Layoff Rumor

So, it's kind of a hectic/weird/stressful time at IBM lately. There has been a rumor floating around about layoffs (~16000) dropping later this month, Jan 23rd. Of course I'm not helping any by spreading such rumors. This is scary shit. The whole idea of layoffs is so frightening. I've seen them before when I was at Intel. Not fun then, not fun now. The whole idea just sucks so bad. Families relying on income for purchases they've made, or investments they plan for, or just planning for their future like education. Then all of a sudden, you've got nothing. It just sucks and it is so frightening. I hope to God that I don't see any affect of these and it is no one I know at IBM. I think my actual chances are rather low, but I suppose still high enough to be concerned. I am considered cheap labor since I have a low salary, they spent a heck of a lot of money to get me started and trained and haven't gotten their return of investment yet, I work for a very crucial team and on a project that is pretty well profitable. On the other hand, I have no experience and crucial knowledge of the projects yet for them to keep me. I haven't created that many social links that would have to be severed and could easily have my work loaded over to Andrew. I'm just so scared right now. If not directly affecting me, just the whole idea is such a horrible thing to see for a company you work for. If I remain, I imagine I would feel pretty bad to see others lose their jobs. Besides for this whole thing being a giant motivating factor at work, there isn't a whole lot of stuff I can do to change it, so I just keep my head up. Many of the decisions have already been made about which jobs will be dropped and which departments will be affected. The only way I can make a difference is if they told Rocco or Phyllis that they need to let one person go. Oh well, I'm getting ahead of myself. Right now it's only a rumor and I've seen not much to indicate otherwise. I can only look at people like Dave Peet and see that they can turn out to be very successful still.

It's just a scarey thing and so unfortunate.