Let me start at the beginning.
There is a group of guys that I work with that everybody else loving refers to as the "Boys Club". These are all men in there 30's and 40's who still are deluded into thinking that they are still living their glory days, even though all married with children (except one), middle aged and overweight. Not that those years aren't the glory years or anything, but seriously, stop acting like you are 24 and that women even remotely dig you.
They leave work early to go out for beers, golfing, etc, the typical things. They take a breakfast break every morning at 9am and a lunch break every day at noon....all together. They even have these beer steins in the shape of cowboy boots that they take to bars with them....super cool.
One of these guys has had every female (5 to be exact) that has worked for him file an HR complaint and all of them have left, except my friend who worked for him who fought tooth and nail to make sure something came of it. But nothing ever did, and he said some pretty messed up things to her.
The same guy once shouted "Let's Drink!" with both fists raised high in the air after a group meeting when we were all supposed to meet at a local pub for beers and pool. Seriously? For a second I was expecting everybody to put on togas or something. And he is second in command to the Grand Poobah. These are the people running the show. So sad.
The Grand Poobah is the director of our department and also a member of the Boys Club. Our company is currently undergoing a massive reorganizations. So this guy manages to get a job in the new organization, which quite frankly is beyond me, and several other people I might add.
Two months ago they announced that my therapeutic area was going to be reorganized resulting in massive layoffs. We all had to reapply for our jobs and it was great fun.
Today they told us if we had been, oh, what did they call it....some supremely corporate buzz word I can't remember....along the lines of laid off or not. They got rid of 80% of my department. Ouch.
So the Grand Poobah was in charge of reading all of our little forms we filled out and selecting those people who were given positions in the new organization.
Guess who got to keep their jobs?
The members of the Boys Club.
Guess who got let go?
Everybody else.
Including yours truly and a lot of other really good scientists.
At the beginning of all this I really wanted to think that it had nothing to to with skill or ability and it was just where your position happened to fall within the new organization. Nothing personal, just business. Right?
But after today, it seems that it is more about who you schmooze with than anything else. I mean, what a coincidence that all of the Boys Club members got to keep their jobs when the Grand Poobah was the one deciding. Do I really think that all of their positions just happen to fall into the new business model? No, I don't. I think it was more about who you know and who you schmooze with.
Well, the only person I schmooze with is Colin G and apparently that was the wrong person.
But let's face it, he is WAY hotter than any member of the Boys Club, and even though I may not have my job, at least I have my integrity.
Keep me because I do good work, not because I schmooze with the right people.
Amazing.
I'm not upset about the loss, just really really annoyed. I got a great severance package and judging by who is left, I think I wouldn't have been happy there anyway.
But still.
The Boys Club prevailed.
1 comment:
Wow. Colin told me tonight that you finally got the word. From the sound of things, you will be better off without those guys. Liking the people you work with, for the right reasons, is an important part of any job. Having to put up with those guys as you become increasingly obviously "p.g." would not be fun at all. This sounds like one of those jobs that will look better on your resume than it looked in real life. We have confidence that you will find something that will fit your new situation much better.
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