The Game Is On

I heard somewhere that blogs tend to die because their authors get stressed about writing the next post. The key is to lower the bar, not raise it, with each successive issue. I'm wholly adopting that approach today.

First, in reaction to a few comments I wanted to bring this up: Many of us out there have already made a decision on job search formally, as your deadline has passed. For others, that decision was made for us, or is still a few weeks off. Everyone's situation is different, and the difference largely dependent on how legal departments feel about risk.

Another observation - it has become painfully obvious to me that Microsoft continues to hire in the wake of its layoffs. Town cars circle campus with recruits, NEO training proceeds in B92, and managers are still talking about the open positions they have (whether a result of the RIF or not). I get this funny feeling that this is all some bizarre game. Who it's being played is anyone's guess.

Regardless, the initial shock and awe must be wearing off, and its clear from the recent poll at left that many are moving on. I'm interested in hearing about experiences, whether you remain to look for work at Microsoft or are thinking crazy thoughts.

I, for one, am struck by how strange it feels when the badge stops working.

6 more weeks of winter?

I don't turn the news on anymore.

There was a time for me that it qualified as entertainment, but these days its a major source of exogenous stress. I've got my own worries to deal with - do I really need to plug into the chaos that is Corporate America these days? Yesterday I made an exception given the occasion and came across this:

The world's most famous ground-hog saw his shadow yesterday, predicting that winter will last for six more weeks.

Big surprise.

Seasonal variations aside, look at what actually happened. This furry little creature was rewarded for his mid-winter bravery by a dose of clear biting air, declared it a loss and scurried back into his lair. Not exactly an inspiring story for tough times.

Of course, many of us might feel the same way. We took chances. Circumstances turned against us. Is it time to crawl back into the hole? For those recently released from Microsoft, this is precisely the question they have before them.

Most crawl towards safety. Some towards the comforting bosom of salaried employment, though most know its safety is an illusion. Others check out (I'm guilty), spending the time on ourselves we believe we've earned over the years, hoping the storm will blow over.

Yet there are a few among us who are welcoming mid-winter's chill, staring down their shadow, knowing that spring will come.

Perhaps they'll be here: http://startpad.org/events/startup-brainstorming-session

Is it Wednesday already?

I think the conventional wisdom is that, when you lose your job, you find yourself with a ton of time on your hands. For me, for some reason this is not the case. Granted, time tends to fly when you have a decision to make with a deadline.

This decision is a struggle. Should I look for employment (in quasi-desperation) from the very company that pretty much humiliated me a few days ago? There are two minds in me. The first, quite reasonably, wants to tell 'em to go to hell. The other is the pragmatic one, the one I listened to when I decided to move my family here to work for Microsoft years ago. In times like this, a paycheck is all that matters. But is it really?

Let's take the first scenario: You line up with hundreds of other folks from my profession to chase down a small number of dubious quality openings in the company. Informational interviews are no longer permitted. There is a chance of being down-leveled in the transition. The work environment is not the one we left - this one is even more dog eat dog as tenured team members jockey against each other and, more importantly, the new grunt on the team. But if you take it, you do get paid. And if you get cold feet? Well, then you can kiss your severance goodbye.

The second scenario is the likely one. You look, find nothing that would prompt you to even send an informational request a few months ago, but apply. In fact, you apply to everything! I mean, why hold back? It's a complete lottery at this point so you might as well play the numbers. But the yield is low. Perhaps a few loops. Perhaps one. Perhaps none. Anyway, you end up with nothing to show for 8 weeks of work, and are back at square one. But this time a bit more pathetic. I mean, these guys told you they didn't want you around in January - didn't you get the memo?

The third scenario - death with dignity. You turn down the search option and immediately engage the thankless task of changing companies and/or careers during the crappiest labor market in two generations. This with the added burden of never quite being rid of the notion that you might have found a job. You could have gotten lucky! This was your doing, in the end.

How much is dignity worth? How much is it worth to know you did all you could?

Before you sign

Careful consideration should be taken by anyone staring at a severance agreement. Remember that your former employer is not in the business of handing money out, especially when times are tough and shareholders are hungry for red meat. Severance agreements are hush money, and severance processes are designed to isolate former employees to reduce legal risk to the firm.

If you are in a protected class (determined by race, age, etc), this raises the ante quite a bit. You have up to 21 days to decide your options and sign documents.

Either way, think about talking to a lawyer. Like plumbers, doctors, insurance companies and other professionals dealing in catastrophe, they seem an unecessary expense until its too late. But to get a flavor of why, I'll include a few great thoughts on this subject c/o CNN:

Maybe you'll want more money, longer health insurance coverage, a good letter of reference or a narrower scope of competitors on a non-compete agreement. There's no guarantee you'll get what you ask for, but there's a fair shot you'll get more than that's initially offered.

So the question is, "How much is it worth to them?" Answer: potentially more than the initial offer. Sklover suggests you ask the following five questions:

• Have you ever received assurances that your job would continue or that you're due special remuneration?
• Has anyone violated your rights?
• Has anyone said anything defamatory about you?
• Do you think you're being let go unfairly?
• Do you or your family have special needs?

Chances are, if it's a mid-sized to large company, it can afford to pay. Any firm bracing for layoffs budgets for the experience and then puts more money in reserve to cover unforeseen expenses, Sklover said. "They calculate how much it will cost them and add extra just in case you come along and know what you're doing."

He which hath no stomach to this fight, let him depart...

I am one of you.

And as one of you I have an idea of what you might be thinking: Why did this happen? How do I get even? How can I hope to survive?

Those questions have legitimacy. But this is a forum for those of us who've moved on to that more terrifying question:

What are you here to do?

I’ve not seen the future, but I’ll venture there. Years from now you will be consumed with gladness that you were offered this moment as a gift, as the hinge upon which your life’s balance swung to its true course. Or you will find yourself regretting, not your present circumstances, but how some things prevented you from truly…ahem…realizing your potential.

This is your space, not mine. Whatever role I have in it I accept reluctantly. My invitation to you is to use comments to discuss, dream, and plan for the future.

In closing, I’ve long wondered why we value humility and sacrifice in the arts and yet we see so little of it in our daily lives. If you do not know these words, you should, and hold them dear:

This day is called the feast of Crispian. He that outlives this day, and comes safe home will stand a tip-toe when this day is named, and rouse him at the name of Crispian. He that shall live this day, and see old age, will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours, and say “Tomorrow is Saint Crispian.” Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars, and say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day…'

This story shall the good man teach his son. And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by, from this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall be remembered… We few. We happy few. We band of brothers. For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother. Be he so vile, this day shall gentle his condition.

And gentlemen now-a-bed shall think themselves accursed they were not here and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

- Wm. Shakespeare (adapted), Henry V, Battle of Agincourt.