I took a drive around Sun Microsystem's offices in Burlington this morning. The company announced last week that it will lay off 15% to 18% of its workforce, which translates to roughly 5000 to 6000 people. It's becoming a tough time out there. The headlines on Friday were along the lines of "high tech sector now feeling the pinch of the economy."
I drove around looking for clues in the parking lot: how many cars were here? Who was working? I somehow thought the parking lot would be full, a buzz in the air. People were going to be let go, and middle managers needed to be working. Instead, the parking lot was empty. It was a quiet Sunday morning. Nothing was stirring except for a few landscaping vehicles. As I circled the large campus, all I was left to ponder was the general vulnerability of any kind of job, including my own "high tech sector" job. The economy isn't taking prisoners.
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You are right, the economy is taking no prisoners. I told my now grown children some years ago that everyone needs to have a side hustle - a business, an avocation - something that brings in money. I've learned you can't have an identity with a company or title. Things are tough. I left my full-time job in August 2007. So far, I've managed to find projects to keep going and hold up my half of the bills.
ReplyDeleteIn a funny way, never having had a lot of money has prepared me better to deal with the economy now than some of my friends who have been flush with cash and can't imagine downgrading in any way.