Today felt surreal and completely unexpected. I went to the gym and had a good workout, but was unable to use the showers as they were in use, so I drove to work and showered there. When I came out, my manager was sitting in the fitness room waiting for his turn. He had spent the last two weeks in Europe, visiting with customers and providing training, and he looked exhausted, so I greeted him and went out to my desk and started the usual tasks. His manager Dave came in, and they went into one of the conference rooms, presumably to have a discussion about how his training trip went.
I walked by the office and they invited me in, still continuing their discussion, and then asked me to close the door. That always makes me nervous, but then they explained the company was still having issues making their sales numbers, and they needed to let me go. For a glimmer of a moment, I thought they were kidding, but I could tell by their expressions they were not. I asked if this was affecting anyone else, and they grimly nodded that it was, but couldn’t provide details to me yet. They said today would be my last day, and I could leave whenever I felt like it.
Since I had work to finish, that got assigned to me on Friday, I said I would complete this, so I returned to my desk and started working on it. I looked around, wondering how much this would impact the team or even the company, when I started noticing emails come in, with random team members giving their final goodbyes. It turned much more serious, affecting between a third and half of the company.
I don’t hold a grudge against Mark or Dave. They have been excellent people, and I’ve appreciated their honesty through the process. I was more concerned with how to tell Rebecca about it, so I didn’t say anything until I drove home after lunch, walking in early, and she came running out thinking one of the kids had opened the door. When she saw it was me, and asked why I was home, I bluntly announced I was fired, then backtracked a little to explain they actually cut a massive amount of the company, so it was nothing personal.
So, on the bright side, with her parents coming into town tomorrow, staying through Friday, I get to spend time with my family. 🙂