Today my company ‘announced’ layoffs. I’ve been with the company 6+ years and have weathered the storm many times–often enough that I begin to recognize the routine; the pattern of corporate demise. Last year I took the following photo as an homage to those victims who disappeared. I am reminded of the disappearances which occurred in S. America during the 1980s–where folks simply vanished, with no bodies to mourn, no closure. Some were walked out on ceremony. Others simply called at home and told not to come in. What few artifacts left at their desks are packed up in boxes and mailed to them.
Corporate Mausoleum
- Without bodies to mourn, these artifacts are all that is left.
In corporate America, those left behind don’t even have a list of who all was let go (due to some strange bit of legalese). We are finding out slowly as emails bounce back, and phone calls don’t get answered, desks are empty. Key players on my projects have vanished. People I’ve worked closely with for forty hours a week, for the last six years have simply been removed.
No goodbyes.
And I am at a loss.
OuttaSiteOuttaMind 