This is a sin! Unforgivable. It is such a lousy way to manage a company issue.

Marx was actually right about many of the features of capitalism. This is just one example. Socialism tries to ameliorate some of these features, which is why the rich so hate it.
Work for yourself, within a union or in a co-operative.

When I was 37 I went back to school and got an Associate's degree in computer science. While still in school, I got a job with a large tech company. I started out on their tech support helpdesk/call center for internal employees. Over the next 8 years, I held several positions. The first few were jobs I competed for and won, but then they started outsourcing their support. I worked in the IT area of a tech giant, and they decided to send all of their western hemisphere technical support to Costa Rica. This led to my having to compete for other positions in order to avoid being laid off, and I was also involuntarily placed in a couple of other positions before I was finally laid off with the justification that my core skillset was too far removed from my job (in a position they placed me into). =\ I still like the company itself. They are doing cool things that help the world, but I do not like how their IT arm manages its business. I'm pro-business, but agree that when companies are posting healthy profits, downsizing only hurts those who are getting whacked and not improving the performance of the company, just giving more to the shareholders. I'm sorry this happened to you, and especially HOW it happened.

That is absolutely appalling ....to subject anyone to that level of stress...
Am so sorry that you were put through such an ordeal .

That's terrible. I'm sorry.

Not at that level. However, I had something similar happen tho. I worked at a shop that laid off half the mechanics one day. I was one of them. The VP came over and said thanks for working for us, we'll give you a call when things pick up. Gave me some unemployment papers, and shook my hand. I was never late, and never missed a day of work. Two days a week, I'd take off 1 hour a week. That was arranged previous to being hired so I'd have enough time to go to class.

Another crappy example was when I worked at another shop. I'd always show up there early. I was told to stop showing up so early, and come an hour later. I worked mon-sat every week. One time when it was cold and snowy, my car was acting up. I called the manager saying I'd be late (far earlier than my shift). He said lots of appointments were cancled due to weather, and since I had the longest drive to just stay at home. I wanted to go to a Kiss concert. I asked for one Saturday off. They said it'd be fine. I went to work the next monday. The owner was a complete ass, and said he wanted to talk to me.He said I was fired for "excessive absense". A) they told me to fucking stay home that day. B) They gave me that one Saturday (half day) off! This sneaky fuck wouldn't give me my check (Monday was pay day), until I signed some papers. If I had money saved up, and I flat out didn't hate the place, I would have gotten him for wrongful termination. That's bullshit!

I work for a media group — several newspapers and magazines across NYS — and in the last few years we've had several rounds of layoffs. We're a smaller company, so it hasn't been nearly as drastic as the 200 you experienced, but I'd say we've cut at least 10% (possibly a lot more, but I don't have the total number) of our staff in the last two or three years. Before that we had stagnant wages for several years (which, even in this economy, means we weren't anywhere close to keeping up with inflation), two-week furloughs, cut pension, and various other reduced benefits. Just recently we had another round of layoffs, cut hours for most staff (effectively a 6¼% pay cut), and another wage freeze. The workload hasn't been reduced, but it's shouldered by fewer and fewer people who now have fewer hours to do it in. We never had the announcement like you had, however, though it's never good no matter how people find out they're losing their jobs — but it seems especially cruel to have people waiting on pins and needles for an hour to see whether they still have a job, and to have to watch as their coworkers are told one by one. It's a shitty way to run a company, and a shitty way to treat employees.

Yes. I was in a clinic with about 350 employees and they gave 90 day notice that they were closing the doors. Everyone laid off. Everyone had to find a job. Eventually, new clinics started forming but it was a terrible feeling at first.

Well, not to sound as if I condone anything they did, but at least there was SOME warning in that they announced it in a meeting. I realize it surely made everyone a wreck. In 1985, my dad was laid off from his job. He got no notice of their even planning layoffs. He just got a layoff notice in the mail one morning. That was a Teamsters Union position. I worked at a convenience store years ago and they sold out to Love’s. They told us the day they closed the store. People have no tact a lot of times. It’s asinine. ??

The first time, the supervisor went through and told people they were done. No warning. The second time, (different company) I got a phone call in the evening telling me that I wouldn't be needed the next day, and I should probably sign up for unemployment.

I haven’t. But that’s an awful way to handle it.

Unbelievable!

That sounds absolutely terrifying. Job stress can put your entire life in jeopardy, and it’s frustrating how dependent we are on the capriciousness of our employer.

Good luck and hang tough.

I work at a career center on the other side of the state from you. In the three years I've been there I have been laid off and now back at it and had my time cut in half. Corporations don't care for anything but the bottom line and how much the top can make from the bottom. And to the comment about having no reason to be angry, wrong! The layoffs are not based on anything but greed and the whole lot of them need to go against the wall!

The bigger corps and businesses only care about profit and shareholders. If they can go from making, say, 10 million that year to making 12 million by laying people off and then overwork the remaining people then they will do it. All while not caring if they have families, mortgages, car payments, or like most Americans, no savings and are living paycheck to paycheck.

The joys of capitalism. Once had a manager tell a group of us that if we didn't give 150% they'd fire us and hire someone else since so many people were unemployed at the time.

It really sucks.

I've been through something similar. I had worked for the company for 22 and a half years when they announced they were closing the plant. All of us. Gone. The offer was, if you stay and not miss work, you could accrue vacation time which they would pay you for. Couldn't take any time off until they closed. So, do you go find a new job or wait it out?

I ended up being paid for 6 weeks vacation, 6 months severance pay and the ability to draw un-employment insurance for 6 months. The state paid for some retraining which I did some of but didn't ultimately make much difference, but I lived.

All you can do is, expect the worst and hope for the best. Make the best of a bad situation. All those old sayings.

One thing I found out was, I could live without that job, because I did. Also, it was like a weight was lifted off, because rumors of the plant closing had been swirling for a couple of years.

Good luck. You're going to make it. Even if you think you won't, you will.

Wow. That sucks. I hope you're ok.

Yes, from both sides. In Tech companies.

The management of your company is inept and tone-deaf. The people being laid off should have been informed individually or in groups and given an opportunity to ask questions. Then, they should have held the company wide meeting and explain to the remaining staff what is going on, why the people were RIFfed, and answer questions.

Whenever I've had to RIF people, I do it myself with someone from HR, in a meeting room or office where people are unlikely to see us. I'll explain what is happening, answer any questions I can and then turn it over to HR for the paperwork and questions about final pay, benefits, etc. Depending on the circumstances, I'll walk them out myself or have HR do it etc.

The most egregious thing I've seen was at a major software company. A friend of mine was asked to transfer a bunch of people from San Mateo county to Alameda county. The reason was that it was cheaper for the company to layoff people in Alameda county. He refused but someone else did it...

BTW, RIF means reduction in force AKA layoff.

I was once laid off via phone call from another state after several months of not knowing if/when the ax would come. Some employers really suck, and treat their people like trash. Sorry this happened to you.

Yeah, that’s pretty much how it goes in corporate America. No way to treat human beings.

The company should be publicly named and shamed.

That’s cruel. I’m so sorry you have to deal with that.

I worked at a company that did it even worse. They had everyone sit at their desks, then announced someone's name over the PA system. That person was then to go to the director of engineering to be told he was laid off. The whole ordeal (with the public announcement of the next victim) lasted several hours.

#1 in sales at my company. I was out of work for about a month and the entire company folded.

I didn't want a job anyway, so it was sort of a relief.

That's sounds horrifying and emotionally exhausting!