Downsizing

I learned this morning that my group within my employer's company is going to be shut down over the next couple of months. The first part of this downsizing effort was eliminating three people's employment. Upon arriving at work this morning, I spent about fifteen minutes at my computer and watched my boss flip out (which was typical start to my day). Then he called the three into the next office and upon coming out I heard comments, such as 'well, it's been nice knowing you,' and 'do you know what just happened?' They informed me they had just been 'canned.' I was shocked, even though I knew some changes were going to occur in the near future. But liquidation was not what I had in mind.

I know this kind of thing happens all the time, especially in big business, but I was not expecting my small employer to pull this kind of stunt when they didn't have to. Although I survived this round of cuts, I find it very unsettling that any day I could walk in and determined to be 'fat' and trimmed out of the company. Everyone likes to feel stability in their lives, but this is another example of exactly how little control we actually have. Three coworkers with more experience and more passion than I have were let go while I was allowed to stay. If anything, these events just affirm my belief that in order to have any control over your future you need to work for yourself. Until today, I was starting to have thoughts that companies that take care of their employees as long as they can really do exist and perhaps I have found one. But now I know I don't work for one and am once again quite skeptical they exist.