It wasn't a good day to be in the office. A few of my friends were laid off today and even more throughout the company. Its such a crappy feeling. You feel badly for your friends of course but you are also not-so-secretly relieved it isn't you. So we all go around feeling sad for a while but it will be business as usual before you know it. Nice huh?
I have been with the same company for 11 years now and I cant help feeling that maybe this time was the closest I came to being voted out of the tribe. We have had layoffs before and I never seemed to worry very much. It probably came from the fact that I had confidence that I knew what I was doing and there were a lot of people around me that I was convinced didn't know a router from a hole in the wall.
This time was different. Everybody that is left knows what they are doing. So did the ones who were asked to leave.
It seems to me that the market being what it is these days doesn't give anyone very much security. My problem is that it is causing me a great deal of frustration on how my professional life is going. It should come as little surprise to you that I like to feel in control. I think a lot of it can directly be associated to the fact that I am approaching the big 40 and I have a family to care for.
The best advice I have heard was from one of the recently departed. "Put your head down and get to it but also flex your network." I don't necessarily agree with that. I would prefer to find a way to see the silver lining in this for me. Maybe this is what I have needed the last few months. A reason to focus on the training I have let slip and redouble my efforts to expand my understanding of network infrastructure. It certainly helps to have 3 pairs of eyes on you when you get home. I will never let them down no matter what.
So no xbox for a while. But that may be the single greatest thing about video games. They will wait for you and never complain. There isn't much else in the world that is like that.
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