Another chapter begins ...

So June 10, 2010 marked the end of my tenure with Progress Software.

After ten years with the company and about a month after marking such a milestone, I was laid off. Rumors had been swirling for some time that a "reduction in force" (RIF) was coming and this was the first year I hadn't actually been worried.

Layoffs are an annual even at Progress since 9/11 so the threat is always there and while no one is indispensable, I had always thought I might be a little more safe given that I was the only one in the company that did what I did (editor and production manager).

Turns out, I was wrong.

Yes, it was a huge shock and I'm still freaked out and scared. But at the end of the day, there's nothing I could have done to save my job. Over the course of 10 years, I regularly received excellent reviews and was promoted from entry level to Senior Editor to Principal Editor (the highest level I could attain before becoming management).

One of the most interesting things is that I'm not now (and haven't been) mad. Yes, I'm disappointed and like I said, a bit scared, but I don't have time to be mad. It's not worth it. I was not let go because of my performance ... rather, it was a numbers issue, plain and simple.

In my time at Progress I had seen dozens of friends and co-workers laid off (my department went from a staff of 22 to now six). And a former manager (who was laid off a few years ago) would always say people were laid off because of numbers, not performance.

I used to get angry hearing that because it meant that no matter how well you did your job, you always could be let go and that thought didn't help morale.

But, now being on the other side of things, I take a lot of comfort in that very thought. The decision to eliminate my job was nothing personal and I know I'm going to be missed there.

So, now my full-time job is looking for another job ... a daunting task if there ever was one. But, I have a huge network of connections that I've built over the past ten years I intended to call in every favor I've ever been owed.

Now more than ever, it's not just what you know, but who you know.