[Reader-list] Not quite what I had in mind- corporate ruthlessness

[Lalit Ambardar]

Sad.It is rurhlessness- no emotions, no bonding- treat a human like a tool...???? Is capitalisn / economy actually all about money only .
 
Govt. assurances not withstsndeing, the experts/economists  warn that the 'worst' is still to come & thus  the uncertainity / panick prevails in India too.All though lay offs have not been so high as yet but the projects are stalled & the payments are on hold.
 
Globally also inspite of the intentially lowered crude oil production by OPEC/Russia the prices of crude oil continue to slide.
 
Post 'parliament  elections'  scenario on the economic front may not be so rosy.
And coupled with the current internal /external security threat perception ,coming days are likely to be difficult.Let us hope & pray that we are able to sail through.....
Regards all
LA
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> From: ravikant at sarai.net> To: reader-list at sarai.net> Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:11:48 +0530> Subject: [Reader-list] Not quite what I had in mind.> > What happens when a corporate giant like yahoo lays off people? Who is the > first to be fired? Never thought it would be somebody working with its > so-called commons project! It was just the other day in Taipei we celebrated > George's efforts at bulding the flickr commons. Read this account in her own > words and follow the link if you want to explore more.> > ravikant> > http://george08.blogspot.com/2008/12/not-quite-what-i-had-in-mind.html> > December 15, 2008> > Not quite what I had in mind.> > by George Oats> > I wrote this 3 days ago on a plane.> > I've been cooking up an end-of-year blog post, feeling like my 35th year was > one of the best so far. I've been unbelievably fortunate to spend quite a lot > of it traveling the world to tell people about The Commons on Flickr. I've > spoken in front of hundreds of people, sat in meetings in the bowels of > museums, pored over a photographic archive in person, sent a ton of emails > that I enjoyed writing (wtf?), met too many fascinating people to list, made > lots of new friends, and been honestly excited about what I'm doing. > > After giving the opening keynote at the National Digital Forum in Auckland on > November 27, then presenting at the Powerhouse Museum and the National > Library of Australia, visiting with Commons members the State Library of New > South Wales and the Australian War Memorial, I headed to Taipei for an > exciting Culturemondo Roundtable event I was invited to attend. This > Wednesday, I shook the hand of the Vice President of Taiwan, who was at the > opening. > > The next day I presented with Seb Chan, about our take on "Search & Find." > That evening we all went to a lovely dinner at one of the best Taiwanese > joints in Taipei. (Thanks to Tien Sing, Shadiral, Christina and Aleksandra > for being such entertaining dinner conversation.) Then off for a wander in > one of the massive night markets. I decided to jump in a cab back to the > hotel with Jackie from NZ Live and Jock from Te Ara. It took a slightly long > way home, we suspected.> > When I got up to my room, I saw a text message from my manager, asking if he > could call me on Friday at 9am. I wrote back to say I was going to be on a > bus full of people at that time, and that I was awake now if he wanted to > call. The phone rang.> > "I'll just get straight to the point. You've been affected by the layoffs."> > He told me he was reading from a script he was required to follow, and that he > needed an address to send some sort of "Agreement" to me in Australia, and > needed it sent back by December 19. Before I'd even finished the call, I > twittered (to my private account):> > "Wow. I just got fired." I was immediately distressed.> > I stayed up until about 2:30am that night, chain smoking and talking to > friends who saw my tweet and had responded - THANK YOU. I sent a formal > request for time to transition The Commons program to whoever is to take it > over: "A week should do it," I said. It was denied. > > (It would be unfair to give anyone affected by the lay-offs special > treatment.) It's not just my treatment I worry about here. Such a sudden > movement makes it especially hard to continue the program effectively, at > least for a while. So silly. I sent a few tersely helpful emails before my > email account was closed. Couldn't resist. Don't let The Commons die, you > buggers! Can't you see how wonderful it is?!?!?> > Finally needed sleep. I woke up fairly early Friday and was immediately awake > and tired. I got up and jumped on my laptop.> > I was very upset. The speed of the lay-off began to sting. I asked Seb to > cover for me at the conference. I couldn't find my brave face - THANK YOU.> > Sent a quick, unsatisfying goodbye to the team. I watched as my access to > various parts of the guts of Flickr fell away. I noticed how naturally I > searched for any and all bits I could think of, just in the hope that it > still existed. But no. I was shut out entirely within about 14 hours of the > phone call.> > Support from friends kept coming - THANK YOU. I spoke with my mum and dad. > Very upset. > > Watched The Net. It is that bad, but I didn't care. Ate some odd Taiwanese > baked goods. Run out of smokes. > > I declined Seb's kind nudges to head out with the conference peeps for dinner. > I just couldn't face the idea of being cheered up. I was beginning to feel > humiliated, particularly given what I was up to. You know, being in Taiwan at > an international conference to talk about my work. Stayed in. All day. Plus, > I'd cried so much I looked like a boxer who'd just woken up the day after a > fight. Not exactly game face.> > Realised I hadn't made it out of Denial yet. Packed to leave. Had to wake up > at 3:00am to get to the airport. > > Woke up on time. Was given some fruit by the people at the front desk - what a > nice gesture! Drove for an hour through the empty Taipei streets. Got on the > flight to Hong Kong. Now on Hong Kong to Sydney, where I sit now, annoyed by > everyone. Still shocked. So fucking brutal. > > Not what I had in mind at all.> _________________________________________> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.> Critiques & Collaborations> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with subscribe in the subject header.> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
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