Writing

Liberation/Autonomy

Amy

On March 4 of this year, my team got an email that we were to convene in less than 24 hours for a mandatory meeting. CCed on this meeting demand were HR and Administration. From experience, knowing others who have had similar type of meetings, we all knew this meant trouble on the job front, and likely we were all going to lose our jobs in less than 24 hours.

On March 5, we attended the mandatory meeting (I attended via Teams) and I watched as refreshments were offered to some of my teammates in person. I tried to hide my eye rolls as my camera was on. The vice president of our department asked us why we thought we were there in a very chipper tone, unfitting for the occasion. One member of my team spoke up and said she thought we were there because our jobs were being outsourced. The VP replied, “Yes, that’s it,” as if she had given the correct answer and was going to win a fabulous prize.

I sat there stunned. In the room with the VP was a representative from human resources, and people from the outsourcing company that were going to take over our department. They were there to give a talk about how great it would be to transition to working for their company. By offering us jobs of a comparable type, paying unemployment and severance could be avoided. Some of us chose not to take this road. I wasn’t one of those people. I needed to go from one job directly to another with no gaps in pay and no gaps in health insurance. Many of you here know that I have chronic migraine and have to take very expensive migraine medication. To go without insurance would bankrupt me.

The next few days I frantically contacted the talent recruiter at the agency that would be replacing us to arrange an interview, and within days I was hired at the company. I was going to start April 15. I was less than thrilled. In fact, I was cried every day. I felt like I was in a stranglehold, my self-esteem took a dip, and I felt a sense of betrayal from an employer I had been with for 13 1/2 years. We were thrown away like trash, and stepped on as we landed on the ground.

But time marches on no matter what we do or how much we cry. April 12 would be our last day at our former employer, a place where I was born, where my mother had several operations and where my father died in the operating room. But that tiny community hospital where all of these major life events occurred has been acquired by a conglomerate health system bent on saving money, and if you happen to have your life destroyed in the process? Oh, well.

Two of my colleagues and I went through the process of getting hired by the outsourcing company without any time to grieve our loss, which is much like a divorce if you think about it. Party A(sshole) decides they don’t want to be with you anymore, and you have no say in it. They’re not dead, they’re still there, so it’s not like experiencing a death. It’s a betrayal, It’s demeaning and demoralizing – professionally and personally. The notion of being jobless with only one way to acquire one quickly removes your autonomy and takes away your choices.

And so it went. My two colleagues and I started working for the outsourcing company April 15. That first week was a nightmare. I cried the entire day Monday and Tuesday. Meeting upon meeting, thrown into a new atmosphere, and a whole new way of doing a job that we all knew how to do for many years was yet another punch in the stomach. We all made it through the first week, but during that first week I hustled to find a new job, determined that I would not be there to start week three. The first two weeks were going to be onboarding, week three would start to get into the nitty-gritty about taking over the cases of our former employer. The cases we just worked on the week before would now become ours again at a different company. We would have to look at and work on those cases again. I would rather burn my hands off.

I made multiple contacts the first week. I stayed up late sending resumes, talking to talent acquisition specialists (recruiters), doing whatever I could to escape the circumstance I was in. Towards the end of the first week an opportunity opened up. I interviewed with them and took a skills assessment over the weekend. I performed very well on the assessment, which boosted my work self-esteem a bit. I asked if my coworkers who came with me from the healthcare system were interested in interviewing at this opportunity. One of my coworkers said that she was. She interviewed and was offered a position early this week. The other coworker received an offer from another company. I received a job offer early this week, and I accepted.

We worked as team for many years at the healthcare system, and we came in as our own little team to the outsourcing agency. The agency did nothing wrong, they are just collateral damage – as are we – in what has been the most heinous, egregious treatment I have ever experienced from an employer in my life. The three of us decided we would stick it out this week and then Friday – today – we would turn in our resignations to the outsourcing agency. We came in as part of our fractured, larger team, and we left as a team. 

In my resignation letter, I mentioned that everyone at the outsourcing agency was kind and gracious during this very difficult time in my life, personally and professionally. I thanked them for giving me the opportunity. The healthcare system that threw us away took away my autonomy and my ability to make choices for myself. But with just two weeks, I hustled my ass off to find a job that was by my choosing. By accepting another position outside of their agency, I regain my autonomy. I am nowhere near being healed from this – this will take months if not years to recover from, but I have made my own choice and I have taken a step towards reclaiming my self-esteem, because I know I can do the job and I’ve proven it time and time again for 13 1/2 years.

To the healthcare system that dumped me and my coworkers like trash, I say to you this: karma never forgets a name or an address.

Published by Amy

I love words. And animals. Photography and fedoras. Welcome. And stay awhile.

82 thoughts on “Liberation/Autonomy”

  1. Thank you for sharing. I’m beyond sorry for all you went through. Employers have no loyalty anymore. I’ve worked as a contractor in jobs over the past 6 years. I worked in information technology for 26 years and have very similar experiences to what you had at least 12 times. Ugh I so get where you’re coming from.
    I ultimately went back to college got my masters degree in English and change careers because I was fed up with the high stress of information, technology and job security.

