In the fall of '99 I started a temp job at Sara Lee Coffee & Tea, although it was known as Superior Coffee at the time. I was filling a position while they tried to find the permanent person. I got that officially in December of that year. I was hired as a Department Assistant. It was my first real job. Everything before that had been part time or temp jobs.
Along the way, the company's name changed, and my title became Sr. Department Assistant. But they had three different sister companies all doing more or less the same things to more or less the same customers. The three got crammed into one. There were round after round of layoffs. They didn't need three HR departments, or three IT departments, and so on.
In 2004 I got a new boss during one of those rounds of restructuring.
Then on a Monday in August (still '04) I had a meeting with him. Everyone has having those meetings. It was partly him getting to know everyone and what they did, and partly discussing the future and how they wanted the different teams structured.
It was an afternoon meeting. We talked about what I was doing, and he asked where I saw myself in the future. I talked about how my position had already grown beyond just an admin, largely because I had kept taking on new responsibilities. I suggested potential titles to more accurately reflect what I did, and I talked about where I thought the job should evolve to next. He seemed to like what I was saying. He talked about how he would review with the senior management crew and together we would work out a plan to get me there.
Everything he said was a lie. That Friday I found out, when he asked me to join him in a meeting. I followed him into a conference room. There was an HR person there. The meeting was going over my severance package. They told me I wouldn't be allowed back to my desk, but assured me any personal belongings would be mailed to me, but that it might take some time. My boss went up for my lunch and car keys.
Shaken and a bit numb I drove home. There were things at my desk I needed pretty quickly, so I called the lady I worked next to. I told her where to find most of my personal stuff. She boxed it up and mailed it. She was great.
I never got the rest of my stuff.
Included with the severance package was some layoff paperwork. Signed by my boss that Monday morning. Morning. The morning just before he told me how he was going to help me plan my career path and career evolution.
I still haven't gotten over that. I'm still resentful. Nearly five years later our finances still haven't recovered.
A year or two ago he applied for a job where I'm working now. One of the HR guys asked me if I knew him. I said I did, but admitted I couldn't give them an unbiased comment and explained what had happened. He didn't get the job.
I still can't help but get a little anxious whenever I see my boss meeting with HR. Part of me still gets a little uncomfortable on Fridays. Every job I've ever had end unexpectedly (albeit mostly temp jobs) did on a Friday.
This week we were told there would be changes to the org chart to "better align" us with another major arm of the company that restructure recently. Monday we're supposed to see the new org chart. There are people anxiously waiting until then so they can look to see if/where they are on it. One of the bigger things I'm working on is one of the major initiatives for 2009. While intellectually I can tell myself I should be okay, I just can't shake the dread in my gut.
I guess I know what I'll be discussing with my therapist tonight...
Posted by fictionman at January 29, 2009 11:17 AM | TrackBack (0)