The 18th of May was last day on the job. It was a job that I had for less than a year, but, it was a job that I liked and, from what I understand, the people that I worked for liked my work and really didn't want to lay me off. I suspect that they didn't want to reduce their worldwide staff by 25%. Between COVID-19 and issues with one of the major players in the industry that I have worked in for the past 15 years, a perfect storm was created that has put me and a lot of other good scientists, engineers, and technicians back into the pool of perspective job candidates.
This was not the first time that I have been part of a reduction in force. This time was different in that I was given just over 2 weeks notice. In my previous layoffs, I thought that I would have liked some sort of warning that a layoff was coming. The first time I was involved in this sort of a situation, I could tell by the amount of work that I had and what was going on in the company that the layoff was coming. While I started to take my personal items home about a week before the axe was officially dropped, I still had some hope that things would change. I had been there for five years and with my marriage was less than two years old, I was feeling stress in a way that was totally foreign to me. I was not only worried about how I was going to take care of my wife, but I knew a lot of people who were also out of work. There was a lot of competition for very few openings. I had wished that the people that I worked for had communicated better what the state of the business was and let people know what their short term futures were.
Those wishes were fulfilled during the job loss that happened in May. I don't think the advanced warning made things better as I thought it would. While my wife and I were able to start cutting our expenses earlier, the work was harder. Since I was paid through my last day, I worked as hard as I could through that last day. It isn't in my nature to do otherwise. It was hard to forecast projects that I knew I would not see to completion. It was a challenge to be sure not to say too much to clients or suppliers. I was given no direction as to what I was allowed to talk about. The only real benefit was that I was able to hand off my projects and make the transition easier. Ultimately, the transition was made easier for my former employer, but I can feel like I did my best work until the end of my last day on the job.I did get a chance to talk to some of my clients and secure recommendations and references. I think that worked out better form me in that it demonstrated my professionalism to any future employer.
Ultimately, having your job end is not a pleasant experience in most cases. I don't think that having an explicit end date defined was the improvement on the situation that I thought it would be. The end result is the same and the next steps to be taken are the same. It is a better to pay attention to what is coming next that it is to dwell on the past. It is said that a waste of time keep looking back. That is not where you are going. There is a reason why it is called the road ahead.
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