Myths of the workplace: Job security and company loyalty

I’ve seen a fair share of tech pros get burned by companies or bad bosses or other bureaucratic nonsense. And I’ve experienced firsthand that one cannot assume that job security and company loyalty exist.

I had landed a new, great job that I was excited about. I was one of the first employees of a medical information company. We began with one customer. I was in charge of the network and two servers, and I went to customer sites when they had problems.

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As time went on, we grew our customer base and hired more employees. We built a help desk, a networking group, a software support group, and a sales group. I was in charge of the networking group — and did a little of everything from tech work to product promotion. It was not unusual for me to go out with a salesperson to help do a demo. I was in meetings with potential customers and sometimes was the one closing the deals. My future with the company looked great. I was on top the world.

Roughly three years later, we landed a large customer with headquarters in another state and locations all over the country. I had to do a lot of traveling. At the same time, my wife was having medical issues, and my son was having some trouble in school. My travels were impacting my family. I had to make a hard decision. I looked for and eventually accepted a position with another company.

Fast-forward six months. Things were getting much better at home, and my job wasn’t bad. All was well for the most part. One day, the CEO from the medical information company called me up and asked how things were going. We chatted for a little while, then he suggested we meet for lunch.

When we met, he asked if I’d be willing to come back to the company. He said he needed my experience and knowledge to further grow the company. He had recently landed a couple of really big contracts and was having trouble keeping up. I believed in the company and was excited about the work. After a lot of thinking and discussions with my family, I decided to go back.

We had a good couple of years of growth, then the economy took a downturn. We lost a couple of contracts, and we had to close two of the three data centers we had in other cities. We also had to lay off employees. During all this, we did have need for another network engineer. We hired a young man straight out of college and paid him next to nothing. He had no real job experience and was happy to be employed, so this was OK for him. I thought, “This is great — I have someone to help with the network.” It turned out to be anything but great.

I’ll never forget that certain Friday in May. The CEO and CFO of the company called me in to the main conference room. They told me that the company had taken yet another financial downturn and they were going to have to let more people go. They then told me I was one of them.

I asked if my reputation with the customers or my deep knowledge of the company held any value whatsoever. I also reminded them that I had recently turned down a director’s position with a higher salary at another company because I believed in our business.

Their response: It wasn’t personal. It’s just that I was one of the highest-paid employees, and they had found a way to replace me and save the company money. They said in no way was it a reflection of my job performance; it was just business.

I was unemployed. I have since moved on and have a good job. I don’t, however, believe that there is such a thing as company loyalty or job security. I also look over my shoulder and always seek other options.

This story, “Myths of the workplace: Job security and company loyalty,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more crazy-but-true stories in the anonymous Off the Record blog at InfoWorld.com.