Part of my severance is outplacement services, which I am genuinely thankful for, if for no other reason than I haven’t been without work for quite a long time. And as happens to all of us, I’ve gotten older, which (apparently) makes me less employable.
The company decided to engage a service – Velvet Services – to help us. The first time I saw the name, the first thing that came to mind was “strip club”. (And if you’ve been reading this, you know my opinion on strip clubs.)
Suffice to say, they’re not that. But what they seem to be is a connector – they get a sense of what you do, then pair you off with an independent contractor who theoretically knows your industry. The one I received worked at Meta. Not quite what I do, but probably closer than most.
The most telling part? The person I was connected with told me: “[B]eing laid off, especially in this job market, can be tough[.]” Really? I HADN’T NOTICED.
My first meeting with them is no earlier than 13 July, almost a month after being laid off. I’m not quite sure how this is helping me. It’s causing a great deal of stress and uncertainty.
Welcome to the New World, folks, where AI and poor company management casts aside competent and capable staff in favour of centralizing profit, rather than accepting your business model is deficient and needs adjustment. But hey, who am I to judge, after 30+ years in this industry…
