May 28, 1992
Dear Everyone:
Special
Temporary Retirement Enhancement Program, STREP, better known simply
as "The Package".
Out of 35,000 eligible employees, 4400 accepted The
Package, including three from our own little group of Forms and Records
Management. This doesn't include
“Harmony” from the “Livermore” Records Center who is also taking The
Package and who certainly does work for Records Management, but Certain
People here in San Francisco do not wish to be associated with "those
people" out there in the Records Center.
Unfortunately, the Certain People are not among the
departing three. Or, as “Jerry”
in the Records Center put it: "The
ones they really need to get rid of never take The Package."
Those who did elect to Retire
are:
“Alma Tunney”.
Yes, our silly goose of a former
stupidvisor has decided that it's time to move on.
Evidently she did see the
handwriting on the wall. Or, more
likely, "someone" took her firmly by the elbow and read it out loud to
her, spelling out words of more than one syllable.
True to form, she didn't make up her mind until the
last possible moment and then, rather than turn the form into our
Manager, “Crow”, she took it directly to Human Resources.
HR, of course, called him with
the news. Reports of “Crow”
dancing in the hallways are probably exaggerated.
“Alma’s” last day here at work is tomorrow.
“Ashley Holtz”.
Of course, we've known about
“Ashley” all along. He decided
last October that, if the Company offered a "decent" Package, he was
going to grab it and set up his own business as a Records Management
consultant. (Interestingly, this
is also “Alma’s” plan, which means that as of next week, they'll be
competitors. Of course, in some
ways, they always have been.)
“Ashley” already has his stationery printed.
I have a business card as a
remembrance. His last day,
officially, is July 31st, but he's chomping at the bit to get
out of here earlier because of some prospective clients who want to
start projects earlier than that. But
the word from on high is that he has to provide for a smooth turnover of
his job functions. In other
words: "You can go play with your
friends after your chores are done."
“Ken White”.
I'd always considered “Ken” a "possible" because I understand he
has a business of his own (something to do with construction) outside of
Company. Also, he may be another
one who read the handwriting on the wall.
As a person who was demoted into Records Management from his
previous position, he might be thinking that, when it comes to cutting
extra people, this could be a deciding factor.
“Ken” told me he'd asked for October 31st
as his last day. This is the
final cutoff date. So, right now,
he's pretty relaxed about it. However,
he could be in for a surprise. I
have it from a "reliable source" that management sees no reason in
keeping people on the payroll just because it's convenient for
them.
A lot of people may find
themselves being booted out of the nest as of the end of next month.
And then, of course, management will start looking
at involuntary terminations.
That's right. 4400
leaving are not enough. In some
areas, they may be looking at cutting 40- 50%; in others, they may
eliminate whole departments or operating companies.
Grim. Back
when The Package first came out, I figured what I'd get if I took it and
what I could reasonably expect to get if I stayed and got
"involuntarily" terminated. The
difference came to about $2000, give or take a little.
I decided that this was not
enough of an inducement to jump ship before the water even reached the
gunwales. Not when I happen to
know that I'm ranked in the top one-third of my classification group.
Just keep working on those transferable job skills.
I can always file.
Speaking of involuntary terminations, “Jeannie” and
I went to see Aliens3
last weekend. It was not as
disappointing as I was led to believe from the rather disheartening
reviews. True, it's not the
roller coaster ride that the first two were, but that's partly because
you know better what to expect. After
all, it is a "formula" movie.
You've probably heard that
Sigourney Weaver will
not be making any more Alien
movies (I can't say more without giving away plot) and you might think
that this means no more sequels. Don't
bet on it.
After all,
Charlton Heston
thought he could put a stop to
Planet of the Apes movies by insisting on ending Number 2 by,
literally, blowing up the planet. Did
that stop the studio from making four more sequels and a TV series?
Of course not!
Consider this: In
all three
Aliens movies, a hideous little creature pops out of an egg and
then scurries like hell to find and glom onto a host, where it implants
an "embryo" and continues gestating until it's ready to emerge, usually
to the detriment of its host (this is not a symbiotic relationship).
It comes out fighting and starts
eating everything in sight and growing at a phenomenal rate.
Biologically speaking, what does this suggest?
It suggests that there is
something out there that dearly loves to munch on tender little aliens
for breakfast, lunch, dinner and between-meal snacks.
Any organism that has to hit the
ground running like that has one hell of a natural enemy out there
somewhere.
All Fox Studio has to do is find
that critter and they're off.
Love, as always,
Pete
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