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.