Noticed

The commute to work this morning was similar to the commute to work every other morning: Hop on the trolley at the Alvarado station near La Mesa, plug in the Ipod and pull out The New York Times. On this morning, a particular story caught my attention, a story about the mental anguish that managers at small and medium sized businesses endure when deciding who will lose their jobs when layoffs become necessary.

"Charlie Thomas III, vice president of Shuqualak Lumber in Shuqualak, Miss., had to dismiss nearly a quarter of his work force, which used to number about 160 employees, at the end of October. He also dismissed a handful of workers in January.

He wrote out a speech for the announcement in October in front of his men, whom he told to gather in the lumberyard. Midway through delivering it, Mr. Thomas had to stop and go back into his office to compose himself.

“I couldn’t get it out,” he said. “It just killed my soul.” "

It was a poignant piece detailing how layoffs at small businesses were more personal - like telling a brother he was being let go. But what was especially intriguing to me was a discussion about the factors that are considered when managers decide who to lay off.

"In the management team meetings, each member, armed with an employee roster by department, suggested workers to be cut. A vote was taken on each worker. Some got reprieves; others were added to the list.

A premium was put on workers with diversified skills. One employee was saved because he happened to have a commercial driver’s license, so he could make deliveries as well.

There were impossible dilemmas: what to do about two equally valued employees when one was single and the other had a family to support; how to balance an employee’s talent against his cost."

It's been well known for months that layoffs at my job with The San Diego Union-Tribune were imminent. We were informed of that fact earlier this year. And, in case anyone forgot, Louis Samson of new U-T owner Platinum Equity said as much in a question-and-answer piece on the front page of the paper the day after the sale was completed.

"We expect some immediate restructuring to stabilize the business in the near term. But the ultimate goal here is to make only those cuts necessary to stabilize the business, and then to focus on growing revenue," Samson was quoted as saying.

So I knew my job was on the line. After reading the New York Times piece, I knew that my future had been discussed by managers with much more authority than me. After reading this piece, I felt I had a little more understanding of the factors that would go into deciding whether I would soon have to start looking for employment elsewhere.

As it happened, I learned my fate 15 minutes after arriving at work. Layoffs were being announced. People were being pulled into offices for private discussions. Before the day would be over, more than 190 people - including about 40 in the newsroom - were told they would be gone in 60 days.

Many, many of my friends were told they were being laid off. Many, many of my friends shed more than a few tears. Many, many of my friends will soon no longer be threatened journalists, but instead former ones.