Conference 7.286::digital

    
    	The opportunities reside in a complete and thorough market 
    	analysis. A complete honest inventory of your skills and
    	how they apply in todays/tommorrows market place. The analysis
    	should prepare you for a market niche that is emerging. 
    
    	CD disks and microfiche archives of the last year of activity
    	in the computer industry (if that's the industry to target)
    	is a good place to start.
    
    	This is a six month process.
    
    							FWIW,
    							-Dave

    Sorry, no success story here - the whole prospect makes me *very*
    queasy.  Years ago, less than a year after I got out of college, I got
    laid off my one of our competitors after I had been there less than a
    year (they laid off 1/3 of their staff in our area, by strict seniority
    - I didn't have a prayer of surviving that cut!).  I still had a lot of
    college loans and stuff to pay off, plus buying things like furniture,
    a car, etc.  Although it only took me three months to find a job, I
    came within $250 of being *totally* flat broke.  When I did find a job,
    it was a 6-month contract job with no renewal, paid even less than our
    competitor had been paying me, was a long commute from home by public
    transportation, etc.  I had to job-hunt off and on the whole time I
    worked there (with the understanding of my temporary boss for those six
    months - there was nothing he could do; the terms of the contract were
    dictated to him from on high).  Luckily for me, I located my first job
    with DEC and started in MRO the Monday after that contract expired.  I
    was so broke that I went through the first winter I worked here without
    a working heater in the old car I had bought, because I couldn't afford
    to get the thing fixed until I paid off some of my debt - I had a 45
    minute commute one way in those days, and I kept a big old blanket and
    a thermos of hot coffee in the car so I didn't freeze.  I was younger
    in those days - I don't think I could do that anymore.
    
    OK, this was quite a while ago now - I started at DEC at the beginning
    of January of 1976.  But it was a horribly unpleasant time to go
    through, and one that I was ill-prepared for; I guess it never occurred
    to me that someone who graduated at the top of their college class in 3
    years instead of 4 while also working half time through school would
    end up getting "dumped".  It has sort of colored my life ever since - I
    am very security-conscious, take on as little debt as I can manage, and
    so on.  I never want to go through that again!  So when you folks start
    talking about "success stories" of people who got laid off, I get this
    terrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.  Yes, I know some
    success stories, too.  I know more of the other kind of stories,
    especially recent ones.  It's a nightmarish prospect.
    
    /Charlotte - sorry to be so negative today!

    
    The was a very good show on Channel 2 (WGBH, PBS Boston) about four-six
    months ago on how people adapted to layoffs in Massachusetts. It
    followed a Bill Moyers show on how awful it is to get laid-off and how
    the whole structure of unskilled labor in the US is changing.
    (Basically it said, if you're unskilled, you've got nothing to sell
    anymore.) But the Massachusetts show which followed the depressing Bill
    Moyers show was suprisingly positive. It focused on real people, most
    of whom in Mass were either college educated professionals (from technology 
    jobs) or skilled people like construction workers.) Many, but not
    all, of these people, looked back on their layoffs as the critical 
    push that forced them to make their lives better. Although they 
    experienced a lot of pain and anguish, and financial hardships, early
    on, the ones that got new jobs were by and large happier. It was an
    encouraging show. "You can live through a layoff" was the basic
    message. 
    
    The show closed with a comment from a therapist who specialized in 
    helping people get through layoffs. She made the following perseptive 
    remark: The best thing about your job now is that it's 'yours.' There
    are undoubtedly things that aren't the way you like them: your boss may
    be rotten, you might have stopped growing, etc. And you are probably 
    tolerating these bad things solely because the job is 'yours.' When you
    lose this job, you lose the bad things about it too. And when you get a new
    job, it may be different, you may make less money, but some of the
    things about will be better. And it will be 'yours' too, when you get it. 
    
    I wish they would rerun this show. Anyone else remember it? 
    

RE: .2

I found a hugh positive in your story.  You do not take on debt easily.
If more poeple learned this (especially the government), the country
would be in better shape.

I have been laid off three times.  The first was my own choice.  The
second was during the Recession of 1974.  The last was before I joined
DEC.  I learn one very important lession from this - there are other
jobs out there.  But and this is a big BUT, sometimes you must step
backwards to get ahead.  In 1974, I ended up taking a job that I really
didn't want because I was running out of money.  I stepped back about
two years in pay.

There are a lot of negatives to being laid off.  However If you prepare 
your finances so that you can stand the hit, and if the tap on the 
shoulder never happens, you will still be in better shape than most folks.

Been there,
Lee G.

.0>    Most of us fear these layoffs{...}because we believe there isn't 
.0>    anything better on the horizon.  If we thought things would improve, 
.0>    we wouldn't be afraid.  We might even look forward to it.  
    
    My problem is that I can't decide whether that describes being laid
    off, or *not* being laid off.
    
