-
5 votes
-
Over 5,000 games industry workers have already lost their jobs in 2024
42 votes -
Prisoners in the US are part of a hidden workforce linked to hundreds of popular food brands
65 votes -
Why Walmart pays its truck drivers six figures
16 votes -
Fujitsu bugs that sent innocent people to prison were known “from the start” but concealed from lawyers and judges
104 votes -
Layoffs, survivor guilt, and existential dread
The company I work for laid off half of my office this week. I'm one of the survivors, and trying to process what happened. The company has been transparent about revenues. However, we had no idea...
The company I work for laid off half of my office this week. I'm one of the survivors, and trying to process what happened.
The company has been transparent about revenues. However, we had no idea that we would be so badly penalized for management choices that created significant operating cost overruns in the face of a projected short-term demand decline. I've lost half the members of my immediate team, good friends, people whose work and thoughtfulness I deeply respected. The entire department structure is being upended. The harshness of the selection for people who were being laid off included a teammate who's in the hospital, parents of young children, people on the edge of retirement. I'm suspicious and extra hostile towards the company - it's very significant to me that all the people of color and people who've had recent medical leave are among the lost.
It's not the first time I've watched and survived a company's poor management and bad choices, but this is by far the worst. I've worked very hard at staying professional with the customers this week. I'm still inwardly seething with rage. I'm trying to figure out how to be supportive to the people who are leaving. I'm trying to figure out how to help a team lead who's in his first management job, and is totally devastated and nearly frozen with helplessness. I'm decent at my job, but don't know why I was kept and others with equal or greater skills were let go. I don't feel good about what qualities I might have had that corporate desired to keep - dutifulness, compliance, amiability, reticence?
At the same time, I'm looking at months of double workload even though corporate management claims they'll outsource part of the duties (so that's another symptom that I'm replaceable) and manage the task pipeline. There's a frankly insulting retention bonus if I stay for another year. We've gotten the usual anodyne HR garbage about the employee assistance program and coping skills. The corporate management's left us with the ominous "stay tuned for further announcements over the coming weeks".
I don't have a lot of choices here. I'm trying hard to stay focused on the present, without looking over the cliff of dread at the future. At the moment, I'm the sole support for our household and source of health insurance. My spouse is badly burnt out, and I don't want him to look for work a minute before he's healthy and enthusiastic about a job. I'm a late-50's end-career professional who wouldn't normally have much interest in restarting yet again elsewhere. I very deliberately chose this company, job and location, liked the work I was doing, the people I was doing it with, and I was looking forward to building on it. There's still the possibility that our half-vacant remote office will be closed and consolidated with the corporate headquarters. I have less than zero interest in relocating, and plan to keep separated coworkers who live here as personal friends.
I'll be grateful to hear any advice on coping with this situation, and hope the replies will be helpful to others in future.
47 votes -
Why is Israel sending Palestinian taxes to Norway? Public money destined for Gaza has been frozen by Israel since November.
13 votes -
Over-capacity ERs are dangerous choke points. But hospital challenges go far deeper.
11 votes -
Cloudflare CEO says viral firing video is 'painful': 'We were far from perfect… We don't always get it right'
28 votes -
‘Don’t mess with us’: WebMD parent company demands return to office in bizarre video
68 votes -
Will US companies hire fewer engineers due to Section 174?
20 votes -
Pizza Hut is lying: They’re not firing their drivers because of a minimum wage hike
61 votes -
Technology is making people busier during their so called free time
34 votes -
‘Winning requires hard work’: Wayfair CEO sends employees a gloomy pre-holiday email following layoff-filled year
27 votes -
US stores increasingly reverse course on self checkout
62 votes -
Is a degree worth it?
29 votes -
Spotify is the world's biggest music streamer but rarely turns a profit and just cut 17% of its workforce – its business model looks increasingly precarious
59 votes -
European Court of Human Rights rules that sex workers can seek compensation for lost profits, reversing Bulgarian decision about human trafficking victims
17 votes -
What the hell is going on at MAPPA?
10 votes -
Denmark's largest trade union has joined strike action by Swedish Tesla workers, piling pressure on the US electric car company to agree to collective bargaining rights
21 votes -
Former Twitter employees give advice to companies who want to replace it
15 votes -
Bosses imposed rigid policies requiring return to the office. Now they’re facing a wave of legal battles.
39 votes -
Amazon is warning employees they risk undermining their own promotion prospects unless they return to the office (RTO) for three days a week, as was mandated by CEO Andy Jassy months ago
60 votes -
Employees can be banned from wearing headscarves, top EU court rules
28 votes -
Tesla has filed a lawsuit against the Swedish Transport Agency as striking workers halted the delivery of licence plates of new vehicles manufactured by the US automaker
29 votes -
How meltdowns brought professional advocacy groups to a standstill at a critical moment (2022)
19 votes -
Tesla may have picked an unwinnable fight with Sweden's powerful unions
23 votes -
OpenAI staff threaten to quit unless board resigns
53 votes -
The Survivors - One year later, those who lived through the Club Q shooting are still healing. These are their stories.
12 votes -
Starting Friday, dockworkers in all Swedish ports will refuse to offload Teslas, cleaning crews will no longer clean showrooms, and mechanics won't fix charging points
44 votes -
“Do your job.” How the US railroad industry intimidates employees into putting speed before safety.
18 votes -
UAW workers at major Ford and GM truck plants vote 'no' on record contract deals
20 votes -
Fika, four-week-holidays and zero overtime – Sweden's stunningly healthy work culture
38 votes -
SAG-AFTRA approves deal to end historic strike
37 votes -
Swedish fintech giant Klarna has reached an agreement with workers that were set to strike next week
12 votes -
Uber and Lyft to pay New York drivers $328 million following state attorney general wage theft investigation
20 votes -
Swedish ports threaten to block Teslas from entering the country – strike that started with mechanics is beginning to spread
28 votes -
Maersk to cut 10,000 jobs as shipping firm revenue slides
12 votes -
Union workers score big pay gains as labour action sweeps US
30 votes -
Ford, UAW negotiators reach labor deal, pending union leadership approval
7 votes -
First woman to lead Germany’s biggest union takes aim at Tesla
15 votes -
Is Bandcamp as we know it over?
26 votes -
Finnish telecoms giant Nokia is to axe between 9,000 and 14,000 jobs by the end of 2026 to cut costs
8 votes -
Bandcamp hit with layoffs after sale to Songtradr
34 votes -
After many years, migrant workers in Norway won legal protection from exploitative agencies – but now a European Free Trade Association ruling puts progress in peril
3 votes -
Costco capitalism
23 votes -
The robots are coming, but older workers have less to fear than they might think
7 votes -
Amid strikes, one question: Are employers miscalculating?
27 votes -
How can I get my engineers to accept being on call?
44 votes -
Workers at Mack Trucks reject contract and join the thousands of UAW picketers already on strike
34 votes