I just read another LinkedIn post from a person who lost her job and wanted to say farewell to colleagues. I’ve read a lot of posts like this. Probably you have as well. This one was the last straw. I’ve begun to feel like I’m watching something terrible happening right in front of me without saying anything about it.
My dad graduated from the Naval Academy, served his country, got his first civilian job and worked at that company his entire life. It wasn’t uncommon for men of that generation to work their whole career at one company.
It’s not possible that those companies never had a bad quarter or a bad year, but they managed downturns without layoffs. Workers weren’t acquired and disposed of like potted plants.
This was before human dignity was replaced by managerial elites with no interest in the development, prosperity, security, freedom or well-being of their employees.
I have managed people and had to let a couple people go, not for financial reasons but because they really weren’t contributing anything. I guess I can say in my defense that I was not the person who hired them.
I was asked to let another person go. I hadn’t hired her either. This person was a pleasure to have around, did her best with every assignment, and I couldn’t let her go so I quit. I don’t mention that to aggrandize myself but to emphasize that I think there’s something really wrong with the way I’m seeing employees being treated.
Remember the law of the sea: The captain goes down with the ship. When the captain starts throwing people overboard, something is really wrong.
Thus spoke The Programmer.