Things I Learned from the Layoffs

Don’t put your life in the hands of experts who know nothing of life, of salvation life. Mere humans don’t have what it takes; when they die, their projects die with them. Instead, get help from the God of Jacob, put your hope in God and know real blessing! God made sky and soil, sea and all the fish in it. He always does what he says —    he defends the wronged, he feeds the hungry. God frees prisoners — he gives sight to the blind, he lifts up the fallen. (Psalm 146:3-9a, MSG)

This picture was not actually in front of my office this week, but for some of my coworkers, this is what it may well have felt like.  

My employer, for the first time in its long and storied history, cut some positions this week. Laid people off. (Actually, the first thing I learned about the layoffs is that we don’t call them that. We eliminated positions. All a matter of semantics if you ask me, and if you were one who was eliminated, it still had to feel like you were voted off the island. I find layoffs to be a less clumsy term. And since I’m not in management, I’m going to take the liberty of using the word I prefer.) 

Some pretty crazy things happen when a whole bunch of people lose their jobs all at one time. It’s hard. No big fancy words for that. (Some may have thought of plenty, but I won’t use them here.)

It’s just hard.

Folks who get laid off are pretty shocked and devastated. They worry about paying their bills, feeding their kids, keeping their homes, affording insurance, keeping their pension. They wonder what they did wrong. They wonder how they couldn’t see it coming. They wonder what they do next. 

Folks who don’t get laid off are pretty shocked and devastated. They feel horrible for their friends and coworkers. They worry about what’s going to happen to them. They feel relieved that they survived the carnage. But then they feel selfish about that, guilty even, for having their job to go back to. But then, they don’t know how long they can trust that now.

Nothing like pulling the rug out from under folks to make the whole world feel like a pretty shaky place.

So over the past couple of weeks, waiting for the shoe to drop and then sitting and looking at it all busted apart on the floor, I’ve had a couple of overriding thoughts. The “things I learned from the layoffs.” Everybody has learned important stuff from the layoffs. I don’t know that this is necessarily any smarter than what everybody else has learned. But this is definitely one of those times for me where the Word — God’s love letter to us — and life really collide hard. They smack together with a huge crash and really make you sit up and take notice.

Before I say much more, I need to say this: I’m not going to comment on the company’s decision. Right decision, wrong decision. Good execution, bad execution. Doesn’t matter at this point for my purpose here. It’s done. And anything you read here is not intended to reflect bitterness or anger on my part, nor is it intended as a commentary on anyone’s reaction in particular. This is no more than a couple of pertinent observations about how we face life in the wake of very unexpected, very devastating circumstances, and really, that applies to all kinds of things that have nothing to do with jobs and cuts.

So here we go.

Things I Learned From the Layoffs:

Lesson No. 1: Don’t Give Your Life to the Company

Now, when I say that, I don’t mean specifically to my company. I mean to any company. Businesses are businesses. They exist to earn profits. Unfortunately, very few businesses are in the business of taking care of employees. They take care of employees to the extent that it enables them to have the employees they need to be profitable. I don’t say that to slam companies and corporations. I say it simply because it’s true. Companies who focus solely on the needs and wishes of their employees cease to exist after a while, in which case they no longer have employees to be concerned with. 

And I think it’s fair to say that the converse is true most of the time. Not all, but most of the time. If an opportunity presented itself that offered something better — whether in pay, benefits, job description, satisfaction — the vast majority of people would leave their current employer. 

What I’m trying to say, and perhaps poorly, is this: No company deserves your life. They deserve your best effort for a solid day’s work. That’s the relationship that we have. I agree to do my job to the best of my ability day in and day out. The company agrees to pay me the salary and benefits they offered and I accepted. Once in a while we’re known to kick in a little extra effort. And once in a while, employers are known to give out a little extra. But as Jesus instructed His disciples, “the workman is worthy of his meat.” (Matthew 10:10 KJV) More simply, the worker is worth his wages. 

But to give my life to something that isn’t worthy of it sells us all short. My life belongs to my family. And most importantly, because I recognize my utter need for Him and His lordship over me, my life belongs to Jesus. While I’m grateful for my current job and past jobs I’ve had with a variety of organizations, some of which I’ve even really loved, I can’t see any one of them stacking up next to my family and my God. My life belongs to them and they are infinitely worthy of all of it.

A business, by its very nature self absorbed and committed first and foremost to itself, is not worthy of my life.

Lesson No. 2: Don’t Get Your Life From the Company

Way too often we look to our boss or our job or our company to provide us with things that they simply cannot. As I’ve said already, our relationship is limited. The company doesn’t owe me life any more than I owe mine to it. I owe the company my work effort. The company owes me my compensation. That’s it. No company can provide me with security, and when I look there for it, I will be woefully disappointed, as many of us have been in these past several days. My job, my boss, my company simply cannot bestow security or certainty or stability. It’s not their job and it’s not within the realm of their capability. 

Jobs cannot bestow life. They just can’t.

Here’s the thing. And this is the only thing I’m going to say today that really matters. There is only one sure thing. There is only one source of life. There is only one person in all the world that can give us everything we really need. Life, love, security. No, I have not been reading any new self-help books and so I’m not going to tell you that you’re the only one who can do that for yourself. I will not say “we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Trusting in ourselves for life and security makes about as much sense as trusting in an insurance company for those things. We just don’t have it.

There’s one source of life, only one, like it or not, and it’s my Father God. Listen to the words of Psalm 146 above: “Don’t put your life in the hands of experts who know nothing of life, of salvation life. Mere humans don’t have what it takes.” Companies are run by . . . mere humans. But only God can provide the sure foundation when the rug gets pulled and when the walls start shaking. He’s the only one that not only knows what He’s doing but actually has the resources to come through. People and organizations, mere humans, sometimes make honest mistakes and sometimes honestly take advantage. Either way, they are destined to let us down. Mere humans don’t have what it takes.

But the Psalmist says we can put our hope in God. “He always does what he says.”

And what does He say He does? 

He defends the wronged.

He feeds the hungry.

He frees prisoners.

He gives sight to the blind.

He lifts up the fallen.

That’s a lot. But He can do it. He does do it. He will do it. He’s a sure thing.

Good lessons from the layoffs for me. God is worthy of my life. God is the only one who can give me life.

He’s worthy of my trust in every possible sense.

The last verse of Psalm 146 says it all for me. If I will just let it be so.

“God’s in charge — always. Zion’s God is God for good!”

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