No one's Immune

MANIFESTO

I work at a medium sized company in an industry (healthcare) that generally is only minimally affected by economic downturns. It's a place where employee happiness has always seemed to trump profits (with, of course, the underlying notion that the first will help take care of the second). And where people can truly say it's like a big happy family. So as we came off another very profitable year, I think everyone thought, "It's scary out there, but at least we're insulated."

Last week, the company laid off ~15% of its employees, including one who had been around for years and years. The primary decision-makers/deliverers of bad news were practically in tears. Other cuts were made as well in terms of spending on some perks.

In some ways, the moves were proactive. Which means that if the very smart people in charge of my firm are correct, this is going to continue to get worse before it gets better.

Which is a very scary thought.