient and effective long-term solutions or else we will all have to pay more taxes and we know none of us can afford that.