The Recession Becomes Real

It’s starting: the crises economy is finally hitting home. Thursday morning we had a staff meeting with our gut from Information Technology(Terry) who helps with questions we have with software and stuff. Actually a camera guy, or has been our camera guy who has helped our parent office do some video recording. We have another IT guy Doug. Whom I have worked directly with maintaining the website I have done for state for the past 10+ years. Doug is pretty good, some what distant but you have to be exact, keep on his case until he gets the problem fixed and not be afraid to fire an email off to his supervisor if need be. I really only had to send the email once. Even so it was a surprise when word filtered down to our office that good old Doug had been escorted from his office early last week. Doug is a real straight shooter I really doubt he has done anything out of line—this draconian style of eviction from one’s job place is how industry is enforcing the bad economy. Word later came down that Doug had gotten 8 grand in severance which is pretty good and the lad has talent which will allow him to either get hired or do some part time work. There is actually some part time work with State that Dough is going to be doing. But still this incident is a direct result of the recession. I have to admit up until this reduction in force this whole recession thing was something somewhere a long way away. Though my brother C., recently went through similar treatment when Pitney Bowes downsized him. I guess the fact that C. was about ready to retire anyway that the impact did not hit me as hard. But Doug’s termination was real, a state employee like me, gone a victim of the economy

A day after learning of Doug’s fate a small group of staff were having coffee and discussing the event and we started playing that weirdly intriguing game, “Worst Case Scenario” or WCS. We are a small office a very small office, and if we get some of the cuts to our budget the /state has been announcing we could be disseminated. My budget is OK for the time being I need to worry come July which would be the beginning of my new fiscal year. I need to be getting my vendors on board tio see who will or will not come across with funding next July and if so what do I need to prepare in our out of state. I was totally surprised to hear that my boss has been making plans for the WCS. I really doubt anything would happen to her or her position. Actually is so well connected she could be absorbed to work somewhere in the system. But the boss has options, and I found that I too had options. I don’t now how realistic the options are but I found the crises just may not be as bleak as I had anticipated. I would have to do some real hustling but I believe we, Dianne and I, would make it with house and vehicle in tact.

Playing Worst Case Scenario was a great exercise for me and I hope the rest of the staff-I think the best part was to actually face the boogey man: recession; and really talk about how an what if the recession hits home to me.