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    1. I can’t imagine this happening to you 12 times. I’m so sorry. It is so demeaning and awful. That’s really great you went back to school to get a masters in English. Are you teaching now? I don’t know that I’ll change careers again, but I’ll never say never. My dream would be to write full-time, but I think that’s a pie in the sky dream. At least I’m out of that place that doesn’t care at all about their people.

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      2. Nice! The financial devastation is what I’m most concerned about. That’s why I took the opportunity that was immediately present rather than feel like I had some time to make my own choices. I really didn’t have any time to do that. I’ll have to seriously start thinking how I can become a paid writer. 😊

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      7. You can do anything you set your mind to anything. Don’t forget it look what you’ve already done and what you did to take care of that lousy place you were working at when they screwed you over you can do anything. Don’t forget it.

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  2. Congrats on the new gig and I hope it works out great for you. Those transitions are very trying times. I went through being bought out twice and applying for jobs with the new company. One worked out well. One didn’t so much and I should have left but that is hindsight. Best of luck.

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    1. Thanks, Mike. I’m sorry that you can relate to the story but unfortunately, it seems to be a sign of the times. It sure will take a while to get over this. But I am at least free to make my own choices now.

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    1. Thanks, Edward. I hustled my ass off, like I said. I would not stay beyond two weeks and it’s nothing that the agency did. It’s just I didn’t want to go any further. Have you put your heart medication away? Sure hope so.😊

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  5. Amy, I’m so sorry your former company treated you like trash. This is my big beef with capitalism, how inhumane it is. Sounds like you handled this so well, and big kudos to
    you for finding another opportunity. My husband (aka the breadwinner of this outfit) was part of 41% of his company that got laid off in november. It’s rough and I am SO glad you have landed on your feet.

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    1. Oh no, Susan! I’m so sorry that your husband was laid off and right before all of the winter holidays. The corporate world doesn’t care. Coming from the healthcare world, I didn’t think this could happen, but it does and it happens often. I handled it the best I could, knowing for sure that I wanted to make a choice rather than have a choice be made for me.

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  6. Congrats, Amy. Glad it worked out for you. And I’d advise getting over the previous treatment sooner rather than later, only because they don’t deserve any of your energy.

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    1. It’s gotta work itself out. I’m not holding onto it inside of me, but there is a grieving process that needs to happen. As I move into the next phase of things that will diminish. Just knowing I don’t have to deal with them anymore is already a help

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      1. I’m sure it is helping.

        Do this to help…
        Buy a burner phone and call the VP.
        Tell him you are calling on behalf of Mr. Hugh Jorgen and Dick Hertz from Holden and that they respectfully request that he lick the sweat off a dead man;s balls.
        That will make you feel better. 😊

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      12. Lol. I put them on blast in a departing email two weeks ago, then I threw in a mention for good measure in the second departing email last week. Lol

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      18. I mean… I’m already telling people not to go there and I may or may not have mentioned that I may or may not know of someone who may or may not have seen roaches and rats at certain facilities. 🤷‍♀️

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  7. Congratulations on your new job!

    Don’t feel any guilt or remorse. In the past, our company had to let a person go because his performance wasn’t meeting expectations. It might have seemed unfair at the time, but now he is enjoying perks and traveling the world in his new role and company.

    I wish the same for you.

    It’s very common for both people and companies to try to improve their performance by cutting losses and increasing gains. Employers and employees can both feel the same way when one decides to leave the other.

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    1. Thank you! I don’t feel guilty at all. The whole thing was handled poorly, and I understand that companies want to save money, but in this case, it has been said that top level people in the company received money for terminating our department. They increase their gains and gave us loss. I do not forgive that. I move on with grace.

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  9. I’m sorry for the forced transition. I believe that it’s Life’s way of getting us to an opportunity we would otherwise miss. The new job might be said opp, or just a stepping stone to it. I hope you find happiness there!

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  10. It breaks my heart to read how you were treated by your ex-employer. But on the bright side you found another job and in the long term it’s the best solution, also for your mental health.

    Wishing you all the best in your new job. Take care and have a tremendous day.

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    1. Thanks, Becky! I really hustled. I am exhausted now. The letdown period has begun. Not saying that I’m feeling let down, just that my body is finally out of fight or flight mode and it is crash time.

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  14. Amy, so sorry to hear about your shi*ty luck. Companies no longer have any heart and HR is only there to protect the mucky mucks and the corporation. Glad you found another job and could leave with your head held high. Well done! 😎

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  15. 😳😳😳 work in a corporate hospital and I fear another corporate takeover might come. Since it did a year before I started.

    Thank you for sharing this ❤️

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    1. Uh oh… that is very possible. Please keep your options open and look around for other opportunities just so you have a plan in place, in case ♥️

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      2. I’m so happy that you do. You never know when you’ll have to fall back on something. And you never want to be in the position of trying to scramble when you’ve just lost your job. It was very difficult and exhausting and I wouldn’t want anyone else to have to do it. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you. 🤞

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