Article March 30, 2009 Issue

PLAYING BY LOVE'S RULE AFTER A LAYOFF

BY VINCENT GARRAMONE

IN AUGUST 2008 MY DEPARTMENT supervisor called a meeting informing us that, as part of our company's expense reduction policy, more positions would be outsourced. Within the next two weeks we were told individually whether or not we'd be staying or leaving the company. Two co-workers and I were laid off.

Unlike some of the other employees who'd been let go without the opportunity to say goodbye to their colleagues, we three found that to qualify for the severance package and a bonus, we were required to stay the next few months to train the new workers. The target date for our positions to be eliminated was January 15, 2009.

This would be the fourth time I'd faced a layoff situation, since starting to work in the insurance industry over 30 years ago.