Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Layoffs
I'm not really sure how to start this post. So I just will.Today, the company announced that they are laying off 30 people from the news department.
We knew the layoffs were coming. We knew they'd happen by mid October, but that's all they told us. We didn't know how the cuts were coming, who would be affected, or anything.
I knew something was wrong as I walked up to the building this afternoon. I'd just come from a water rate hike hearing and was coming to the newsroom for the first time today. I saw a photographer standing outside on his cell phone, clutching a Guild newsletter. I knew we'd gotten some news about the layoffs. I just didn't know what.
As I made my way up to my office, I got a text from a friend in the main newsroom.
When were you hired? I just lost my job.
I rushed downstairs to her hangout spot -- a place behind the building she often goes to smoke handrolled cigarettes -- to make sure she was okay. She seemed fine, and I didn't really know what else to do. She wanted to get back into the newsroom to finish the day. So I let her. Upstairs in my office, I learned that one of my newly-married, soon-to-be a father, coworkers had been laid off.
I was hired in January 2006 officially. The cut off date for layoffs was May 30, 2006. Just a few months seperated me from unemployment. They took all of the part-timers firts, and a handful of full-timers got caught in the mix as well.
I've never felt so bad about having a job.
Labels: dismay, dying newsroom, layoffs, writer's guild
continue...
Read or Post a Comment
<< Home