Monday, January 12, 2009

And so it begins

The layoffs started today.

The rumblings have been going on for weeks. The rumors about a "list" have been running like wildfire. I have had an anxious pit in my stomach since New Year's, thanks to EPOD.

We made it through last week. Whew, I thought...maybe they're not going to do anything after all.

Oh no. No. They're doing them. They did them today, and there will be more tomorrow.

The one that hurts the most? My friend Beth. One of my best friends here in the RVA. We've worked together for nine years. We were pregnant together. We eat lunch together every day.

Around 2:30, she called me and asked if I'd come to her office. Her voice was shaky, but I figured maybe she'd had a fight with her husband and just needed a pep talk. I walked across the street to her building, knocked on her door, and walked in to see her red-eyed and packing up her stuff in a few boxes.

We hugged and cried. I know this isn't the last I'll hear from her, she lives about five miles from me and is really good about staying in touch. And luckily for her, her husband owns a small construction company so they will be just fine financially.

Some others today won't be that lucky. And that sucks.

And if there's a bright side to things, I was told today that as of now our team is safe. For now. They are going to be shuffling people around in the office, and today I was told that I'm going to have to help one of the younger project managers with big federal LEED project that he's having difficulty with. And that's fine...the more indispensable I can make myself, the better off I will be in the long run. I hope. I'll still be working with EPOD, but I think with his years of experience in doing huge projects (as well as some really complex projects that no one in our company has the experience to run), we'll be okay.

Tonight might be a happy pill night. The first time I've had chest pains in weeks.

3 comments:

MamaMaven said...

Hang in there!

Unknown said...

Oh no! I am sad for your friend but happy for you!

MarciaAnn said...

I'm glad you've made it past the initial round. With your LEED projects, are they difficult? One of the attys in the office just last year got LEED certified and then there are 2 others going for their LEED certifications this quarter - I don't want to seem stupid at work, but what advantage would a LEED certification give an attorney?