Pink slips are no longer news. It’s like, a neighbour’s just received one, a friend, a colleague, or a cousin has got the sack. It’s no longer something that happens to someone else. It could be just anyone, you or I. In a way it’s a great leveler—a pink slip scares everyone, right from the senior executives to the frontline staff. No one is immune.
A job is not just the loss of an income. A job is not just a job, it’s a career. It’s not simply the loss of a steady source of income. For a person it is his/her identity. Majority of the waking hours are spent at work. A lot of energy is spent on a project to nurture it. Family and entertainment are pushed to the back burner. And then without any notice, on a fine day, an HR executive calls for a meeting and simply puts it across, “We are sorry it hasn’t worked, we tried our best to retain you”. ID cards are returned, laptop handed over. It's like you are being stripped of your identity. The HR continues with its processes to clean up after you. Now there's nothing to show for any of your earlier efforts. Be good. You sure want your papers in order. You get sympathetic glances from the other cubicles. It’s not their turn yet! You ask someone to open the doors for you as you no longer have an identity card. And then you are out of there. The end.
Initial days are filled with hope. You’re sure you will be an asset somewhere. But then, nothing seems to be happening! Is there light at the end of this dark tunnel? None in sight, especially if you are a senior person. And, frankly, there’s no opportunity out there now. No one’s hiring. Your confidence takes a beating. It simply seems like you are in this tunnel forever.
Perhaps the best thing to do is to keep all channels of communication open. Hiding the fact would never help. You never know where help would come from. You might just be surprised!
