1. RUMOR: “I heard she’s gone.” “I was told I’m safe.” Rumors of layoffs are usually true. Rumors of who are usually false.
2. AVOIDANCE: If they can’t find me, they can’t fire me.
3. REALITY: Oh, fuck. It is me.
4. RETRIBUTION: An immediate, inflammatory, and usually drunken APB to the ad rags informing them of the atrocities that led to your dismissal.
5. HUMILITY: Why me and not ____? This is the question that keeps you up at night.
13 Comments
Yo Erik.
I’m moving to Axeville. Glad I have a friend who lives there. Reluctantly, of course.
Anyway, got the word a couple weeks ago. Though I don’t have to leave until the end of the year. Which I am grateful for, seeing that I’m getting married in March.
The timing couldn’t be more perfect.
I’m currently in Stage 5. But close to accepting the fact that all will be good.
Much luck to you in finding a new gig.
-d
This site feels like what I imagine AA feels like to those who need it… Which emotion was it that loves company, again?
Anyway, I agree with Don Mac. It’s good to know there are others in Axeville because Stage 5 is a killer.
Good luck all!
I’m a copywriter who got laid off in 2003 and have yet to find my way back to a steady gig. I thought I had found my way back in, but was laid off in 2005, then again in 2007, and expect to be laid off from my present six-months-long-now gig before year end.
This business of advertising … it’s a great career to be in (and out of), isn’t it?
Unemployed VP/Mgmt Sup Class of August here.
I would love to see a list of useless “friendly” advice that one receives while on the beach.
I will give you a few of my faves.
1. Have you checked online? There are a lot of jobs online?
2. Do you have a headhunter?
3. You should network. That’s how business is done nowadays.
4. Looking for work is a fulltime job.
Oh man. It’s been two weeks and I hate to bitch but I’m bored.
1. Learned my style of communication (hand movements) are distracting and unattractive.
2. Know that my network are well meaning but too scared to put themselves out on a limb for fear of appearing vulnerable or out of touch with reality
3. Looking for a job is boring – re-hashing and re-stating projects and accomplishments or following the ever changing advice of multiple headhunters all sharing the same list of open gigs.
4. Brits – they’re tough, impossible to impress and think you’re stupid no matter what you say or what fancy degree you have (even if it’s from Oxbridge)
5. Is it too late to go to graduate school for a recession-proof gig?
I’m at #5. Those twits should not still be employed? What is the criteria for axe’ing?
Well, I’m on the other end of this fuckpress, and I have people to let go.
I have a voicemail from the agency president, and I know that when I return the call, he’s either going to give me a dollar figure or a number of positions to eliminate.
So who gets shown the door? The least talented people? The ones with the least to lose? The ones who don’t have families to feed? The people who, while talented, aren’t really fitting into where we’re headed?
Fire too many Chiefs, and your output suffers. Too many Indians, and you’ll just be doing the miserable process over again sooner than you’d like.
Dear The Boss,
It’s not easy on either end. The person at Arnold who had to give me the news also happened to be a dear personal friend of my wife’s. The only one I felt worse for other than myself was her.
I have been in the ad biz for 14 years now. In that time, I’ve worked for 7 different agencies. I left 3 times for more money and better opportunities. The other 3 times were due to layoffs. I finally sold-out and went into pharma advertising, where there seems to be continued growth and stability, even in these times. Is it sexy? Hell no. Does it pay the bills. Hell yes!
Funny… when you’re shown the door, you don’t really think about what the person slamming it behind you is going through. I imagine it’s not that fun, as The Boss Sez, says.
On the other hand, I couldn’t give a damn that my boss had a “hard time” with it. And honestly, I don’t really think that I should. I am going to inevitably HAVE to move (Boston’s dead) even though it’s my home. I’ll have to sell my condo in the worst real estate market I’ve ever seen, likely taking a loss. And I have no idea how damaging it’s going to be in the long run to take a much more junior job than I should because that’s all that’s out there. Essentially, my entire future is in question as a result of my layoff… and my boss still has a job, his house, etc. So… if he’s “suffering” over this, I think I can live with that.
i’ve recently joined the fun ship axeville too. 2nd time at the helm. and i have to say so far i’m a little more sane. probably because i went through every emotion there is, the day of the dismissal. i was of many, it wasn’t personal, blah blah blah. it still means you moved to an expensive city, got fired, and have to start all over again. the only thing i’m grateful for? no more 80 hour weeks. at least for awhile.
I just found your site via AdAge (as I’m sure many others have) and thought you’d enjoy this post (http://clairedalton.blogspot.com/2008/09/unemployment.html) and then found that you’ve touched on something pretty similar. Figured I’d share anyway. Best of luck to you!
Ha, Thanks Claire. At least she had the decency and intelligence to credit the Kubler-Ross model. I’d say she approached it much more insightfully than I did.
One Trackback/Pingback
[...] of my first posts to this space was about the 5 stages of unemployment. It was a wise-ass mockery of the emotional phases we go through after losing a job in advertising. [...]
Post a Comment