D-Day 2

A colleague lost his job today :-(

If you've been following my blog for a while, you'll know that:

• our company closed down its offices in NJ last year and employees have been asked to move to HQ in Massachusetts, this was D-Day 1;
• our boss, now the ex-boss, did not move to HQ;
• a colleague, G, and his wife moved to MA (company headquarters) soon after the announcement. He and his family are doing well;
• another colleague, R, decided not to move and was given her 3 months-notice;
• another colleague, E, asked for an extension of his stay in NJ until December;
• and that hubby and I tried to move but couldn't sell our condo (at a reasonable price) and so a year later, we're still here.

D-day 2 was yesterday. Boss called 2 weeks ago and asked me to make arrangements for a meeting between him, me and E.

The boss coming over to NJ from MA was highly unusual. I have been making frequent trips to HQ each time the boss needed to talk to me face to face and him coming over this time ? Well, let's just say that alarm bells started ringing as soon as I got his message. The last time that someone in the company got visited by his boss, he got fired.

Today, I woke up with butterflies in my stomach, I was hungry but had no appetite. I had been praying hard for this meeting in the weeks / days leading to this meeting and I had prayed hard before I left the house for the meeting so I eventually arrived at the realization that with all the blessings that we currently enjoy - permanent residency cards for hubby & me, hubby's job, a small amount set aside for rainy days in the bank, moral support from our friends and our families' love and support - we wouldn't find ourselves in dire straits if I lost my job today. It wasn't surprising that I found myself very calm when I met up with the boss earlier today.

I don't want to go into details about what went on during that meeting with the boss except that he is perfectly happy with my productivity & efficiency so I'm still employed and still get to enjoy the privilege & benefit of working from home. He asks only that I make arrangements to make regular trips to HQ on a monthly basis - doable since the company pays for all expenses anyway. Everything went well - this was actually the best-case scenario - for me.

Unfortunately, E was let go. The boss assured me naman that we bring different skill sets to the table so even if E was let go, I don't have to worry about my position or feel threatened. I don't have to feel the pressure to sell my house and move to MA either because "NJ is just a place" - his words, not mine - and that if I'm productive in NJ, they don't mind. It looks as if moving to MA is still on the table, but it's not first and foremost in their (bosses) minds.

E's spirits are still up when I talked to him today mostly because he's been getting a lot of hits on his posted resume. We're hoping that he lands a good job soon, before his separation pay runs out.