Last Updated on January 21, 2018
All the news about employees being laid off, empty positions not being filled, and employees being asked to take furloughs — unpaid time off — would be depressing any time of the year.  But to see that it is happening to so many this close to Christmas makes it a lot harder.
I talked to a friend of mine who just this week lost her job.  As the saying goes, she is “doing as well as can be expected.”  I don’t know how well that really is, because when the news is that bad, I don’t know how well one can even be expected to be.
The media industry is not immune from the bad economy.  Local car dealership advertising can account for 40% or more of a local broadcast station’s ad revenue, and with the automotive industry in such a mess, you can easily do your own math about how serious things are getting in TV.  Add to that the fact that a lot of television station owners also own newspapers, and that newspapers aren’t doing well, either, and you begin to understand why a lot of people working in newsrooms really feel the fears they’re covering when they do stories about people losing their jobs.
A quick scan of the front page of Newsblues, an industry insider site, has staggering headlines:  one ownership group cuts 500 jobs.  Another cuts 200.  This station loses 6.  That station loses 15.  This company is trimming its workforce by more than a thousand.
I have a few vacation days left to take before the end of the year, at which point I would otherwise lose the time.  And part of me genuinely feels guilty about taking vacation right now.
Yeah, I know, I am owed this vacation as part of my job, and it’s a benefit that is extended to employees.  It’s dumb to feel guilt about something you’re supposed to have and that your employer is pressuring you to take with the warning that there is no “carry-over.”  Use it or lose it.
I get that.
But there are more people now than there have been in the past 26 years, according to reports, who are jobless right now.  They’d love to have a job that would even consider giving them vacation.  But they don’t.  It just happened.  In some cases, completely without any warning at all:  they showed up for work one day, just like any other day, but this one just ended a bit differently.
Maybe a few saw it coming.  Maybe a few thought that if it did happen, it’d be next quarter.  Or the quarter after that.  Or that it would hit their division or their department, but just not them.
So I’m feeling a little down today, for some good people who didn’t deserve what happened.  And for others who are going to go through the same thing in the days, weeks or months to come.
I’m also thinking about the people I met a few weeks ago when I volunteered to help get families signed up for Christmas assistance at the local Salvation Army.  They’re people who have no credit card bills because they haven’t charged up a lot of things they don’t need.  They’re people who don’t have luxuries like cable television or cell phones.  They don’t have car payments because they take a bus.  And they still can’t afford food because they need medication just to stay alive.  Or they can’t afford toys for their children because a hot meal is more important.
And I’m getting paid to take a day off.
Patrick
You shouldn’t feel bad. Those hours are yours, you earned them. It’s too bad they can’t be donated to a co-worker in need. That seems to be a really good trend happening in most companies, but I realize broadcasting is a different animal then most other industry. Anyway, if it is all getting to you, donate a share of the time you get to charity, or use the time volunteering. You will feel better, and someone will benefit from you sharing yourself with them. Just a thought. Either way, stop letting useless negativity creep in where it isn’t needed. Could you perhaps do some writing about how things are affecting yourself and your co-workers? Maybe pitch the idea for a special report or something? I am sure there are a lot of other folks who feel the way you do and want to reach out and help. Just a thought.
Carly
If these companies ran their television stations better, they would have been prepared for the slumping economy. The simple fact is that most of these companies promoted incompetence. Managers were made managers without having any real life experience. These television stations are run to make money and journalism was thrown out the window long ago. Why is no one watching? Because management has no clue how to produce news people really want to watch. You can’t have 23 and 24 year old producers calling the shots, making 30 thousand a year. That’s why local news is one rape, murder and car accident after another. What happened to investigations, good consumer reporting, great feature storytelling? That is what people wake up for on Sunday mornings. That is what people stay up for on Nightline. If local news got the hint years ago, they wouldn’t be cutting jobs now. The people who run these companies should be fired for their bad decision making.
Ain’t survivors gulit grand? Take the vacation days — you’ve earned them. If you can’t convert them to cash or give them as additional sick time to a co-worker in need then it behooves you to take them. Failure to take them will result in management taking the attitude they don’t need to provide as much vacation in future. Frankly, Americans, in general, work too hard. Go get a recharge of your psychic batteries. Go out and have a special fruitarian meal. Go see the Nutcracker. Work a soup kitchen. Got to the beach and hunt for sea glass. Get the &^%* away from work. It’ll be good for you.
Life is, indeed, unfair. That’s my dad speaking.
A friend of mine told me of someone she knows who was let go still owed vacation, holiday, AND two-weeks’ back pay. The company just ran out of money and told everyone to go home.
It’s bad. I just keep saying, “We’re called to be merciful and charitable, so I guess that means now.” Hang in there, though, cuz it doesn’t say “Feel guilty.” [preaching to myself there too]