Lets get a bit real folks. First, complaining about your direct managers for being yes people and such, or just being in a position that they shouldnt be in, thats maybe legit. But complaining about the C-suite is something else. How many of you have had to make tough decisions as the CEO of your family. Maybe an issue with paying the rent/mortgage, a car payment or dealing with the daily family issues. A child that isn't behaving and doing the chores, do you punish them or say naaa thats OK just let them be lazy. CEO's have to deal with tough decisions each day. Making payments on million dollar loans, maybe bad loans but they are still obligations. Employees that aren't doing the job they were hired to do. Stockholders they have to answer to. Stock price affects how the company is perceived so it affects orders that affects the cash flow that affects everyone including the CEO. Its keeping the company afloat. Sure bad decisions are made but as CEO of your family, have you never had to make them...decide what gets paid that month, what you can go without? So sometimes a cost cutting effort has to occur. Slash the marketing budget. But then if you can't sell stuff, how is revenue generated? OK, cut engineering. Wait...then we can't develop new products to keep the customers coming back. Pare down support...then you have angry customers. See? There are no easy decisions. I've been an engineer for over 45 years, closing in on my retirement. But those 45 years have seen layoffs. The first job I quit. Working for your father isn't always great but he pleaded for me to come back and help so for the last 40 years I 'helped' out in his small company. Bad decisions on his part weekly, I was forced to decide who to get rid of when there wasn't much work knowing it affected the families. I didn't take a paycheck, and neither did he for the last 30 years because the employees needed it worse. In the end, I shut down the place at his death. But it was hard telling the last few employees this was it, some had been with him for over 30 years. So I've had that displeasure of saying...sorry this is the end. I've worked for small places and large places. The first RIF was after 13 years with the place. Gut wrenching. Packing up 5 boxes of stuff. Never again, only a box of stuff at the most that I can pack in 5 minutes and leave. Next job...place shut down. Overextended and a great product but they just couldn't keep it going, sold off the assets to another company and I was looking again. We all knew it was happening so that RIF was OK, thats fine I have another job lined up. Then I quit the next one...poor mangement, full of yes bosses and a physco CEO that walked around at 5pm to see who was still here. Thought it was a good idea to send the engineering to a overseas firm. I spent the morning red lining things, to have them sc--w it up again the next day. Convinced my boss to bring it back, and we did but it was too late. I think they are still around, not sure. So the next job, got RIF'd because i sc--wed up, according to him, my boss's bonus that year that I saw it...double my salary. Awww...so sad. But the reason was because I was given a project already designed and said...make it work better but change nothing. Writing on the wall there, stayed way too long. Next 3 jobs was from a series of acquisitions, and I just stayed for the ride, work was interesting and fun, boss was good. Now it that job I because a manager. Dealing with employees is not fun, so I vowed never ever to get enticed for that role again. The third company shut down operations in our city, given 6 months before the last day, had a new an my present job 2 months after we were told so I just worked (and actually was productive) up to the last day.
So bottom line, I speak from experience. I've run a company. I've been RIF'd several times. I've seen the tough decisions that have to be made in order to keep a company alive. It never makes sense. Even to me making them but its the best of a bad situation.It takes money to make money. So to those people who complain, just understand the big picture a bit more. If you have a bad supervisor, well either find a new one or stick it out. Everything is temporary if you wait long enough. if you can wait long enough. Those who say I do the minimum, think about how that's perceived by others. Some RIF's I have survived was clearing out the dead wood. If your kid was just doing the bare minimum in life, is that OK with you? Set an example as well, do what you can in a bad situation.
To those who have been terminated, best of luck to you. I mean that. To those who should be, get it together, start being useful. To those who are doing a good job, keep on that and mentor others to do the same.