This morning, at 10:48 a.m., an e-mail arrived in our inboxes from our boss: the layoffs were here.
In previous weeks, the memos had come fast and furious from corporate announcing impending cuts along with dramatic reorganization at our company. Top editors and business managers at Time Inc. were being replaced or moved around. Each memo sounded to me like dinosaur footsteps falling closer and closer. And now: boom.
I just got off a conference call on which our editor explained the details of our layoffs. In short, a certain number of people are asked to leave on their own accord. If enough staffers don’t volunteer for the guillotine, they’ll start swinging the axe.
It’s scary, and yet it’s familiar. I’ve gone through this same scenario twice in the last three years at Time. I imagine you’re living through a similar situation wherever you work. And yet, this time, it feels a little more intimate, doesn’t it? Because if we lose this job, who’s to say we’ll land another in this crap economy?
I knew I should have used my maternity leave to study plumbing.