This time I’m not going to write about my travel but about the situation with my job back home. This because I received the shocking information that entire departments of my company have been laid off.

I started in this company bit more than 9 years ago as Chief Accountant. By then, it used to be a great company. I had an outstanding team and I was supported throughout the whole company. Working meant more to me than just earning money. The environment was great and we were a family helping each other, no matter what happened. I think I did more than possible to contribute myself to an excellent performance. Probably too much so one day I had to do one step backwards and I got into a position with less every day routine but where I could make even better use of my skills of knowing the many different systems we had and the company’s complexity. This had the side effect, I could work less and had time to concentrate on my favourite hobby of training for triathlons, because the years of hard work before left some tracks on me.

Maybe at the beginning a bit unnoticed the formerly excellent working environment changed because our top management was unable to realize market tendencies and made the workers in their daily jobs pay for it, while they continued to make one false decision after another. Instead of taking the consequences and tell the managers to go, the workers at the front had to suffer again and again. That means more work for fewer employees. The management talked about improvements of quality. The improvement was only their salary. Investments should have been done to lower the so obvious organizational weaknesses. They did investments, large unnecessary investments, just to cover the previous mistakes…

Anyway, I found myself in a position where I was able to see the mismanagement and the longer it went on, the sicker I got about it. Why didn’t I just leave? Still there were some people left (fewer and fewer) from the good old times and I felt I still can do them some good. For them, and only for them, I stayed. But then I realized it took too much from me and if I don’t want to end up being endlessly frustrated, I had to step out. That’s a big part why I am on my travel now: to calm down and regain energy for future challenges which will lie in a different field. And I hoped after a break I will be more relaxed about my work again so I could do one or two years more before I am able to switch profession and do what I really want to.

Now I got to know that most of my last remaining colleagues from the good old times, my beloved ones, were laid off. So for me, there is absolutely no reason to return to my job. What for? For the people that put the company where it is now? I would suggest my direct superiors to do the same. I know you’ve been fighting with me. But if everything is useless, at one point you have to give up. It’s just a company, not the world. If they don’t listen to you, they don’t need you, they don’t even want you. And I know you’ve done remarkable things in the past and these skills are appreciated well anywhere else. So why suffering? You lost, I lost, we lost, the employees lost that are now being laid off after many, many years of being loyal to the company and taking the directors hysterical moods.

Dear colleagues: I’m really with you these days and I’m feeling the same anger as you probably do. It’s just not right! I am sad I am not with you to share this misery! I hope you can all make the best out of it. You deserve something better as it was always great working with you!

Myself,  I have not been laid off, but I tell my boss to let me go. It’s a step I would have done anyway sooner or later. Now it’s only a bit earlier than expected. I will extend my stay in South America a bit and maybe this is a life improving opportunity for me as it offers me the chance to finish a business here I gave up for lack of time. Don’t worry about me. I count on my reputation that will get me better jobs until I am able to fully earn my living on social and environmental improving projects.