Today a good friend of mine found out she was being laid off. This is not uncommon in today's economy. Lots of stuff is going on and many people are losing their jobs. This case is a bit different. My friend just came back from a 6 month maternity leave. We had our corporate layoff announcement in June. This means my friend was slotted for the layoff while she was on maternity leave. The real clincher is how she found out. She returned to work on 9/2/08 and was given her old job back plus a few new responsibilities. Over the weekend she got a letter from HR asking her about signing up for COBRA (health insurance when you lose your job). This morning she questioned her boss about it and her boss said "oh yeah I just found out on Friday about your layoff." Which I am pretty sure is untrue as these headcount issues are planned quite meticulously. Had my friend only taken 6-8 weeks off she probably would have fallen under the reassignment umbrella when the layoffs were going on as several of her co-workers were.
The thing that really bugs me is that our company is constantly being applauded by major publications such as Working Mother magazine, boasting of its generous benefits package and maternity leave arrangements such as GRW (gradual return to work). It's all smoke and mirrors. Female managers who get pregnant are often harassed by their bosses about how much time they will be taking off and what kind of child care arrangements are being made. I myself was cornered by a former boss who wanted to know if and when I planned on getting pregnant because he had plans to make.
The only saving grace is my friend has 7 months to find a new job. She technically won't be 'let go' until her GRW is up (6 months) and then she gets the customary 30 days to find a new job within the company. This is a huge undertaking but at least she has some time on her side and a decent network to pull from. She has 15 years in the company and is one of the smartest people I know. To hear her go through this is heartbreaking. I am at a loss and all that rolls through my brain is if she could get hit I could without a doubt. We are not people. We are numbers. There is really only one thing we can do and that is take it for all it's worth. Meet people, network and take advantage of anything out company offers us such as tuition reimbursement. If I get fired I will walk away with almost $100,000 worth of college tuition and two degrees that can not be taken away.
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