Yes -- all those clear organizational charts and lines of reporting do make people feel expendable, not essential. I suppose once one reaches a certain level of influence within a corporation or institution, one can demand less invisibility within the machine. But I'm thinking of all those UXR researchers that got laid off last year. Som…
Yes -- all those clear organizational charts and lines of reporting do make people feel expendable, not essential. I suppose once one reaches a certain level of influence within a corporation or institution, one can demand less invisibility within the machine. But I'm thinking of all those UXR researchers that got laid off last year. Some of them were raging success stories in the academe-to-industry transition. And then suddenly they were back on the market, sweating out six months or more of a grueling search. To which I would simply add that managing budgets often means ignoring people, and this is one of the leadership blights of our time, as well.
I just got a television for my new home, and I was watching the free streaming channels while making soup, and the hosts at Bloomberg+ were talking about stocks. They mentioned that Wayfair, a company I just bought some home goods from, had laid off 200+ people and saved a ton of money in the process, which was making their stock rise. And I was like WTF?! Those people just don't matter.
I'm reminded of another line from "The Wire" and other crime shows. No one who is in "the game" expects to get out alive. Getting capped is just part of the deal at some point. The fact that layoffs are normalized is just insane to me. How do you buy a house, move your family to a community, and expect to keep that good thing going if every six months to a year you might have to flip your "Open to Work" banner back on? And how exactly is this better than academic roles, where you might sweat out enrollment every year and live through some indignities with the admin, but actually be able to keep your home and friend network...? I'm certainly not one of those that sings the praises of post-academe life. It's pretty bleak out here, too.
I'm reading Emile Zola's brilliant Germinal (1885), a tale of hardship of a young working man on the move. Much seems the same as today, only harsher because there was no social safety net or environmental regulations. Which, of course, are under assault by Republicans.
"The fact that layoffs are normalized is just insane to me". It's why Taleb thinks that the most secure option is self-employment, but that's rarely practicable.
Yes -- all those clear organizational charts and lines of reporting do make people feel expendable, not essential. I suppose once one reaches a certain level of influence within a corporation or institution, one can demand less invisibility within the machine. But I'm thinking of all those UXR researchers that got laid off last year. Some of them were raging success stories in the academe-to-industry transition. And then suddenly they were back on the market, sweating out six months or more of a grueling search. To which I would simply add that managing budgets often means ignoring people, and this is one of the leadership blights of our time, as well.
I just got a television for my new home, and I was watching the free streaming channels while making soup, and the hosts at Bloomberg+ were talking about stocks. They mentioned that Wayfair, a company I just bought some home goods from, had laid off 200+ people and saved a ton of money in the process, which was making their stock rise. And I was like WTF?! Those people just don't matter.
I'm reminded of another line from "The Wire" and other crime shows. No one who is in "the game" expects to get out alive. Getting capped is just part of the deal at some point. The fact that layoffs are normalized is just insane to me. How do you buy a house, move your family to a community, and expect to keep that good thing going if every six months to a year you might have to flip your "Open to Work" banner back on? And how exactly is this better than academic roles, where you might sweat out enrollment every year and live through some indignities with the admin, but actually be able to keep your home and friend network...? I'm certainly not one of those that sings the praises of post-academe life. It's pretty bleak out here, too.
I'm reading Emile Zola's brilliant Germinal (1885), a tale of hardship of a young working man on the move. Much seems the same as today, only harsher because there was no social safety net or environmental regulations. Which, of course, are under assault by Republicans.
Yes, it's eerie how many echoes of the nineteenth century we hear now.
A good title for your next post.
"The fact that layoffs are normalized is just insane to me". It's why Taleb thinks that the most secure option is self-employment, but that's rarely practicable.