Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Layoffs

**Hello my loves. Finally a long awaited post - and i'm so sorry that it's so short. I can't make any promises for Friday but I'll do my best to post. The family member I mentioned passed away, and my new job starts Monday. For now I'm going to promise to post as often as I can but I need to deviate from my Weds/Fri schedule. After the holidays and everything has settled down again, I hope to return to normal posting. Between now and then I'll post as much as I can, and just follow me on twitter for any updates. **

A few minutes after leaving Noah, I entered Platform's offices a complete bundle of nerves. Elena's texts had left me on edge and I had no idea what I was about to walk into. 

I dumped my bag and coat on my desk, scanning the space for my intern before heading into the meeting. No sign of Alice. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed a notebook and headed into the conference room that Elena had instructed. 

As I grew closer, I saw more than 30 people crowded in the glass-walled room. My heart sped up - this had to have something to do with what I heard Colleen discussing on the phone last week. During the last few strides between myself and the heavy glass door to my fate, all I could hear was Colleen's voice repeating in my head "that's a huge cutback Scott."

I pulled the door open slowly, in an attempt to draw as little attention to myself as possible. I spotted Elena seated in the corner nearest the door and, relieved, I slunk into a chair she had saved next to her. We exchanged a few of those knowing facial expressions that you can only master when you really know someone before I turned my attention to Colleen, who was addressing the group.

"--we expected the third quarter sales to jump, especially with the talent we had on our covers. But that just wasn't the case. We've all known that print sales have been down for years, but it's really starting to hit Platform hard now."

She made a dramatic pause and even though I had been in the meeting all of 30 seconds, I felt my stomach drop. 

Finally, Colleen spoke. "I'm not saying that layoffs are imminent, but I just wanted you all to prepare yourselves."

"Oh my god," Becca, a previous intern, said. "That is what you say when someone is about to die."

I bit my lip, trying to stifle a laugh. 

"Becca," Colleen addressed her, clearly frustrated. "I'm just giving a warning, which anyone who pays any attention to our sales figures wouldn't be surprised by."

I glanced at Elena, who was simultaneously side-eyeing me. I knew, realistically, I was in one of the safer departments. If anything digital would get more of the budget in the long run. But Elena was in Editorial, she did a lot of the copy writing and editing for pieces that went in print.  

Colleen ended the meeting and people began filtering out, gossiping loudly as they did so. Having missed the first half of the meeting, I kept my mouth shut until we reached our desks. 

"Fill me in," I said, following Elena to her desk and perching on the side of it.

She took a deep breath. "Basically, Colleen called an emergency meeting for all senior staff and editorial. She told us a bunch of numbers and said that our parent company wasn't happy, then that is about when you walked in."

I could tell she was worried about her job, and I didn't blame her. 

"Why would she even tell everyone? Now the whole staff is going to start looking for other jobs," Elena continued, and I felt a warmth creep up my neck remembering where I had been just 30 minutes before.

"Yeah," I said, before slinking off to my desk. 

12 comments:

  1. I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Please don't worry about us. Write if you want to, don't if you don't, but most importantly, take care of yourself!

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  2. So sorry for the loss of your family member, take care of yourself first and foremost. Thoughts are with you

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  3. Agree. You're a beautifully talented writer, but take time to mourn in the way that you need. I'm sorry for your loss, it is never easy no matter the circumstances. Om shanti shanti.

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  4. Chris - @nylonlover69 on Twitter/IGDecember 11, 2014 at 8:50 AM

    Absolutely take care of you and your family first. Use us for a bit of escape from reality, but don't make posting a priority because otherwise you'll end up hating having to come here because you aren't meeting expectaions, both yours and those of your readers.

    xxxooo

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  5. I am so sorry about your family member. Thank you so much for taking the time to write a post, but please take all the time you need to deal with grief and holiday stress. Your readers really appreciate you!

    Maybe a good time for Dani to get out of Platform, though.

    http://sluttyisthenewblack.blogspot.com

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  6. My condolences, really sorry for your loss and dont worry about a posting schedule now, take all the time that you need.

    - Dahlia

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  7. Sorry about your loss. You take as long as you need- we will be right where you left us :)

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  8. I'm really sorry to hear about your loss too. I respect that you took the time to put together a post. I can imagine it might help to write and get your mind off of things, but don't worry about us if you need your time. Stay strong, we'll be here :)

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  9. Chris - @nylonlover69 on Twitter/IGDecember 16, 2014 at 8:35 AM

    Hey girl, hey! Hope that your first day went good yesterday. I know from experience that those can be so exciting and scary at the same time.

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  10. What a scary situation, and right before the holidays. Best of luck to you, and so sorry for your loss.

    On another note, although this comment seems ill-placed - just read a bunch of your blog and really love your writing.

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  11. Sorry for you loss. Hope your new job is going well.

    www.elinainlondon.com

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  12. Hope you are doing well. Hang in there. So sorry for your loss. Good luck with the job. Happy Holidays!

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