Prairie View

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Axed

For the fourth time in his life, Hiromi has been laid off. This time it was after nearly 12 years of working for the same company.

While we understand that when demand for the company's products dries up things can not continue as before, we lament the specifics of this situation.

The politics of the workplace have been a thorn in Hiromi's side in several of the large companies he has worked for. This company was no exception, except that here it seemed to center almost entirely on "Jim," who was one of the two men in the room when Hiromi was interviewed for a job. The other person was the company president, John.

Hiromi noticed Jim's body language during the interview and was puzzled by it. He kept his eyes closed part of the time and would not look directly at Hiromi. It all made sense when he realized that only John really wanted to hire him, and "Jim" saw him as a threat to his job and his brother's job.

The company is owned by someone in Japan. Its manufacturing equipment comes from there, and Hiromi would have been perfectly suited for maintaining those machines. He has a degree in electronics, he is trained as a computerized numeric control (CNC) operator (most of the machines are CNC machines), he has worked as a computer repairman, and he has a diverse maintenance background. Most significantly for this situation, he can read and understand the Japanese manuals for the machines. But "Jim's" brother was the maintenance person, and Jim was not about to see his brother edged out. So Hiromi never got to do the job John wanted him to do. Instead, he tumbled parts to give them the final polish before they went out the door. It was a category C job, but because he had been hired for a category B job--equipment maintenance--he always was paid according to the B scale.

Hiromi did outstanding work, as he always does. He is precise and organized, and figured out various inexpensive improvements for the tumbling process. The quality control department honored him publicly for these improvements. Before Hiromi came, whole "buckets" of parts sometimes rusted from being tumbled in the abrasive liquid too long. When that happened, thousands of dollars worth of parts had to be discarded. Because this was the final step in the manufacturing process, discarding parts at this stage represented lots of expensive manufacturing input.

Hiromi was reasonably happy with his job, reasoning that as long as he gets paid well for it, he'll do whatever they give him to do. However, from time to time, when a CNC job opened up, he applied for it, and was never hired. In spite of the company policy requiring that applicants from within the company be considered first, others were always hired, sometimes from outside the company. Jim was involved in these decisions.

For the past several months, Hiromi has known that "Jim" plans to retire in late March. He told me, "I'm afraid Jim will do one last dirty trick before he retires--fire me. If I can just survive longer than he, I think I've got a good chance of hanging on to my job as long as the company survives."

Five people were laid off at the same time as Hiromi. All of them were fairly recent hires.

From the company's side, I don't suppose there is a comfortable way to handle the lay-off process. But, from where I sit, it seems that calling the unlucky few into a meeting after afternoon break, giving them the news and handing them an information packet, and then immediately escorting them out of the building sounds too much like a teacher isolating a trouble-maker student who might "poison" the classroom atmosphere. Is this common protocol? Am I missing a redeeming feature in this approach?

At least "Jim" did not display the same grim-mouthed, angry-eyed, punch-stepping body language Hiromi saw after the meeting in which a fellow-employee's wage was cut by $12.00 an hour. Like Hiromi, this person was also doing a job below his official classification. Unlike Hiromi, however, he had actually done the CNC job he was hired for, quitting only when he was injured on the job and needed back surgery. When he returned to work about six months later, his job had been given to someone else. This act was justified because he had overstayed his "vacation" by several days. That person worked very hard too in the new job he was given.

John retired as company president within the past year, and the new president is a Japanese man about Hiromi's age, who has become a good friend. Hiromi was always conscious of not cozying up to him in any unprofessional way, but "Sam" felt free to seek Hiromi out and talk shop with him. He obviously felt comfortable with Hiromi in a way he didn't with others in the company. Hiromi had hoped maybe Sam could run interference if his job ever was in danger of being axed. Sam understood instinctively, in a way that no American is ever likely to, that Hiromi is valuable to a company because he has a company loyalty ethic that is very rare among American employees. He has always helped by befriending new people and showing them the ropes, and helping in any department that needs help, if his own work is done. That others have not understood his motivations has been another thorn in Hiromi's side during all his years in the American workplace.

For now, Hiromi is throwing his energies into projects we're working on together here at home. I love having him home.

We're grateful for God's watchful care, and for the unemployment check he is eligible for.

We're mindful too that the company of the unemployed is populated by people who all have their own "lamentable specifics" stories. It's an especially good time to lend a listening ear and a heartfelt prayer in their behalf. For those who have no safety net as we do, opening our hands and our checking accounts might be called for as well.

4 Comments:

  • Read an article today about "the sound of silence" wrt unemployment; blogging seems a good antidote.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/19/2009  

  • I'm sorry to hear of Hiromi's lay-off. I suspect the details of the 'axing' process are pretty typical. I have a friend in a management position at his place of employment who told me that laying people off is the hardest thing he has to do. He is required to have a one on one meeting and stay with the employee while they clear their desk and leave. He is told that it is a legal issue; too much risk of sabotage to the company or someone going 'postal'. He hates the process because it seems so cruel.

    Don

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3/21/2009  

  • So sorry about Hiromi's lay-off. The politics of the workplace can be very unfair. Hopefully "Sam" will remember Hiromi's skills at a later date when it is feasible to rehire. May God guide you and bless you.

    By Blogger Mary A. Miller, at 3/22/2009  

  • Much grace to you both.

    By Blogger Dorcas, at 3/23/2009  

Post a Comment



<< Home