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Jobster

  • Jan. 2nd, 2007 at 10:08 PM
crazy delicious
Tomorrow morning, the 150 or so of us at Jobster get to find out if a "reorganization to align our business focus in 2007 to optimize the organization around our most efficient sales and support channels" means "layoffs" in Executive-speak.

I feel very secure about my job. Yet, I still feel like a passenger on that JetBlue flight that's watching helpless on my seatback satellite TV as the plane I'm on makes a crash landing. Modern Technology lets me see every last detail, but I'm trapped in the cabin, unable to do anything about it, yet also unable to look away.

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( 13 comments — Leave a comment )
[info]brad wrote:
Jan. 3rd, 2007 06:35 am (UTC)
Whoa, I'd never read about that JetBlue flight before. Fucked up.

And dude, even if you lose your job.... it's just a job. You walk away knowing that you learned a lot, met new people, etc. You find any good alternatives from your previous postings?
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[info]laurelfan wrote:
Jan. 3rd, 2007 07:45 am (UTC)
interesting analogy
Good way to think about it... Perhaps this exchange is most interesting to the people who _won't_ be laid off tomorrow. For the people who are laid off, the decision is made for them. The rest need to consider whether layoffs are a good or bad thing for the company, and part of that is what the "public" thinks about it, and part of it is not.
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[info]four wrote:
Jan. 3rd, 2007 02:23 pm (UTC)
150?!
what do all those people do?
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[info]bostonsteamer wrote:
Jan. 3rd, 2007 02:52 pm (UTC)
True story
A few months ago, I asked one new hire what she does and she didn't know. So I asked her manager what the two of them do, and she didn't know either. That's when I knew we were in big trouble.
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[info]jillbertini wrote:
Jan. 3rd, 2007 04:45 pm (UTC)
Re: True story
Oh god, that's definitely not good.
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(Anonymous) wrote:
Jan. 3rd, 2007 06:34 pm (UTC)
Manage like it is 1999
Jobster sounds like a trip. Did the 60 people who got laid off come from any one particular area?
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[info]bostonsteamer wrote:
Jan. 3rd, 2007 09:10 pm (UTC)
Re: Manage like it is 1999
According to the company blog, it was "primarily those supporting our in-person sales and support efforts"
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[info]arielmeadow wrote:
Jan. 3rd, 2007 11:06 pm (UTC)
Re: Manage like it is 1999
Although it skewed heavily towards client services, marketing, and sales, I think every department was represented in the layoffs, except devs.
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[info]bostonsteamer wrote:
Jan. 4th, 2007 05:26 am (UTC)
Re: Manage like it is 1999
I made a diff of the company roster. I think Charles got laid off? I thought Ken got laid off too, but he was at the "you didn't get laid off" meeting today...
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[info]arielmeadow wrote:
Jan. 4th, 2007 06:19 am (UTC)
Re: Manage like it is 1999
Charles DID get laid off, although I didn't see him in the meeting. I was also shocked that they laid off Rachel.
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(Anonymous) wrote:
Jan. 9th, 2007 03:50 am (UTC)
Re: True story
The true story you mentioned, has been a repeat occurence over the past year....It's one thing to give people the freedom to make a job what they want it to be, but another to bring them onboard without very specific ideas about what exactly this person needs to accomplish and how the value of those accomplishments translates to in terms of dollars (profit and savings).

~Rachel
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[info]bostonsteamer wrote:
Jan. 9th, 2007 06:26 am (UTC)
Re: True story
Yes, this was a classic example of Jim Collins' "First Who, Then What" (aka "get the right people on the bus") going somewhat badly.
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(Anonymous) wrote:
Jan. 9th, 2007 03:46 am (UTC)
Finding out you've been "let go" in the age of blogging + corporate info leaks is so very Web 2.0!
Rachel here!

Thanks Ariel -- not such a shocker really tho -- I was just a code monkey for sales and marketing which eventually became the bane of my existence! Ah well, just a kick in the butt for me to do something more creative with my mad skillz. Looking forward to it actually!
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