Well, it's been an interesting day in corporate America. One of the writer's on our team left today. Another writer is going on maternity leave in a couple of months. And then about a month after that, another writer is retiring. Gonna be a harsh summer for those few of us left.
It amazes me always and in all ways.
If you put your notice in to leave, there's at least two weeks for everyone involved to brace for it. To transfer knowledge. To line up those who will take care of the work left behind. A nice card that is signed by everyone in the office. A lunch. And even a good-bye gift.
In essence: a proper good-bye.
But if someone is fired (I mean, let go as part of a reduction in workforce), then there's nothing. No time to prepare, since HR walks the person out within moments of it happening. No time to document the work that is in progress, the tasks that are left undone. No time to say proper good-byes. No card. No gift. No lunch. No nothing.
It just always amazes me: that's all.
The writer who left today was a good one. Moving on to more opportunities and better pay.
And there's her old cube just across from me. Nameplate slot empty. Tape holder, stapler, and paper clip container all next to one another. Shelves empty. Monitor off. It's as if no one ever sat there at all, working way too hard and way too long: taking way too much crap from people in the office.
We'll all go home for the weekend and live our lives. We'll come in to the office Monday morning and get back to work--as if no one ever sat in that cube at all. It's a crazy life, these times in Corporate America.
Back in the days when I worked at real jobs (as opposed to the free-lance job) I was always amazed how the people I worked with were such a huge part of my life. And then, after I quit, they weren't. While I still worked with them, I saw them every day, sometimes even more than I saw family. And then I suddenly didn't see them anymore. Weird.
Posted by: Charlotte | 04/14/2010 at 03:35 PM