We asked Get Ahead readers to send their layoff tales and we are getting mails from employees belonging to different sectors of the Indian economy.
In the 24rd part of this series, Nikhil Mathur* discusses how he has not let layoff take the better off him.
Name: Nikhil Mathur (name changed on request)
Age: 24
Company/Sector: IT
Work experience: 2.5 years.
Background:
I had a good time working in a IT services/product firm. After I completed my graduation in July 2006 I joined this IT company and right from the day of joining I had been performing well, always in that A+ category and the relatively higher salary band.
Initially I had been working with the Digital Signl Processing (DSP) team and then made a transition to Networks Domain. Side by side I had also given my GRE and had a good score, my manager was aware of this fact.
How I lost my job:
When the global meltdown began, the heat was obviously felt at home as well. Our company didn't get any major new orders and the accounts we had were headed toward a graceful shutdown.
The team in which I was working considered itself safe because the client had assured us that he had the funding for one year at least, in fact ours was the only account that was showing some decent growth.
Suddenly, one fine day after our company vacation, the client decided to pull the plug and the entire team was on the bench with immediate effect. Everybody knew what was coming next -- salary cuts and layoffs. Initially I was shocked at the news and felt sad because work was going on well and, on a personal level, I was learning a lot. After this development, it wasn't all gloom and doom, at least for me. Well, at least that's was what I felt but sadly (or in fact I would say luckily at this point of time) I was proved terribly wrong.
I had worked in various domains, my performance was on the higher end of the scale and that's why I felt I would be indispensable at least on relative terms (ie there were better candidates for layoff). But management decisions are as unpredictable as the stock market.
So after 10-15 days of project closure, the company head called me and gave me the pink slip. The reason he stated sounded ridiculous -- at least to me. What he said was: "You have been an exceptional performer, your ratings reflect that, but due
to the lack of future project visibility for you, we have decided to..."
I was shocked, I knew for sure that the man was not making any sense. He agreed, I mean everybody knew I was a good (if not exceptional) performer and as far as visibility was concerned I had proved my diversity by working in two contrasting domains.
Well, post this dramatic event, I did some pondering and came to one solid conclusion regarding the reason why I was fired, well there were a couple actually:
Initially, I had expressed my interest in pursuing higher studies.
One solid reason I found was 'casteism'. We are in the twentieth century but still some filthy minds are involved in this pestiferous activity. When I joined the company one of my colleagues had told me about this practice in our organisation but at the time I felt he was probably over-reacting to certain events he witnessed. But after analaysing this episode, and also in retrospect, some previous occasions seemed unfair -- salary raises, promotions etc. All I can say is that if any country/ company defies the rule of nature which promotes the survival of fittest and merit-based judgement, the guilty will one day have to face the inevitable and dire consequences.
Job hunt:
Initially I was rattled, but I kept my calm and went for interviews that came my way. I was lucky enough to get flooded with offers.
Within 15-20 days after getting layed off, I had four job offers, all with a decent salary rise. I decided to join the one which gave me 1.8 times more than what I was getting earlier and the company I joined was also a relatively bigger and better name.
Lessons learnt:
Believe in yourself, this is extremely important. If you believe in yourself the world will also believe in you.
Always keep on upgrading your skills, gaining knowledge never hurts. It will be immensely usefull especially in these kinds of scenarios.
Try to gain diverse skills. I don't mean you should know a little of everything and complete of nothing. What I mean to say is diversify yourself as much as possible at least in the related fields that will help you to get a wider perspective and will add to your confidence. After this episode I have immensely expanded my technical reading and intend to continue even after joining my new job.
Love your work, not your company. Always keep the emotional quotient down to a minimum.
I will not say don't make friends at the workplace. I have made some good and some really good friends. But trust nobody, especially not your managers.
Believe it or not, in India, casteism and favouritism are still prevalent and perhaps that is why we are still a developing nation. Try to hedge yourself against this creature. I would not advise you to become a bootlicker, but do try and maintain healthy and amenable relations, especially with people who are in power.
Don't stagnate (I consider myself guilty of sticking with this company for 2.5 years at a meager compensation), come out of your comfort zone, upgrade yourself and exploit opportunities that come your way.
*Name changed to protect privacy.
Illustration: Uttam Ghosh
Do you have a layoff tale to tell?
Have you lost your job? Do you know someone who has lost her/his job recently and is trying to come to terms with the situation?
If you, your friends or relatives have a layoff story to tell, to inform readers about the lessons that you have learnt, please write to us at getahead@rediff.co.in. Your name and identity will not be disclosed unless you want it to.
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