My last month
Two big things have happened in the last month:
- I moved to Bangkok
- My company initiated a layoff
As a person who stays, it is the month with mixed feeling. I am excited for my new adventure but I am sad to see my beloved coworkers going. I am shocked to see the layoff announcement email and ironically see my work anniversary celebration email right after that. I enjoyed meeting new friends over welcome dinner but I knew a lot of my friends were suffering while I was having fun.
With all the changes and procedures I was kept busy with, for a period of recent time, I was really confused. I did not know to react. Should I be happy? Should I be depressed? I reached out a lot of friends and many of them are really leaving. A lot of them were so lost and frustrated. That really didn’t make me feel well at all, even though I am lucky to remain. However I still think being positive was what I should do because I was meeting new people. That has made up a big part of my recent struggle.
What’s even more contradictory is what we are saying in the company. It seems all official communications in such cases, no matter which company it is, always say we will become stronger despite all of these difficulties. I don’t suspect this statement that much for my particular company, but what makes me uncomfortable is that we will do better and become a stronger community, as we believe so, but that would have nothing to do with those who leave us. It is probably essential to sustain the business to keep that faith, but I am sure that is appropriate especially when these messages are still visible to the leaving ones. We are all amplifying other people’s #opentowork posts on LinkedIn, but comparing to the liveliness on social media, what I feel surrounding me, especially in more formal occasions, is like no big things have happened. Our morale is okay, media/client queries are advised to be redirected to the right point of contact, things are in order as usual, which is really a good thing, but I am sure the sense of loss is still out there. It’s just hidden. I guess we are doing the right things as an organisation. I just hope we can deal with our sentiments and future well.
There was recently a public holiday in Thailand, and I travelled to Laos with a bunch of new friends. The adventure continues to be exciting, and lot of natures are changing. For my friends who are experiencing unwanted changes, I hope you will get over them very soon and well!