The divided highway opens to a group of tall buildings and winding highways and overpasses.  Traffic is moderate but moving.  The sun looms over the city through a mild haze.

Image Credit: Paul Morriss

Jaime approaches one of the many tall office buildings.  He’s dressed casually and maintains his neat appearance.  People walk with purpose in all directions.

He climbs a few steps, ignores the revolving door, and opens one manually right next to it.  The lobby is enclosed by glass from floor to ceiling.

Jaime approaches a large, round desk.  One security guard in a tan and black uniform sits at the desk.  One stands next to him.  They talk and laugh.  They notice Jaime approach.

JAIME: Dennis, you can’t figure out this job yet, they gotta send Rashawn down to help you out?

Rashawn walks over to shake Jaime’s hand.  Jaime meets him over at the desk.  Dennis stands and also shakes his hand.

DENNIS: I don’t know man, this looks like some disgruntled ex-employee gonna shoot this place up.

JAIME: Nah.  Get your loner white guy profiles straight.  The clean cut ones in their twenties are assassins.  The old, grandfatherly ones are the serial killers.  It’s the middle-aged scraggly, sloppy ones that kill their bosses.

RASHAWN: Sounds like we’re safe then.

Dennis sits back down.

DENNIS: You here for the “sorry we fucked you” party.

JAIME: Yep.  Table for one.

RASHAWN: Word is, after I.T., they’re gonna axe facilities services.

JAIME: Really?

DENNIS: We might have bought a little time because of the New York thing.

JAIME: That’s why they’re manning two to a station?

People continue to flow in.  Each has an identification badge attached to their shirt and hanging around their necks.  Each is adamant that the security guards see them, too.

Rashawn and Dennis watch carefully as they go by.

RASHAWN: I’ve heard that building services will be the first to go, then maintenance and heating and air.  Then us.

JAIME: What are they gonna do, go with the yokels across the street?

RASHAWN: Man, you know Joe, their boss, he’s in here all the time now.

JAIME: So they want you to know.

DENNIS: Yep.  I think they’re hoping some of us skip when it gets close so that they don’t have to pay out what they did for you guys.

JAIME: Oh, we were the lucky ones.  Pretty soon they’ll figure out that once the writing’s on the wall, they don’t have to do half of what it is they did for us.  You guys will get shafted big time.

DENNIS: Don’t I know it.

Jaime looks at his watch.

JAIME: Alright fellas.  I gotta meet with H.R. in ten.

Rashawn shakes his hand again.  Dennis does the same.

RASHAWN: Alright, my brother, take care.

JAIME: Oh shit, I almost forgot.

Jaime pulls out several small envelopes from his back pocket and hands them to Rashawn.

JAIME: There’s one there for each of you and hand the rest out to the other guys.  You deserve a little lunch for as hard as you sit around all day.

DENNIS: Thanks man.

Jaime heads off down the hall to the elevators.

Jaime exits the elevator to a secondary lobby.  Jaime approaches the receptionist at the desk.

RECEPTIONIST: Hi, may I help you?

JAIME: I have a nine o’clock with Miska Hallman.

RECEPTIONIST: Just have a seat and she’ll be out in just a minute.

Jaime moves to sit in the waiting area.  Just as soon as he sits, a middle-aged woman enters the reception area.

WOMAN 7: Hi, Jaime.  I’m Miska Hallman.  If you’ll just follow me, we’ll get started.  Would you like something to drink?

JAIME: No thanks.  I’m not thirsty.

Miska sits behind a cleared-off desk and Jaime sits across from it.  She slaps a thin file down on the desk and removes a few pieces of paper from it.

MISKA: Okay, I just have a few things for you to sign and a few questions and I’ll try to make this quick for you.

JAIME: Feel free to take all the time you think you need.

MISKA: Okay.  First, I need your I.D. and access card.

Jaime removes the lanyard from around his neck and hands it to Miska.  She takes it and removes the I.D. and access card behind it.  She slides a piece of paper in front of him.

MISKA: This is a non-disclosure statement saying that you understand you are not authorized to disclose any information to any party regarding your work with us.  It mirrors the non-disclosure statement you signed as part of the pre-employment process.

JAIME: Just a reminder then, huh?

MISKA: Basically.

Jaime takes a pen from his pocket and signs the document.

MISKA: The next one here is an addendum to the non-disclosure that says you are not allowed to take any electronic files or other information sources outside of this building.  Doing so is grounds for criminal prosecution and/or civil litigation.

Jaime signs that paper as well.  Miska places both of those in the file and puts a small packet of papers down.

MISKA: This is your severance agreement.  It mirrors the one that we sent to you.  Just sign at the bottom of each of the pages.  Do you have any questions about it?

JAIME: No, I read it.

Jaime signs the first page, then flips to the next to sign that, and continues until he finishes the packet.

MISKA: You will get a check seven business days from today to the address listed.  That is your correct address, right?

JAIME: Right.

She puts the packet back into the file and slides the file into her desk drawer.

MISKA: Now that that is all out of the way, I have a few questions to ask you and of course feel free to ask any questions you have about anything.

JAIME: Is the company going to outsource ALL of the service department?

MISKA: We cannot say at this time.

JAIME: Okay.

Miska retrieves another piece of paper from her desk along with a pen.

MISKA: How do you feel the business transition was handled by Human Resources?

JAIME: My only argument with the whole thing is the euphemistic language and policy of avoidance.

MISKA: Can you explain?

She writes a few words on her paper.

JAIME: “Business transition,” “going lean,” “improving efficiency.”  We all know what it means.  Perhaps to the Board the language has a more substantial thematic quality or directional significance.  But to the rest of us it means one thing.  Losing jobs.  Lay offs.  We know WHY companies do it.  But we don’t really care.  We care about how we’ll pay the bills next month.

She nods her head in feigned agreement and continues to write on the paper.

MISKA: What do you mean by “policy of avoidance”?

JAIME: When anyone, myself included, has had questions about insurance or other things that really need to be addressed, we get passed onto somebody else.  H.R. tells us to talk to Benefits.  Benefits tells us to talk to Fiscal.  Fiscal tells us to talk to Payroll.  We want to know how we’re gonna get from one month to the next and how we’re gonna pay for our prescriptions.  Dollars and cents.  Our only questions.  They’ve not been answered and now time’s up.

MISKA: We offer three free sessions with New Hope.  Are you interested in Employee Assistance?

JAIME: You mean, do I want to see a psychologist about getting canned?  No, thank you.

She hastily writes now.

MISKA: As part of your severance agreement, we also offer free advising sessions with Carter Career Solutions.  Are you interested in career transition seminars?

JAIME: Do I need someone to teach me how to get another job, write a resume, and such?  No.

MISKA: Do you have any other questions or comments on how business transition can improve?

JAIME: Listen, I understand the need to mitigate the impact of lay-offs.  I appreciate how far the business world has come in that regard.  There are some real resources there that could help some people.  But the sense that I’m getting is that this is more than just mitigation.

MISKA: What else is it then?

JAIME: Fear.  I think there are a lot of people, people who are responsible for “business transformation,” who are genuinely afraid.

Miska keeps writing.

MISKA: Afraid of what?

JAIME: I don’t know.  Their safety maybe.  Like this place is the first place to ever lay people off and they’re worried about retaliation.  Now, I’m not very emotionally involved here.  I haven’t been here that long.  There are a lot of others who have been here a lot longer and are more personally invested.  But it is almost unconscionable to be treated as a threat and not a person.  We’re getting laid off.  It’s not a good thing.  But everything ends.  Let’s call it what it is, take responsibility for it, THEN mitigate the impact so that we can all just move on.