NOW PLAYING: Jetson, You're Fired!

1 December, 2003
A little over a month ago, I got a phone call from my boss telling me that my "position was being displaced" in 30 days. That's corporatese for "laid off." I wasn't alone -- he was getting the boot too, along with many other people I knew. It came as a total shock to me, since, as my boss said, this wasn't a "performance-based displacement," but rather a change in what our department would be responsible for in the future. Everyone I knew was stunned that I was among those being laid off.

The Wife, of course, was frantic when I broke the news to her, seeing as how we're expecting our second child this spring. I told her that I was confident that I'd find a job quickly, but it could very well mean that we would have to sell the house we'd bought just a year ago and move to another part of the country. It didn't seem likely that I'd find another telecommuting job that fast.

When George Jetson got the boot from Spacely's Sprockets, he could always go across the way to Cosworth's Cogs. I didn't exactly have that option, so in addition to hitting the company's internal job site, I scanned through the online job postings. There were a couple promising positions at my company which I applied for and tons of jobs online -- but those all would have required us to move somewhere else. We would have done so, but that wasn't something we were really wanting to do with a toddler and a pregnant Wife. Having to sell the house and move would really have added a whole new level of stress to the situation.

Happily, we really did have plenty to be thankful for this Thanksgiving -- I was offered and accepted a new position and didn't have to worry about changing any of our insurance, or selling the house, or moving or anything. My "former boss" is still going to be my boss -- he got a position in the same department, too, which is great. I'm still going to be doing much the same thing I did before, just for a different department. It's still not something that I can count on doing for much more than 18 months or so, but at least I know that up front and can plan for it.

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