WorldCom Layoff, 2002, by Billy Grewe
From MemoryArchive
Who: Billy Grewe What: WorldCom Layoff When: June 2002 Where: McLean, Virginia
Fresh summer air and I let out a big sigh of relief. I didn’t realize it much before but I was trapped in that system of decent money for decent work. I mean it was only ok for most people, but for not finishing college the money was really, really good. And it kept me there, for two years of my life. Finally, I was free. I thought to myself as I was driving away of all the possible things I wanted to do, go back to college, do something FUN with my life. Well, I did both. I did go back to college, am going to graduate next summer. And back then, when I began brainstorming of all the fun and challenging jobs I could do, not looking at pay or comfortable hours, I found exactly what I wanted, and for the past three years having been doing just that. I became a lifeguard. I consider myself lucky. I went through somewhat of a midlife crisis way early on in my life. I know what corporate America is like, but now I also know what else is out there, and the experiences of working rewarding non-typical jobs. I consider myself lucky, after all that has happened that I was part of the biggest bankruptcy in the world, of layoffs and of our beloved CEO and his accountant advisors cooking the books like none had ever seen before. I had stayed true to the company.
My time at WorldCom had been similar to the experiences of a kiddie roller coaster ride; not too scary, a few somewhat exciting times, but mostly a steady ride that when it stops one knows that you need to hurry and get up and experience the rest of the rides before the park closes. I arrived at WorldCom, the big network corporation consisting of MCI, UUNET, and a bunch of other gobbled up tech companies, when I was barely 20 years of age, fresh from learning how not to get the most out of college, and eager to be doing something other than hauling lumber. The job consisted of a two hour commute every day, working ten to six, Monday through Friday with weekends and major holidays off. I loved it. Every Friday was a major day to look forward to. Weekends were sleep in to 12 days and not have to worry about anything until Monday. I stayed at this comfortably numb job for almost two full years, one year eleven months to be exact, when the company went under. It was documented to be the biggest bankruptcy of a company in all of history. One week before the downsizing occurred there were rumors of layoffs, and of our beloved CEO and his accountant advisors cooking the books like none had ever seen before. I had stayed true to the company though, it had given me a good job, well hours, and most importantly, good money. But that week I found that my entire 401k was gone, along with about another couple hundred shares of company stock on top of that. And on Friday, at eleven o’clock in the morning, I got pulled into a meeting room with a boss from another division, and was rehashed a list that a manager has of things to say when kicking someone out the door. I stepped out in to the parking lot, on a sunny afternoon, breathed in the summer. And I back then, when I thought began brainstorming of all the fun jobs I could do, not looking at pay or what other, and challenging jobs with comfortable hours. I found exactly what I wanted.
