Empty Cubicles

At my wage slave job, I noticed something disturbing. About 1/6 of the cubicles are suddenly empty! One of my coworkers quit (or was fired) along with my boss, about a week later. The economy sucks right now, so fired is a more likely explanation than quit. However, I'm not sure.

My coworkers just moved from one floor to the current floor. After the move, every cubicle was filled, which seemed odd. Why move to a new space that's 100% filled to capacity? That question was answered, as 1/6 of the people disappeared.

There must have been some other layoffs, along with my now-ex boss. If this was a mass-layoff, then at least they got a severance payment. If the new boss forces people to quit, they might not get any severance, as someone else commented. It's very easy to fabricate a negative performance review and fire someone. Alternatively, you can be so abusive so that they quit.

As a contractor/consultant, I won't get any severance. I figured that I'll wait to see who is the new boss. I get along well with my current coworkers, but they aren't technically my boss. Most likely, the new boss will fire everyone and hire replacements. He won't do it all at once, but I'm usually the first target. If you're going to unfairly fire people, start with the most skilled people first. Otherwise, the skilled people you don't fire might wind up promoted!

I'm not actively sending out resumes yet. That may change if it's obvious the new boss doesn't like me. I'm pretty good at reading that sort of thing, having been in that situation many times. Besides, I don't want to waste time dealing with scummy headhunters and hiring managers again. If necessary, I'll wait a few weeks/months before finding a new job. My most recent jobsearch only lasted 1.5 months, which was pretty good.

There's one important point. The new boss, if he is a scumbag, won't admit it. He'll say "I'm firing FSK because he's doing a lousy job." If I were a mindless zombie, I might believe him, and be looking for things I did wrong. Sometimes, "The other person is a scumbag!" is the reason you fail. By lying about their reasons, parasites keep the slaves clueless about their manipulations. It's a type of conspiracy. Without being consciously aware of what they're doing, the parasites act to make sure that intelligent slaves have no self-confidence.

The reason I had my first panic attack was that I realized a parasitic boss was doing it on purpose. I thought he was merely incompetent, and needed to be educated. If only he learned, he would be a competent boss. The realization was a shock! Some people are evil, and are doing it on purpose! If my parasitic boss learned anything, it was "How to be evil without getting caught!" rather than "Don't be evil!" Most parasites focus on learning "How can I be a more effective parasite?" rather than "How can I be a true leader?"

I always assumed that evil people had good intentions just like me. They were merely stupid and needed to be educated. THAT IS WRONG! SOME EVIL PARASITES ARE DOING IT ON PURPOSE, FULLY AWARE OF THEIR CRIMES! The classic example of "evil and doing it on purpose" is Bernard Madoff.

Anyway, I'm not actively looking for a new job yet. I'd rather spend the time on my blog. After time spent working, I don't have much leftover energy. Until I start my own business, it's obvious that I'll be subject to the whims of parasites.

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My new boss starts on Monday. His first day is exactly 2 weeks after my ex-boss was fired. Presumably, this means they made the decision to hire him before they made the decision to fire my ex-boss. He probably had to give 2 weeks' notice at his job. Plus, they had a lot of bureaucracy and pre-employment background checks. That takes at least a week or two.

I'll see how it goes. He might be competent. He might be a parasite who doesn't mind having me around. He might be evil. I'm getting along well with my other coworkers, but a new boss can mess things up.

My ex-boss had the title of "Vice President". My new boss has the title of "Managing Director", which is one rung higher. That probably means some other people will be hired at the "Vice President" level.

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There's one guy I work with mostly, but he isn't technically my boss. He had a weird observation about corporate politics. Two people who have equal titles can work together. Two people with unequal titles can't work together from different divisions. If A has a greater title than B, then A won't deal directly with B. A will contact B's boss, who is a peer to A. If A had a greater title than B, then B can't call A and ask for something. B must ask his boss instead.

There's an abnormally large amount of bureaucracy at my current employer. Ironically, there's less petty political maneuvering than at the startups I worked at. There's so much inefficiency, that people just want to be able to do things. My direct coworkers are thinking "OMFG! FSK can actually do things! I don't have to deal with the other corporate bureaucracy!" instead of "FSK is too competent, I must eliminate him!"

For example, they have a "certified software development process" on the production servers. That also adds a lot of overhead. One person said that he asked for something. The price would have been $2M, and it then would have taken 6-12 months for any changes or bugfixes. He might ask me to write it for him. I don't have the overhead, and it'll probably just take me 2-3 months. Then, if he wants a new feature or bugfix, he can just ask me rather than having to deal with a bureaucracy.

I still find it amusing "There's more stupid political maneuvering at a 10 person startup, than at a huge corporate bureaucracy." I'm so far removed from actual useful work, that it doesn't matter at all. Plus, any skilled parasites probably would choose another employer than my current job. With all that bureaucracy, there are limits to how much a parasite can steal. It's a bizarre way that the State managed to defend itself from evil. Make there be so much bureaucracy, that a skilled evil person would get disgusted and work elsewhere!