Tuesday, April 27, 2010

All Good Things Must Come To An End

The remaining employees at my former workplace learned today that their office will be shut down by the end of June this year. Rumours about this possibility have swirled for years now, but it's still a bit of a jolt to see it actually announced. That office was once a pretty impressive collection of talent, rather notable for this city of moderate size. Of course, a significant growth spurt in the mid-00s had necessitated a lowering of the overall quality bar somewhat, and some of the best minds had already left (present company not counted in that group) but it was still a programming force to be reckoned with. Certainly, the current ownership had done a lot to de-motivate the people and derail the effectiveness of their gifts, but still... there was something there.

In two months' time, however, it will all just be memories. I'm obviously concerned for some of my friends there who either failed to find other work before now or else failed to even try, because it's going to be a tougher market now that so many folks are flowing into it all at once. On the other hand, though, they'll get some sort of severance which should soften that blow at least a little. Far be it from me to ever sneer at the power of "the big kiss-off", as both Vicki and I received one from the bank when we left it, and that was the start of a nice financial outlook that saw us eventually enter early semi-retirement.

Anyway, I hope the good ones land on their feet, and I don't really care what happens to the handful of jerks that did their best to undermine the hard work of the rest. One era ends, and another begins. That's life for ya!

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