Perpetual Unbalance

The company I work for has not been doing well in the past 2 1/2 years. They have laid off more than half the company. Some departments are gone completely. When I started here my department had 65 people, with 25 of those in my unit. Today 6 more people were laid off in the company; 2 from the department I work for and 1 from our unit. Bring our totals to 14 for the department and 5 for my unit. It's depressing. I've worked here 7 years. I have never worked with a group of people more amazing than these. The woman let go today has been here 21 years, she was laid off when a whole department was no longer needed 2 years ago. Before her termination date she applied for a job in our department and got laid off again. I feel so bad for her. I'm definitely having survivor guilt.

My family thinks I should look for another job for fear I will be laid off. But I have so many friends who have been laid off and have had little to no luck finding a comparable position somewhere else. It sucks to always feel like the end is just around the corner, but there don't seem to be many options out there.

The thought of leaving really saddens me. I love the people I work with. They are family to me. They are the ones I call when my life is going down the tubes. If I have a bad night, they are here every morning to help me thru it. They know more about me than most people. Coming to this job each day is like my therapy.