Laid Off!

Yesterday was a sad day for me. I was laid off along with 300 co-workers. This was totally unexpected. There were no rumors or any early indications of this. We were all surprised by it and the way they did it pissed me off more than the actual lay off.

 Before I continue let me tell you what I did. I was a licensed sales agent for a large health insurance company. It was in a call center in Southern California along with other call centers in Wisconsin, Virginia, and Minnesota. So I get to work and everything is going on as they should. Everyone seems to be in a great mood. So about 45 minutes past and we all get a instant message on our screens to take all of your belongings and go outside to get on to a bus. I looked outside and saw that there were four really nice tour buses in the parking lot. This started to give me a weird feeling but did not think too much of it. A couple of my friends were joking that we were going to get fired or let go, others were saying we are going to Disneyland. What really made me worry was the fact that none of the supervisors or managers knew what was going on.

So as we get on the buses, I noticed that each bus has two large men dressed in black suits. To me they looked like security. I asked them if they knew where we were going and they of course said that they didn't know. So we take off and everyone is talking and having a good time. So we get onto the freeway and we head south away from any amusement park near by. So that idea is out of the way. After 10 minutes of driving, we come to a hotel and were directed to one of their large rooms. They have all of these chairs in there with all kinds of refreshments. This is looking promising. The day before we all had training on a new project that we were supposed to start the following week so I began to stop worrying about what the outcome will be.

So the Vice President of Operations comes out and starts the meeting. I noticed right away that he is not his usual upbeat self. I lean over to my friend and said "this is not going to be good." After that the only thing I remember that he said was "this is the hardest decision we have had to make." Next thing I know he walks out of the room and now we are listening to one of the human resource reps about what to expect from this point on. Everyone from my Sales Director to the lowest ranked salesman was let go. All of our duties were going to be transferred to the other call centers. Only California was effected. The reason we lost our jobs was that they decided to "Consolidate" I remember turning around and seeing so many people crying or just having a disappointed look on their face.

After that we went back to our offices and packed up all of our stuff. Everyone was exchanging information to keep in touch. Now I have never worked with so many good people before in one department. I was sadden by the idea that I would never work with these people again. I won't be able to sit next to Yesenia and joke around all day. No more pot luck dishes from my Supervisor Rose. And especially no more of being able to check out all the hotties at work. You girls know who you are (YC, DC, PM, MV, and GR just to mention a few.) That's the part that really sucks. Its funny now that since everyone pretty much has Facebook or some other kind of social network the chances of keeping in touch is much greater. So as I start my enforced vacation looking for a new place of employment, I am really starting to miss being at work and being able to be to see my friends.

Good Luck to everyone from the Sales Department! Hope to see you guys soon.