Terrible newspaper firings/layoffs

This is the case with me, as well, although recovery has taken a long time, and, in fact, is still ongoing, because mine was so bad, I still wouldn't write about it in any detail here.

Now, having moved on as much as possible, though, I wonder more what might have been if only I had spent most of my best working years doing what I'm doing now, rather than working in newspapers.

And that's coming from someone who loved working for newspapers, who, at the time, would never have dreamed of doing anything else.

Things change, though, and that's something really important to remember -- in every facet of life.

 

I don't know if it would work internationally, but it sure as hell works over here... They completely rolled over. Then again, maybe they felt guilty that 48 hours earlier when I was in the office, the SE and ME said, "Oh, we'd never get rid of you... You have nothing to worry about..."

Fortunately, both of those pricks were shown the door shortly after I was....

 

A former SE got an intra-office instant message from a guy in another department, saying he was sorry to hear this and asking what his future plans might be.
SE response: "What are you talking about?"
Guy in other dept.: "Oh shit."

SE had not been laid off yet, but the guy in the other department got it from a friend in management who knew what was going down. A few minutes later, the HR person approached he SE's desk ....

 

We have our own version of The Turk here. HR woman who carries a box around, often on Fridays. It is terrifying when she walks through the newsroom. All of us avoid making eye contact with her.

One of my "bad news" moments:
- Sports talk radio. Engineer played the wrong "jingle" going into my last break. "All Sports 770" became "The All New 770". Four minutes later, the format became smooth jazz. I went Lester Burnam on the GM moments later. "The paper will be calling me later about getting fired. How nice should I be?". GM frowned and asked what I wanted. Five months of paychecks (plus I was a sports anchor for TV) kept me spinning a sweet tale of understanding to anyone who asked.

 

If there's anything like a good layoff story, here's one. An aquaintance got called in on his day off for "an important meeting," as his boss termed it. Aquaintance, who knew what that meant, told the boss that he already had plans for the that day, and he would come in when he was scheduled to work the next day. Boss tried to press him to come in that day, and the guy refused, saying he wasn't going to spoil his day off by making the trip into the office.

Next day, aquaintance comes in, clocks in, signs some paperwork and gets laid off. Only, it was on the first of the month. Company tried to claim he was laid off the day before, and my aquaintance threatened to call a lawyer because technically, he was working on the first of the month, which meant the company had to provide him with health insurance until the end of the month. Needless to say, they backed down and weren't happy about it. My aquaintance didn't care, and got an extra month before he had to pay for COBRA.

 

Nicely played, sir. I did the same thing. They called me on my day off, calling it an "important meeting." The problem was I lived an hour away and I knew what was going to transpire. No way was I driving all that way to get hacked.

 

I've told this one a few times, here's the shortened version.... A guy at a Gannett paper got wind of his pending layoff and intentionally fell down the stairs. He went on workman's comp and kept his job. About five years later, he's still there...

 

A guy at a Tribune paper was arriving for work one day, and a security guard said, "Hey, I heard you just got fired." Apparently it was leaked, and the guy went straight to Human Resources and raised hell. Dunno how he made that work, but he kept his job for at least 10 more years and retired when he was ready.

 

You know, you're a one-trick fucking pony, man. Have been since you showed up here.

Hey, I'm at a downsizing paper. You hear me running around screaming "everything sucks" at the top of my lungs?

Man the fuck up. Jesus.

 

I'll add mine, even if it might out me:
This was more than a decade ago in the Deep South, and our area had been hit hard economically by the mini-recession of 2000-01. It was mid-June, and I went into the office early to work on a feature. Moments after I sit down, the editor waltzes over and ...
-- Editor: Hey, I need to talk to you. I have some bad news.
-- Me: Oh, what's up?
-- Editor: (uncomfortable shifting, knowing he wanted me to go to his office). Um, well, um, you see, um, here's the deal: You know we've had rumors of layoffs, and today we learned we're having them. And the best way we figured to do it is the most recent people hired are the people being let go. So, since you were the most recent hire in sports, your job is being eliminated.
-- Me: That is bad news.
-- Editor: Oh, and one other thing: Today is the final day of the pay period, so today will be your last day.

It worked out OK for me, since I found another job at paper I'd always wanted to work for about 6 weeks later. That allowed me to work with some of the finest journalists I've ever met and helped me grow personally and professionall. But, at the time, it wasn't a good day.

A few months later we had 9/11, and my worst (professional) day was put into the proper perspective rather quickly.

 

That is good perspective. Glad you landed on your feet.

 

I guess we are now in a world where "Man UP!!!" means "Stay where you are, and never act like there's anything better out there."

Fredrick is giving good advice here, that has been said before. Those who have taken such advice tend to do OK.

Not sure that's worth doing just to keep a newspaper job. Maybe back in the 1980s or 1990s . . .