In August 2004, I had been working for a start-up software company for about a year. I had recently changed positions and taken on responsibility for coordination and management of all marketing materials, and had begun developing new online marketing programs. I had just renegotiated my contract, moving from a base+commission structure to a base+bonus structure. All seemed to be going well - after all, the successful contract renegotiation would seem to imply that they are committed to keeping me on, no?
I was married over Labor Day weekend, 2004, and took a fabulous 2-week honeymoon to Australia. The second day I was home, I received a meeting invite to join a conference call with my manager and her boss, and the conversation went something like this:
"Hey, how was the wedding?"
"Oh, it was fabulous, it was really everything we wanted!"
"And the honeymoon was good? Good trip?"
"Absolutely, Australia was just amazing."
"Great, glad to hear that. Listen, we did some restructuring while you were away and, um, we're going to be laying you off."
"..."
"So, we've just e-mailed you some details on your severance and everything. We're giving you two months' pay, which we think is pretty generous, really."
"And, um, when is this change taking effect?"
"Oh, well, you know, this week. Today."
And that was that - I was out of a job.
(Posted by Anonymous)
that's fucking terrible. how classless.
Another example of why the relationship between employer and employee continues to erode.
The only thing missing from that was the ole "It's not personal...just business".
Reminds me of my boss, who when hired brought SARS into the office...Oh well...but none of us died, right?? Anyway...got into it with him last week about staffing and additional responsibilities to feed data into report formats and he told me our business wasn't about money. To which I replied..Great, I'll tell everyone they're getting $10.00/hr raises. He said something in his native tongue that I didn't understand, probably best I didn't, I suppose????