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Hugs, tears, and anger as Enron sends workers home

Andrew Kelly in Houston

There were hugs, tears, and some angry words aimed at management as Enron Corp sent thousands of workers home for the last time on Monday.

Many employees were stunned by the rapid decline of the energy trading giant, which once seemed so invincible.

"I wasn't prepared for this at all. Until two months ago everything seemed to be fine," said Ogan Kose, a 28-year-old Turkish-born petrochemicals trader.

Some said they had been hoping to hold onto their jobs even after smaller rival Dynegy Inc. pulled out of a deal to keep the company afloat, forcing Enron to file for bankruptcy.

"I guess I've been in denial. It's been very surprising how quickly this just collapsed," said Diana Allen, 46, who developed software to support the company's trading business.

Tears welled up in Allen's eyes as she paused and laid down two boxes containing her belongings to hug and say a last goodbye to two co-workers outside Enron's downtown Houston headquarters.

Employees said they were not actually laid off on Monday, leaving them in limbo for two or three days when they were due to get official word through an automated telephone message.

"This still leaves it up in the air, but I think most people are pretty certain what their fate is," said Gregory Lind, a 32-year-old information technology specialist.

Most cuts in Houston

Enron spokesman Mark Palmer said the company expects to lay off some 4,000 workers in the coming days, with most of the cuts falling on the 7,500 Enron employees based in Houston.

The company employs 21,000 people worldwide and 1,100 jobs have already been cut at its London offices.

Paul O'Neal, a 41-year-old programmer, said he was not optimistic about the prospects of finding another job soon, given the current nationwide economic slowdown.

"With all the information technology people flooding the market from this, it's going to be quite difficult to get a job within the next couple of months," he said.

O'Neal said he had not joined Enron's 401 (k) retirement savings plan and had not seen his savings wiped out, unlike many of his unfortunate colleagues who were heavily invested in Enron stock through their retirement savings accounts.

"I've talked to people who were almost millionaires a year ago and now they've got almost nothing," he said.

Many employees lost hundreds of thousands of dollars as Enron's stock collapsed and some are suing the company in the hope of recovering at least some of their losses.

Allen was more upbeat about the chances of finding a new job. "I'm not real worried. Even in this depressed economy, I think I can get a job without too much difficulty," she said.

Dot-com refugee had sought safe job

Alex Barenboim, 34, an information technology specialist who joined Enron just four months ago, was able to laugh at the irony of his predicament.

Barenboim wanted the security of a job at a big company like Enron after bailing out of the sinking dot-com industry in Austin, Texas, where he went to seek his fortune after leaving a steady job with International Business Machines Corp.

"I've been through dot-com hell, but nothing on this scale," he said.

Kose, the petrochemicals trader, said he realized things had taken a turn for the worse when Enron told its traders last week that the company would no longer pay for their sandwiches.

Others said they sensed that all was not well when Chief Executive Jeff Skilling suddenly resigned in August after just six months in the top job at Enron.

"He's probably on the beach having a margarita or something while we're worrying where our next paycheck is coming from," O'Neal said.

Authorities should pursue a thorough investigation of Enron's demise and punish those responsible if they conclude that laws have been broken, he said.

"I'd start with the top executives. They had to know what was going on," O'Neal said.

Kose said he was angry that senior managers had left employees in the dark, right up until Monday.

"I'm sick and tired of hearing about my own company from the news media instead of from (Enron Chairman) Ken Lay," he said.

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The Enron Saga Enron employees leave the company's downtown headquarters with boxes of personal belongings on December 3, 2001 after the shattered company laid off about 4,000 employees. Reuters/Richard Carson

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