So I work for a pretty small software company (about 15 people), and a month ago we hired 2 people, working in the same department as me. One of them has been doing really amazingly, and has gotten up to speed and productive super quickly. The other... not so much. I'll call him Eddy for the sake of this post. Eddy is not a native English speaker (although he's perfectly fluent), and had comparatively little experience writing code before starting the position. I was the exact same when I started a year ago. The difference is, Eddy has had a very difficult time catching on to some pretty basic things like version control, QA, templating, basic web development things. He has a hard time grasping some concepts. That's not to say he wasn't slowly coming around - just at quite a slower pace than others.
Last week, a boss called myself and another co-worker into her office to talk about how the 2 new people were coming along. The general agreement all around was that the first guy is doing great, and Eddy not so much. There was no denying that Eddy was having a hard time and was simply not catching on to some basic concepts.
Come the end of the day today, Eddy gets called into the president's office, and we can hear him get fired. I didn't think I'd internally react this way, but I felt like absolute shit immediately once I realized what was happening. And that's mainly what I'm writing this post about. Eddy's a really nice, quiet guy. And he couldn't say anything other than "ok, alright" as he was being fired. I felt so god damned bad for him, having just started at a position far far better than any position he's ever had, and he got fired after a month. I could easily picture myself in his position - both in not being a good enough programmer, and just sitting there nodding as I'm being told why I'm being fired. The president of the company is a super intimidating guy.
I can't help but lament about how he must feel, having to explain to his friends and family and future interviewers why he was fired. It seems like it's some sort of major life event. I'm certain my boss hired him because of his lack of experience - so he could pay him relatively little (compared to someone with a lot of experience), and if he works out - great! But it didn't. If it were me, I'd be going back to see my therapist, if I could make it out of my bed. Maybe it's because I've never witnessed someone get fired. I felt and still feel sick to my stomach, and I feel like I was a part of it for agreeing that he wasn't doing well in the meeting with my boss.
But I also completely see the other side. We're a small company, and paying someone who can't contribute a fair share simply can't be afforded. He couldn't hold his weight. It's not like the company is doing the 'wrong' thing for firing him - it's doing what it needs to do to profit and remain financially stable.
I don't know how to feel about this. I'm not even sure exactly why I feel like sharing this. I have no idea why I'm so worked up about it. I just can't cool down. It's making me hate working in the business world. I still feel sick to my stomach. Any advice, hubski?
Your feelings are completely normal and it might be strange if you weren't having them. Being fired can be like a mini death. There is a part of you that you tend to identify with that is stripped away from you. You bore witness to someone losing a large aspect of their life/livlihood. Many people so identify with their jobs that they feel that they "give them a sense of worth and meaning." That said, you honestly never know what might come of Eddy because he was fired. Maybe he will get on another life-track that leads him down a more suitable path for him. This could be the best thing that ever happened to him, in the long run. In the short run, it probably sucks a whole lot. You did nothing wrong though, but having an empathetic response is normal. Congrats on being human and not a dick. That's a good thing.
I once got the axe the Friday before 9/11. Everyone else on the team got let go within four months. However I was able to get a gig from my old temping company before the economy crashed. Within a year I was making more than I had before, and I was able to move my then-girlfriend to Boston. Some of the others were out of work for a couple years: I was out for 2.5 weeks. Many years later I was out for nine months, but I was still making more on unemployment than I had been at the job that let me go nearly a decade earlier.
Welcome to leadership. That asshole leader/manager guy who did that terrible thing? Maybe give him a break because he made a hard decision such as firing a good person because they just weren't working out, and while he gets blamed for it, it may have ultimately been the right choice. If you really care about what happens to Eddy, contact him outside of the office and talk to him. Give him honest feedback about the problems, but do it in a way that's positive, not negative, don't associate it directly to him, that sort of thing. And offer to be a contact for him if you can honestly do so. But if you're not willing/don't want to do any of those things, it's perfectly ok. Eddy isn't the first person to be rejected, he'll pick himself up off the floor or he's in the wrong business anyway. btw, what sort of software dev are you involved in?
Yeah, I'm definitely with ya there. There was no feasible reason to keep him at the company and keep paying him. Thanks for the advice - I think I may end up reaching out to him. It's an Saas publishing platform, mostly for b2b publishing companies, but we have a couple b2c clients as well. I do mostly front-end work, with a bit of server maintenance sprinkled in. Are you in software?That asshole leader/manager guy who did that terrible thing? Maybe give him a break because he made a hard decision such as firing a good person because they just weren't working out, and while he gets blamed for it, it may have ultimately been the right choice.
btw, what sort of software dev are you involved in?
Freelance software developer :) Most of my work recently has been either in web dev or writing scripts to interface with VMH in some manner, although my secret love is C (yes I know, that makes me terrible). I tend towards the technical who isn't allowed to design anything because people have been stabbed for showing it in demo's. Instead they take my work, nod their head a few times, and then secretly have someone with some sort of design sense fix it.
ha! It isn't all sunshine and roses, but for my personality it works well. The one bit of advice I can give you now is to control your expenses with an iron grip. Don't just save, live well below your means. The lower your expenses, the less risk you take on when you do make the switch. I've seen people who want to make the switch, but can't because they can't stay afloat making less than $70-$100k. Don't be that guy or gal, and when you do go for it, you'll find it's a lot less scary than it has to be :)
Of course you feel bad. You share a strange camaraderie with every co-worker. You're whitecollar brothers-in-arms. Speaking as someone who's been fired a few times, and quit many more, I would buy your friend Eddy a couple shots and try to remind him that there's usually a better job (for him at least) waiting to be found. Unemployment, especially for one with a family, is manic and depressing. It is a death of sorts, but if you reevaluate yourself and fight the tide it can be a rebirth. Every job I've lost (and I spent a month living out of my car the last time) eventually led to an even better one. I'm just speaking for myself. I don't know Eddy but I hope he finds a better fit. We're all clawing our way to the top.