The bad-economy blues

If you read the news, or watch the news, or listen to the news, or even just participate in cordial formalities with your coffee guy, you know that major layoffs have been announced at companies across the country. The media business has been particularly walloped in the past weeks, with companies from NBC to Viacom to Sony announcing across-the-board staff reductions.

Despite some changes in our corporate structure over the last month or so, we hadn't been affected. To be fair, we suspected it was coming. We have spent a great deal of time preparing justification for each and every member of our staff, including detailed performance and responsibility summaries along with attributable revenue, so that we would emerge unscathed.

Today, layoffs were announced. I am very happy to say that myself, my boss and my manager remain intact. But it's impossible not to feel terrible for those who were let go, many of whom are junior members of the team. It's a lousy economy, a terrible job market, and no one wants to go home for Christmas without a job. This is my first real experience with a headcount reduction. It's not fun. I hope it is a long, long time before I go through another.