Survey: Ten Things I Value in Myself

last seen in the journal of: hopeforyou

Ten Things I Value in Myself

1. I am a good listener; I genuinely care
2. I honor my commitments
3. I focus on personal growth and strive for self-awareness
4. I solve problems using both intelligence and creativity
5. I pick up the rudiments of new languages quickly
6. I am willing to work hard at things I am not good at
7. I can help people understand their differences and untangle miscommunication
8. I look beyond the surface
9. I am willing to cooperate with others
10. I am good with animals (okay, mammals (okay, dogs and cats and the occasional squirrel))

Making this list was interesting. I tried to focus on what I am, not what I have (such as mostly-good health or the things money can buy). I value those things, but in many cases I have them simply by luck, so I see them as less related to "myself".

Layoffs coming at my company (again)

The company I work for is aiming to reduce expenses by ten to twelve percent, and has announced today that they will achieve part of that by a reduction in headcount. I haven't yet heard percentages of people to be cut. Since they're obviously aiming to hang on to their most profitable business areas, and will do the layoffs in "markets that do not show signs of short or intermediate-term recovery", then I expect divisions in bad markets will get hit much harder than ten or twelve percent. The CEO said "reducing or eliminating investment" in some areas, so maybe whole groups or product lines will be closed down completely.

The area I work in is an obvious candidate. Our market shows, frankly, no hope in the short term. We're going to take it in the shorts.

I hope they get it over with quickly. Last time we waited months to find out.

I hope there's a severance package. Last time around it was generous, and the company is in better shape financially now than then, but I've never seen a second round have it as good as a first round did.

Losing a job isn't so bad, I guess. I don't really like this job. But if they can the whole product line, that's several years' work for a lot of people down the drain. I hate to see that happen. It's a good product, just too early for many still-wounded customers.

I wonder what I'll do if I can't find work in high tech. I don't have many unrelated salable skills. Good attributes, yes; skills, no.