Oblivious
Some of you know that over the course of the past 2 months half the workforce at my company was laid off. I was told that the local plastics industry is currently taking a downturn, which is true considering at least one big company went belly-up. And my boss told me it was a good time to restructure the company to be better prepared for when things pick up again, and to shift our focus towards the more demanding but higher profit medical products.
Well, my company was owned by a partnership until 2 weeks ago, one of the bosses decided to back out for "personal reasons." Turns out things were much more serious than that. Just last Friday, I found out that my job was literally hanging on the wire. I knew that my bosses often disagreed, but I never knew that either of them were ready to walk away. The bottom line was that the boss that I reported to was the one that held out, so my job is safe, for now anyway. But I never considered myself more loyal to one or the other, and the other boss was a good-humoured outgoing guy, so it was kinda sad to see him go. And now I see that the lay-offs weren't purely business-driven... my boss (who does all the sales) deliberately stopped getting new business since there was a 50% chance he was gonna walk away. It was sad to see how friends and business don't always mix.
Well, my company was owned by a partnership until 2 weeks ago, one of the bosses decided to back out for "personal reasons." Turns out things were much more serious than that. Just last Friday, I found out that my job was literally hanging on the wire. I knew that my bosses often disagreed, but I never knew that either of them were ready to walk away. The bottom line was that the boss that I reported to was the one that held out, so my job is safe, for now anyway. But I never considered myself more loyal to one or the other, and the other boss was a good-humoured outgoing guy, so it was kinda sad to see him go. And now I see that the lay-offs weren't purely business-driven... my boss (who does all the sales) deliberately stopped getting new business since there was a 50% chance he was gonna walk away. It was sad to see how friends and business don't always mix.
posted by Dave at
8:58 PM
4 Comments:
sorry to hear that dave, but it is the sad reality. and it's usually for the same reason that friends usually shouldn't try living together because you can find out some unpleasant things...
By
Boris' Dad, at 8:35 AM
I hear both of you on that one Dave and Geoff. I actually went into business with one of my close friends in university. We ain't close anymore. That's all I have to say about that.
Dave, are you considering looking elsewhere for employment? The manufacuring sector in Canada has definitely been in rough shape the past couple of years.
By
Pat, at 10:11 PM
I think no matter what industry you are in, it seems many businesses are looking at restructuring. It's hard to mix friends and business together, it donesn't really work as both Geoff and Pat has mentioned which is unfortunate. Business politics is a dangerous game. You're either in or out.
By
Bonbon, at 11:18 PM
Going to in business with friends are a mix bag.
There are cases where ppl don't get along and the friendship dies. On the other hand, there are a lot of great examples where friends get together and the business and the friendship prosper. Example...HP, started by Hewitt and Packard (forgot their first name).
Me and a close friend started a internet business about a year back. It didn't worked out and we are still good friends. I am glad b/c we both didn't took things personal and both know that this is a learning step to our career.
By
Cliff, at 7:11 PM
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