A Poem About Career Advancement

[deanwebb]

THE DARKENING WORKPLACE

First, they came for the daily lunch paid for by the executives.
Then, they got rid of free snacks
Next was the free soft drinks, we were really bummed about that
Then the free water
We all said, "Water? Really? WTF?"
But they took it anyway.
After that, they replaced the fancy coffee machine that also made hot cocoa and tea
And we got a bunch of pots and carafes
With a hot water spigot on the side
And only two types of coffee, regular and decaf
No more French Vanilla or Belgian Hazelnut... or any fancy coffees...
That's about when we started to see more contractors
And we began to train vendor partners that would help us manage things
The annual report had phrases in it like "plan to return to profitability"
And "we're working through some struggles"
That's when we saw the first layoff
And the spinoff of a few acquisitions the company made
Back when M&As were all the rage
The budgets for travel, training, and conferences vanished at that point
Skype and online courses were held to be just as good
As the executives flew around the world and shook hands at meetings
We read about that and thought, "They keep flying, but we lose our fancy coffee?"
We still hired new people, but they were in strange and foreign lands
Places where salaries were lower
As low as the standards of the bootcamps in those strange and foreign lands
Where all had zero experience and a passing score on a written CCIE
And then there was another layoff in a high-payroll nation
And then there was another divestment of a previous M&A
Gutted, the company limped along, but, buyerless, it perished
Its assets picked up in bankruptcy
Our profitability increased, but the pressure was on to be more profitable
The locations consolidated
People were told their position was moving
And there was no moving allowance offered
The position moved and, having moved, went unfilled
Eventually, the req was cut
Even as early retirement packages were offered to the veterans
The motivational speakers began to appear
Less costly than the employees no longer there
Their exhortations to do more with less
Fell on the ears of fewer and fewer full-time employees
Entire departments were now outsourced
Only managers remained
The outsourcers laughed as they promised lower overall total costs
They laughed as they clutched the contracts greedily
And then they came for me...
The tap fell on my shoulder and I was offered a chance to apply for my job
With the outsourcer taking it over
I looked around for support, but I was alone
My co-workers had gone to work for vendors
Or other companies not yet merging or acquiring
Or took early retirement, since they qualified for the package
It was then that I realized...
In the cold morning light before lunchtime...
A cardboard box's final smell reminding me the end was here...
It was then that I realized...
Maybe I should have started looking for another role when we lost our fancy coffee

[deanwebb]

I've been in places like that, and I've had friends in places like that. It's pretty much a checklist of what happens as a company runs out of ideas and still wants to goose its profitability. One of the biggest costs for a company is payroll, so cutting payroll somewhat every year means that much more profit every year, all else staying the same.

Therefore, as this stuff happens where you work, increase your job search activity.

And for goodness' sake, be sure to get hired on at a place that still has fancy coffee! Even if you don't drink the stuff, it's a sign of how things are at that company.

[SofaKing]

Maybe I should have started looking for another role when we lost our fancy coffee

No fancy coffee!  That would be the straw that breaks the camel's back for me   I've never been through this myself but work with a couple of people who got out of their old jobs when they saw these signs.  Thanks for sharing.

[deanwebb]

You're welcome! And, yeah, "no fancy coffee" really should be the limit. That's right before the firm starts cutting muscle and leaving its people in decreasing benefits with increasing risk of losing jobs.