In December 2019 I got a job that I was genuinely excited for and had worked my way to earning for awhile. It wasn’t high paying or very impressive, but it was in my chosen industry and seemed like the perfect first step for what I ultimately wanted to do.
By March 2020, the office had shut down, but I was still able do my job and it seemed like things might be okay.
In October later that year I was finally laid off. My boss and HR were as nice as they could be, assuring me it had nothing to do with my performance and that the company was just having to keep making cuts. I took it as well as I could, my boss was supportive and seemed genuinely upset she had to let me go. My attitude was “this sucks and I’m upset but I also understand that the company is struggling and can’t afford to keep everyone right now.”
A few months later I was talking to an ex-coworker who had somehow gotten a hold of a big company spreadsheet with every employee’s pay rate and bonuses listed. No idea how he got this but I trust him.
Apparently the CEO’s bonus, not his salary, but his bonus, was around $8 million that year. Again, that year was 2020, when we all had to make sacrifices and accept radical change and all that shit. We’re all in this together, right?!?
My livelihood and that of a number of other people who were laid off before me wasn’t worth the CEO sacrificing less than 1% of his bonus.
I still can’t let this go or get over it, but I am a little grateful to no longer be under the impression that CEOs care at all about their employees. They’ll lecture you about hard work and putting in the time to see things pay off, but they won’t sacrifice a penny for anyone else’s benefit.