So long MBJ

I started working at the Memphis Business Journal on October 25, 2004. Yesterday, I was called in the publisher's office and told that due to the state of the economy the company has been forced to cut costs where ever possible and that my position was going to be terminated. They were kind enough to pay me for my unused vacation days and also gave me a couple of months severance pay. They also decided to let me go at the beginning of the month so that I would have a full month's worth of insurance while I apply for unemployment and look for a new job.

I'm still in shock. I'd been expecting something like this for almost a year but it still surprised me. I liked my job. Even tho I had to drive an hour from Trumann to Memphis I did it because I liked the job and for the most part liked the people I worked with.

I keep thinking about things that I did every day, week, month that no one really noticed. Who will do those things now? Will they know where to pick up the legal notices or how to do proofs? No one else knows how to make the manifests look the way I do. Will they understand my filing system and know how to pick up where I left off? Who will go back and fix the reps' mistakes? Who will help them understand the reports? Maybe the things I did were not that important and that's one of the reasons why it was so easy to get rid of me. Maybe I shouldn't worry about it because it's not my job anymore. A little part of me is kind of happy that there are things about my job that no one knows how to do all that I do.. err... did. Is that wrong?

And don't get me started on how management has handled letting us go. Yes, us. There have been a few other people let go over the past couple of months and a reporter was laid off yesterday along with me. It's amazing to me how cold they've been. I guess they just don't take it personally. But the way they treated me yesterday was not comforting or apologetic. I think that hurt the more than losing my job.

My former co-workers (the non-managers) have been really supportive. One has even sent me a job opp! I have worked with some really great people over the last 4 1/2 years at the Business Journal but I guess now it's time to move on. Wish me luck!