Is the amount of my department getting laid off between now and the end of August. In total, five of the ten people who are currently here are being let go either at the end of this month or the end of August. I am, I guess, fortunate not to be included in that number.
I feel some guilt that I am being picked to stay while others are being let go. Out of the list of people, here is who we are losing:
Nicole - Media Supervisor - recently hired (in the last 6 months) twin sister of our Associate Media Director, Natalie. She and her husband just recently started the paperwork to purchase a new house and also have a one-year old daughter.
Linda - Senior Media Planner/Buyer - she's been here 2 - 2.5 years. She is who I was reporting to directly for the client I worked on. However, shes' been out on maternity leave for the last couple of months... we're not sure if she's coming back for a week before she's let go, but her last day, per the company, will be 7/31.
Regina - freelance Senior Media Buyer - she has been helping us with our media buys for the last few months while Linda has been on maternity leave (and also while Natalie was on maternity leave). While she's not an official member of our department, losing her will still have its impact on those who are left behind. I think her last day will be 7/31.
Haley - Assistant Media Planner/Buyer - Haley is my assistant that helps me with my accounts (and she also helps some other the people in the department as well. I had a good feeling she would be let go since I lost my assistant the last time we had layoffs. She does a pretty good job, but spends just as much time goofing around (if not more) than I do... which is something that's always kinda bothered me. Either way I'll be sad to see her and her over-emotional self go.
Robbie - Assistant Media Planner/Buyer - Robbie is our other assistant. To be honest, I figured we would only lose one assistant during layoffs, but we're actually losing both. Haley will be gone at the end of July and Robbie will be here until the end of August. Robbie didn't impact my work much directly, but with him gone there may be responsibilities of his that I'll have to pick up.
I know I should be thankful that I still have a job, especially with the way the economy is. However, I am really concerned of what losing all these people is going to do to my work load. I imagined we would lose 2-3 people to layoffs - not 5! Out of the five, two of them are the #1/#2 in the department - which means those of us below will have to handle all the bitch work that we've had assistants for and also handle the assistant work the Director and Associate Director had the assistants handling. Really makes me nervous - I don't want to be working 15 hour shifts day in and day out - not to mention probably having to do weekend work as well. I am supposed to go to a show this Saturday and I'm already considering canceling so I can come in and catch up on some stuff before everyone leaves. It just is not going to be pleasant.
On another note, I have some possibly exciting news... but I'm going to hold off from saying anything until I know more about it. But it could definitely bring light to the entire situation mentioned above.
