Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Bug-out!
I've really developed a phobia about taking off from work. More than once I've returned from vacation to find something significant has taken place, from a co-worker quitting to the company being sold. Yesterday, however, has taken the cake. I had a nasty headache yesterday and a bit of nausea, so I called in sick. (Feeling much better now, thanks.) Today I come in and find that while I was out, 15 people had chosen to quit. Basically, last week--or was it the week before?--one of our sales guys quit. He had one of our major accounts, and since our new overlords at Wombatsch also had a salesperson had a salesperson dedicated to that client, I figured he was just avoiding bad company politics. Obviously he has more in mind, as the departing fifteen consist of the rest of the folks who deal with said client, as well as some production folk who work mostly on that client's jobs. (All design folks, actually. I don't think any of the pre-press grunts were invited to join the party. I know I wasn't.)
We had the obligatory "the sky is not falling" meeting, of course. (the second one actually, I missed the first one last night) I had initially found the whole event amusing, but in hearing our boss' side of the story, I got a reminder of what kind of grief the dear departing caused to the folks working in management. Especially since most of them just up and walked without giving notice. I suppose I should have some concern about my job, seeing how I, too, work mostly on that client's jobs. But I've already developed the short-timer mentality. Anyway, life should be interesting as people start shuffling about and new people start coming on board.
Oh, and one little detail caught my attention. Most of those who left were relatively new employees--employed here a couple of years at most. The two who have had some history with the company were the only ones to send out blanket e-mails saying good-bye to everyone. Both also referred to the shop as Oatmeal, the name we had before we were bought out by Bloatmeal, who was then gobbled up by Wombatsch. I may have to do the same in my farewell missive, cause I can definitely relate to that sense of history. Of course, I won't lie and say that I want to keep in touch with everybody. I'll own up to my terrible letter writing and just tell folks to read the blog. ;-)
We had the obligatory "the sky is not falling" meeting, of course. (the second one actually, I missed the first one last night) I had initially found the whole event amusing, but in hearing our boss' side of the story, I got a reminder of what kind of grief the dear departing caused to the folks working in management. Especially since most of them just up and walked without giving notice. I suppose I should have some concern about my job, seeing how I, too, work mostly on that client's jobs. But I've already developed the short-timer mentality. Anyway, life should be interesting as people start shuffling about and new people start coming on board.
Oh, and one little detail caught my attention. Most of those who left were relatively new employees--employed here a couple of years at most. The two who have had some history with the company were the only ones to send out blanket e-mails saying good-bye to everyone. Both also referred to the shop as Oatmeal, the name we had before we were bought out by Bloatmeal, who was then gobbled up by Wombatsch. I may have to do the same in my farewell missive, cause I can definitely relate to that sense of history. Of course, I won't lie and say that I want to keep in touch with everybody. I'll own up to my terrible letter writing and just tell folks to read the blog. ;-)
