Laid Off, Part 2
 

Well, 'tis the season, I suppose.

A little background - I work as a Pre-Sales Technical consultant for a professional services/proprietary hardware company. The consultants are paired with salespeople and we mutually schedule customer meetings, etc. There are a few offices, but most of us work out of our homes.

My manager called me last week and asked if I'd be available on Monday for a meeting. He would be in the area, visiting a local office and meeting a few other people as well. I had nothing scheduled, so we decided to meet at the airport. I rarely see or hear from this guy, so I was a little dubious. Well...he comes in as I'm scheduling follow-up calls with potential customers later in the day. He tells me to take my time...I do, and eventually end my call and meet him for lunch. As we sit down, out pops the thick envelope and the words, "It's always hard to do this..." One of the most surreal moments of my life. I kept it professional, but I did let him know that I never liked hearing from him, because whenever I did, it was bad news.

I had a SUPER first quarter (150% of quota) and pretty good second quarter. Third quarter for the entire area (the entire Northeast) STUNK. For the year, I'm above quota and on schedule to make President's Club. Yet, I am gone. The company bought our main competitor in April, had a large layoff because of this in June, and I guess this is the pre-Christmas follow-up (ho, ho, ho!).

I'm 34, and I've been there since I was 25. I was told it had nothing to do with performance, it's based on the new direction of the company, number of people the area could support, etc. Yada, yada, yada.

I've seen 3 CEOs come and go, 7 VP of Sales, 4 Area Sales Directors. It's all about customer relationships in this business as the top people don't stick around too long. Sigh...not really sure what to say. It just STINKS.

Ouch.

That sucks. Hope things work out for you.

Sorry dude.

Lot of people getting laid off this time of year (including myself). I'd love to have five minutes alone in a room with the CEO of the last company I worked for... I'd get medieval on his ass, Afoci-style.

That's real unfortunate man. Hope things get better for ya.

Ah yes...the CEOs....the guys who overextend the company, forcing layoffs in the future. The guys who repeatedly make millions of dollars in stock options congratulating themselves on a job well done.

I understand that the people who make sacrifices, like the proprietor of a business, should make TONS of money (if the company makes a lot of money). After all, he's taking on all the risk... But, the recycling of these CEOs as they go from one company to another, making millions when the company is not profitable is beyond me. And...how they can sleep at night, knowing they just had a layoff and also very recently cashed in themselves on yet another stock sale...well...I suppose one can justify anything.

Merry Christmas.

Tough break, man. Hope you land on your feet.

You know, I'm starting to think "CEO Assassin for Cash" has a lot of future earning potential. Just take up a small collection from all the people they laid off and I could be rolling around in money. Everybody wins!

SI

Take a shit in an Amazon box and FedEx it to the CEO for Christmas.