Why We Don't Care Anymore

Here's a collection of lightly edited expressions of frustration, disdain, and disbelief about jobs today, and about how people in those jobs are managed. Some are based on specific reports that have come my way, and some are mixtures of reports from several people. Any similarity to your situation is both coincidental and unfortunate.

• Twice they've laid off my best friends. Time to go.
• Whenever layoffs happen, I get more work and no raise.
• I used to "stretch" to deliver superior performance, only to be rated "meets expectations." I thought, "What a lie," but now I realize that stretching myself was their expectation.
• The only thing I hate more than being told to undo what somebody just finished is being told to undo what I just finished.
• I take that back. I hate even more being told to do something that I know somebody will have to undo as soon as I'm finished.
• If meetings were any more mind numbing, they'd be classified as illegal drugs.
• I used to trust my boss to tell me what was really going on. I now realize that he doesn't actually know.
• I liked my old boss better than my new boss. Neither of them knows what they're doing, but my old boss at least knew that he didn't know.
• I don't know what's worse: (a) my boss making decisions about stuff he's clueless about, without consulting us; or (b) my boss asking our advice, and then not taking it. Wait, it's (a). At least with (a) he doesn't waste our time before making the wrong decision.
• Two things are If meetings were any more mind
  numbing, they'd be classified as
  illegal drugs.mysterious about Steve: (a) how he spends his time, because he sure doesn't do his job; and (b) how he gets away with it.
• Only one way the cafeteria could be worse: if they raised the prices. Ah. They just did. Never mind.
• I stuck sticky notes on my wall with fake passwords to fool password thieves. Then IT ran a surprise inspection and wrote me up. I told them the passwords were fake, but they said no passwords on the walls, real or fake. The I in IT must stand for idiotic.
• I got used to my boss not keeping her promises, but I can't get used to her denying she ever made them.
• I have so much work that I can't focus on anything long enough to remember where I was when I had to drop it to do something more urgent.
• I used to tolerate the bad parts of my job because I loved the good parts of my job. Now I don't even know what the good parts of my job are.
• Why am I classified as a "resource?" I'm a human being.

That's all for now. I'm collecting these items, so send me yours, and when I get a batch together, I'll send them out.  Top    Next Issue

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More about layoffs

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When you celebrate — even minor successes — you change your outlook, you energize yourself, and you create new ways to achieve more successes. Too often we let others define what we will celebrate. Actually, we're in complete command of what we celebrate. When we take charge of our celebrations, we make life a lot more fun.

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A doorknob disclosure is an uncomfortable, painful, or embarrassing revelation offered at the end of a meeting or conversation, usually by someone who's about to exit. When we learn about bad news in this way, we can feel frustrated and trapped. How can we respond effectively?

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What's So Good About Being Laid Off?  [December 25, 2002]

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Beyond WIIFM  [August 13, 2003]

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How to Avoid a Layoff: The Inside Stuff  [January 28, 2009]

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Four Popular Ways to Mismanage Layoffs: II  [February 25, 2009]

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Trauma is an emotional response to horrible events — accidents, crimes, disasters, physical abuse, emotional abuse, gross injustices — and layoffs. Layoff trauma is real. Employers know how to execute layoffs with compassion, but some act out of cruelty. Know how to defend yourself.

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