I'm back from France...and unemployed. Our whole group was laid off while I was in France. Apparently AOL is winding down the Columbus campus. Fortunately Rob is ok for now.
From what I hear, the layoffs were rather chaotic. They sent two HR people and a VP to Columbus for the day. My manager was told to let all the contractors and interns go. Then the group was called into a meeting where they were told that they were being laid off. My manager's manager started crying a little because, as she said, she'd been there for twenty years. The VP was completely insensitive, and looked baffled by the situation. Then, the HR lady asked if the whole group was there. My manager said one of his employees was out of the country on vacation. This threw them for another several minutes.
One of the designers was kept on temporarily as part of the transition team to help wind down our projects. At this point, she raised her hand and pointed out that she was out on maternity leave until December. And since she was the only designer they kept, the transition team would effectively be without a designer. This caused more confusion and some panic. One HR lady asked, "What about the contractors?" My manager responded that he'd been instructed to let them go. The HR lady then told him to run upstairs to see if they were still there. So one of the contractors was kept on for the transition period. He's a good designer, but unfortunately he's only been at AOL for 90 days so he doesn't know where all the files are. He later said that it took him 2 hours to find a file and only 5 minutes after that to complete a request.
So now I have to either find a new design job, or go back to school and choose a new career. Decisions...hmmm. At least I get paid through December, so I have a little time to figure it out.
2 comments:
Really sucks about your job. Like I said, I saw the article while you were on vacation and thought it would suck if you got let go while on vacation.
I'm sure someone can always use a talented designer. I wish I knew of a place that was hiring at the moment. I do skate with a lot of IT people though, so let me know if you want my help in looking for something.
At least you get paid for another two months. You should be able to get a lot done during the day and have your nights free for fun stuff, since work won't actually be important.
Oh, that's terrible, Ning! I'm so sorry that you have to come back to a crappy end to your vacation. At least the whole group was laid off so it's not a personal slam.
I'll be interested to see what you're going to do in the next few months. I guess it's time to do some soul searching. I'll be wishing you luck, whether it's going back to school or finding a new job.
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