"Rightsizing the Headcount"

Recently (as in, last Wednesday) my company let go 31 people all at once. They all had to walk out of the building together, through the front lobby, boxes in hand. We got a memo later that day from our CEO saying that this was the process of "rightsizing our headcount." Rightsizing. Not downsizing, but rightsizing.

Rightsizing tells these people that they were wrong for their positions and we are right for letting them go. Headcount tells us that we are just nameless and faceless employees, only identified by employee number; we are heads that must be counted. Not people with lives or feelings or attributes that help this company out.

Thankfully I still have a job. In this crazy economy that gets crazier by the day, for this job I am very grateful.

Two weeks ago our receptionist was rightsized. Now, she wasn't just a receptionist that answered phones (although that's a huge task in and of itself), she kept us organized around here. On a monthly average, we get 3,000 (yes, that's three thousand) faxes. We are a small office that handles ads from around the country. I've been advocating people just using PDFs and emails or better yet uploading their ads to a database on the internet for years, but that's neither here nor there. Our receptionist numbered, dated, and delivered every single one of those faxes every day. She handled the 50+ packages we get from UPS every day plus managed all the boxes we send out (the UPS guy is here every half hour. THAT's how much shipping we do.). She archived our old files, she cleaned out the archives every month. She handled our library and now she's been rightsized.

And as of today, my department is having to handle the faxes and four of the UPS pick-ups/drop offs. As if we don't already have enough to do. My friend and our department senior quit in pursuit of a better job and last Friday was her last day. We're already feeling the pinch because we're doing now with four people what the department used to do with six (the sixth person on our team got promoted to our supervisor). But I guess we're rightsized if rightsizing means just piling more and more on people's heads until we can barely breathe with all the responsibilities. I guess we're rightsized that none of us are likely to see raises or positive reviews because the company as a whole isn't doing well.

My friend, the senior of the department, did a lot for us as she was the senior. But now we're all splitting her duties. So now I'm doing the job of me (the recently demoted), I'm doing the job of the receptionist and I'm doing the job of our department senior. Wow. I can't even express my thoughts. But I will tell you this: I come in at 8 am. I take an hour lunch and I leave at 5 pm. I will not come in early; I will not take a short lunch and I definitely will not stay late. If we rack up hours over 40, we officially get overtime. But do we get to keep that overtime? Generally no. We're generally asked to leave early on Friday or whatever to eat at those extra hours. Am I going to sacrifice MY time to a company that doesn't care that I've been here 4 years and make 15 grand less than someone doing a similar job in another department? Am I going to sacrifice MY time to a company that only cares about how good THEY look in glossy magazines, flying around the country to conferences and parties and being written up in the paper while I have to stay here and have to fight to be able to leave early to go to a doctor's appointment? The answer, simply, is no.

I'm glad I have a job. It's a job I do well. But don't fault me for wanting to do the minimum. Doing the maximum means more stress, more people looking down their nose at you, and you leaving here every other Friday with the exact same paycheck.

Sure, this isn't the most Christ-like attitude I've ever had. But I've been worn down. I came into this job seeking and craving acceptance and responsibility. And that eagerness was broken by the corporate machine, however cliche that sounds.

But hey, at least today is Thursday and that means tomorrow is Casual Friday...so I can wear jeans with a non-graphic tee shirt. And these are the things I look forward to...