    For awhile now I've felt that if somebody tapped me on the shoulder and
    said "here's a year salary, go start a business to take one of your
    ideas and make it real" I'd jump at the chance.  Within the past week
    or two I've confronted my anxiety about a possible layoff and realized
    it's silly to have emotional blocks against something that would be
    almost exactly my ideal situation.
    
    Those emotional blocks seem to be solely because it is entirely out of
    my control.
    
    I think that's the root of my feelings about both going and staying. 
    Staying has appeal iff I feel I have some control over my performance
    and the corporation's performance.  Conversely, staying has no appeal
    if I find myself with a manager who insists on directing not only what
    I do but also how I do it.  Leaving is intimidating because there is no
    one else to provide direction, but by the same token there is no one
    else to interfere when direction is set.  It's both frightening and
    exhilerating to face having full authority and responsibility for one's
    destiny....
    
    The biggest reason I'd like to stay is that I'm not yet confident I've
    learned as much as I could (or should) have learned from my present
    supervisor.  I'm also not sure if that's a big enough positive to
    outweigh other factors in my situation on balance.

    Suppose I get tapped (not impossible).

    A problem: I'm 55 years old.  Since I was 29 years old, I've been
    working for Digital.  This means I'm more than a little acculturated,
    and compared to younger, more mobile, counterparts, I'm at a severe
    disadvantage.

    Let's face it; there is no overt age discrimination; however, it's
    still a lot more difficult for us older folk to find jobs than it is
    for younger ones in this (or any) industry.  So, naturally, should I be
    TFSOed, I'm in a particularly poor position to support our family (my
    wife's not working; I'm sole support).

    If the economy were hot, then no problem.  But if the economy were hot,
    there probably would be no layoffs, either.

    But whatever the future brings, I guess I'll live through it.

    Steve Kallis, Jr.

    re: .6  
    
    My father was about your age and found himself without a job - not an
    infrequent problem in the consulting business.  My mother was scared to
    death and felt that at his age he would be unable to find something.  
    
    As it turned out, he landed a vice presidential position at a hospital
    in the midwest.  My mother resisted the change;  she didn't want to
    move from Philadelphia.  There were some tough times.  He's retired
    now, and they are both very happy. The change turned out to be a real
    plus for them.

    Two years ago I was tagged with the package ( I should have taken it!)
    and my manager was also.  He left with about 76 weeks salary and stock
    options etc.  The first year he kicked around in sales and this past
    fiscal year with his current employer he made 100K.  50K base and 50K
    commission.
    
    Another co-worker from that group took the SERP pkg.  He left on the
    Friday and started a new job on the following Monday.
    
    Anothe deccie told me about a relativewho got tagged in one of the past
    layoffs.  The guy landed a job making 6K more than was at DEC.
    
    In any event it is difficult to work in this atmosphere of waiting for
    the next cut.
    
    Al

    I have seen a few people I work with get told they are out of a job.
    It is very sad to see anyone go through this ordeal.   I hope they can
    keep their spirits up and move ahead.  I wish them all the luck
    in the world getting new jobs.  Keep your spirits high, you are one of
    the victims of a shrinking industry.
    
    No one can ever feel safe when layoffs are in the works. 
    
    Good luck to us all.
    Jon

re .10:

Ken always says that if you want a safe job, work for the post office.

    A friend at the PO says they're hearing rumors of cutbacks, perhaps
    as many as 100,000 (!!!) people. 

    
    
       Anybody have any ideas of what the Mass economy will look
      like after this?
    
          The real estate market?
    

    
    re: .12
    
    Uh, the post office?  Anybody see the 20/20 episode of a
    couple of weeks ago?

>         Out of the 15-30K who get picked, I pray no one loses
>       it and spends the last $1000 of their package on semi-
>       automatic weapons and ammo.
    
    Or worse a shotgun. But not to worry, bringing a gun in is against
    company policy. That should keep you safe. 
    
    			Alfred

    
    ...then again, company policy is subject to wide-ranging interpretation
    by local management...
    

        A couple of people have expressed concern about note 1990.10 and
        the subsequent replies.  The concern has been that the mention of
        the possibility that someone would totally lose it and shoot some
        people will actually inspire someone to do so.
        
        I have just read 1990.10 and the subsequent replies.  I do not see
        anything in these notes that would incite anyone to violence.  As
        a consequence, I'm not going to either hide or delete the replies.
        
        I certainly hope that none of us is unfortunate enough to believe
        that shooting anyone at Digital is going to right a wrong or fix
        the problems in the economy that are impacting Digital's business.
        
        As for the thread of discussion, it's not clear to me what most of
        this has to do with working at Digital, and I suspect this thread
        will die off on its own.
        
        Tom

    
    
    
      Geez.... I am sorry my note (.10) here created such a stir...
    
      
        I'll delete if someone will send me mail explaining why
       this might inspire someone to commit murder.
    
             
         
    

    Note .10 has been deleted.

    
    
        by me
    
    

    
    
       Mailbox overload  :')