May 16, 2008

 

Tips for Preparing for the Layoff

Another in a Series of SPSE-UPTE Layoff Bulletins

 

Those of us who got WARN act notices are coping in a variety of ways, from denial, to ritual, to industrious activity, to, in rare cases, anticipation.   Giving clear thought now to how we might best equip ourselves to survive unemployment can make a difference in the outcome.

 

First, let us own that there are important ways in which one can never be prepared for a layoff.    From descriptions we have heard of plans for the process, if it happens to you it will resemble a lightning bolt from the sky.  In a manner meant to limit impact on everyone else, managers and other handlers will arrive and recite from a canned script. You will be afforded a brief period to pack and get whatever information they can tell you, and then you will be gone.   Many of us will be overcome by incredulity and numbness in the face of it.   For any manager brave enough to feel while going through the motions, the experience will be excruciating.

 

The monstrosity of the event will make it hard to focus on what you might want to take with you to the world outside.   The fact is many of us do have information and documents onsite that could  help shorten the period of time we will spend unemployed.  Notification Day is Thursday, May 22, for all but 200s with more than 10 years of experience and Friday, May 23, for 200s with more than 10 years of experience.  What you do in the time before then constitutes the full extent of your control.

 

This bulletin covers what you can do to prepare to the extent possible. You will have to vacate your office with a brief time to prepare.  If you haven't already, renew as many old contacts as you can.  At this point your outside contacts may be interested in hearing about what you've been doing at LLNL and how the public to private transition of the operating contract from UC to LLNS is going.    You will no doubt have strong opinions about this, but don't forget to note any job opportunities they may mention.

 

For more tips on standard job hunting actions and networking, consult the excellent book "What Color is Your Parachute" or the brief list titled "What to Do Before a Layoff" posted on "LLNL: The True Story" on Monday, May 6, under the title "Good Layoff Advice."   Also look for job postings on that blog and post those that you uncover but may not be interested in yourself.

 

For meeting the challenge of coming to terms with the forced changes in your personal landscape--whether or not you are laid off--we recommend the book "Deep Survival: Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why" by Laurence Gonzales.

 

If your manager dismisses you on May 22nd or 23rd, and your group leader or supervisor stays around to help you pack, you will have at most an hour or two to print contact lists and personal files you've invested years of your life in developing, and to sort out personal and professional files to take with you - for most of us an impossible task in one or two hours.   Remember, once you leave the exit center, you will no longer have a lab phone, your old lab e-mail account, or access to paper files you leave behind. The escorts have been instructed to unplug all computers before they leave your office.

 

To have any hope of processing over 500 people through the exit center in two days, those dismissed will have to report to the exit center on a schedule with little flexibility.  Thus you will have to prepare in advance.   Here's a checklist of what to do before Notification Day:

 

1.  Exchange personal contact information - even if you stay you may want to get in touch with someone who left to either offer a helping hand or to ask them where that critical project file or tool is

2.  Request contact information from salesmen, colleagues at other institutions and anyone else who may be able to help you find a job - they may be more likely to respond to an @llnl.gov address than your @goofy.com address

3.  Export and print or e-mail your LLNL e-mail addresses (most likely Eudora) to transfer to your home e-mail program.

4.  Export and print or e-mail any important lab calendar information (Meeting Maker calendar, contact lists, and To Do Lists) to your home

5.  Sort through your files to determine their final destination should you leave - your home, a colleague, archives, or the trash

6.   If necessary, copy, and then take home personal and professional files and books you won't need between now and the 22nd or 23rd, and take home all such files  before your notification day - obviously, do not take home classified or OUO (Official Use Only) material

7.  Decide who, if anyone, you would like to turn over files and books personally to on Notification Day, and make a list to hand to your escorts should you be notified

 

If you are a 200-series employee with more than 10 years of experience, consider whether or not you want to have an office in the Resource Center.  An out of home office is valuable if it helps you maintain a work schedule (finding a new job is itself work).  It can provide you with a corporate mailing address, resources such as copiers and Internet, continued networking with colleagues, and possibly a phone with voice mail (no word on this yet).   If you have equivalent infrastructure at home, however, you may want to yield the opportunity to your colleagues.    You may be pressured to sign an  "optional" telecommunications agreement as office space in the Resource Center will be limited.  Remember, though, LLNS has committed to providing everyone with more than 10 years of experience who wants it, office space.

 

Lastly, should you be involuntarily separated, we encourage you to notify SPSE-UPTE of the circumstances of your separation and to learn as much about the composition of your layoff unit as you can from whoever notifies you of your lay off.  Information on the composition of layoff units will allow us to assess compliance with internal LLNS and DOE policies and state and federal laws and, where appropriate, to initiate and support challenges, such as internal grievances and legal actions.

 

If you are not a member, you may request an SPSE-UPTE application from our office by e-mailing us at spse@spse.org or calling us at 925/449-4846.  We won't collect our dues unless you survive the layoff.  At the same time, you can also request the detailed guidance and seniority list described in an earlier bulletin.  If you provide us with a current e-mail address, we can keep you apprised of post layoff developments and job opportunities.

 

Look for future bulletins in this series covering when and how to contest a layoff, and life after the layoff,  both inside and outside of LLNL.

 

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Society of Professionals, Scientists & Engineers
Local 11 University Professional and Technical Employees, CWA Local 9119
P.O. Box 1066, Livermore, CA 94551
(925) 449-4846 voice
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