Layoffs hang like a dark cloud on the horizon. They are a storm which will come and pass, but where they will strike before they do, and whom they will take with them when they go, we cannot know. We are powerless in their face, we cannot stop them or avoid them, and they are not in our control, though we are very much in their control.
There are tens of millions of Americans who today know the truth of those words because there are, today, tens of millions of Americans who face the possibility of being laid off. It is the scourge of the season. It is whispered about at my work, it is whispered about at your work, it is trumpeted on the evening news.
But the one aspect of this that we do have control over is how we react, because if we react poorly, we make things worse. We weaken ourselves and our workplaces, we create needless angst and anxiety, and we spread a feeling of fear and hopelessness. And that is just the exact opposite of what we need. In times of uncertainty, confidence and courage are your best companions; worry and fret are soul-destroying poisons.
So here's the bottom line. Either you are going to get laid off, or you aren't. That's the way it is and there's nothing you can do about it. That's not fatalism, that's reality. It's a recognition of the fact that while it's OK to worry about things you can control, it is insane to worry about things you cannot control.
The layoffs rolling across our country are a reflection of general economic weakness. In many cases, those who lose their jobs won't deserve to lose their jobs - they personally will have done nothing wrong - so they are not at fault or to blame for getting fired. That fact is both torturous and liberating. It is unfair to be fired when you're doing a good job, but it is good to know that your own screw up didn't cost you your career. It is just dumb, blind luck, and the calculations of bosses with businesses to save.
As layoffs loom, people naturally speculate and theorize, trying to figure out who will and who won't be cut. These speculations can grow to near constant topics of conversation and can dominate one's thoughts. But they don't accomplish a thing, and they don't mean a thing. All they do is rile up and roil up; they spread a conspiratorial anxiety across a workplace. They sometimes create divisions that wouldn't otherwise exist, as people look at their co-workers and make an argument why one should go and another should stay.
It is an exacerbation of the dread, a group deathwatch that saps spirits, kills morale and hurts productivity. There's not much point in talking about it because nobody really knows, and no one will until they start calling us in. And when that happens - to ourselves or to others - the test of character begins. We will have to respond with maturity and grace, class and courage. Most importantly, we will have to avoid anger. Specifically, we will have to avoid being destroyed by anger because it can be a cancer that spreads like sewage in a stream. It can overtake and dominate our consciousness, and hurt us more than the loss of a job.
It is also unjustified because these layoffs are not punitive, they are not malicious. They are necessary. That's what makes all of this different. There is no corporate profit-taking going on. There is no outsourcing or union busting; this isn't about our companies turning on us.
This is about our companies fighting to survive. The economic model is being tested and strained, and right now some things just aren't working. And each company has an obligation to survive - too many people depend on them.
For many of us, our companies have employed and enriched us for years. As workers, we have been partners in great enterprises which have brought prosperity and sustenance to many. But now, some of those enterprises will go on without us, in order that they can go on at all.
That will be heartbreaking to some but beneficial to many. It will allow businesses to go forward, to employ who they can, and to be ready to grow and expand again when the economy straightens itself out.
So that's what we know about these looming layoffs. They are necessary and they are beyond our control, and ultimately our companies and our country will be better for them. We can't stop them, we can't predict them, we will ultimately benefit by them. And whether they hit us or our friends, we will all be better if we meet them with courage and confidence instead of fear and worry.
I don't want to get laid off, and neither do you. But let us have courage and go forward with confidence. There is a dark cloud on the horizon, but it's not the end of the world.
And we shouldn't act like it is.
