Employment Terminated

I was "let go" yesterday from my job of nearly 3 years. This did not come as a huge surprise to me, although it feels a little disconcerting as this is the first time in this life that I have not ended employment on my terms. 

The company split in April 2014, selling off an entire division that was essentially half the company. It went as a business unit, taking not only software engineers and IP, but also some executive staff, management, marketing and sales. After that event, the writing was on the wall for the rest of the company - it was just a matter of time before it was acquired by a partner or competitor. That announcement is going live this afternoon. And so my termination yesterday was part of a reduction of head count.

Again, I'm not surprised at this. I am a Product Manager (a position that overlaps engineering, marketing and sales). However, in the trimmed down version of the company, we were left with 3 PMs by title and 2 product lines. The others had significantly more history with the company and knowledge about this industry, so immediately I was on the bubble. Further, a couple months ago they started to migrate to "solution selling" as opposed to selling products. The solution consisted of 3 areas, with some overlap for both product lines in each, and I was assigned one of these areas. However, that particular area is quite "mature" and didn't required the attention and management that I am capable of providing. As a result, my workload has not been significant for a while. 

I have in my hand a separation agreement that arrived by FedEx this morning. While one would hope to see something a little more generous, I guess it's good enough. Certainly it's better than 2 week's notice and a goodbye. I comfortably have about a month to find gainful employment on my next career stop, although I could budget out and stretch it further if necessary. Unfortunately, one position I had my eye on mid-summer is no longer listed online, but I'll be reaching out to that company regardless. And without really starting to look yet, I've heard of some other opportunities. I just need to find the best option to move ahead. 

Recently I have commented to several people that I would love to quite my job, sell most of my belongings, and go live on a commune. The time isn't ripe for that path yet, however, as I still have a financial responsibility to my children. I do recognize that my next choice needs to be one that's more in line with my belief system.

Fuel supply chain is fairly interesting, and the energy business is huge - but it doesn't jibe with my hippie outlook on the world. I found myself hesitating to sign anti-fracking petitions because natural gas as a motor fuel is an immense growth opportunity. Similarly, the Keystone XL pipeline would help move billions of gallons of oil south for refining, likely expanding the gallons passing through the company's software. So while I believe fracking is playing a large role in harming the environment and the pipeline is not actually needed given future oil demand and the environmental cost to build it, I felt like I was voting against the company when publicly decrying these activities. Not any more. I'm not sure I can find a green software company that requires my talents (without moving to the west coast), but at least I can get out of an industry that's literally and systematically destroying the planet. 

By living in the present moment, I will tackle each task of the job search as it comes. No reason to worry about past choices or to worry about what the future holds. The only thing I can affect is the Now.