(Thanks for tremendous response to my post yesterday on "it was a sad day") Today it was story of two Qualcomms: Happy exterior and sad interior. Cafeteria and Hub and other areas were brimming with people. On first look , it looks as if all is fine with their loud talks and groups. But talk to them, some touching stories emerge. And there are some who came to work and called into meetings knowing very well that they are on their way out yet have to do all this work. Their normal confident faces were showing pangs of sorry and anxiety. Eyes roll in resignation when they talk of what happened. While walking in hall ways , people are not confident to ask "are you saved". They look at our faces to make sense if we survived. I met one guy and he spoke so slowly that I thought he was affected. This normally confident and boisterous guy, was too mellow today. I feared he was on his way out. No, his long time colleagues are on way out. This guy felt for them. Similar stories come out when you talk to people. Some of those effected are brooding on of what could-have been done to avoid; Some told "I should have been doing this more". And one of them spent so much time at work that never established networking with anyone outside. Now has to figure out where to start. One more young guy with a small kid was hoping to settle here. With an immigrant visa, now his life is in big turmoil , unable to know if he will be here or will he have to go back to his country. Tales of such people abound. And adding comedy to this tale, I met someone who volunteered and is happy for the package. The mosaic of feelings all around.
These things hit us hard and we never know when and why this affects us. As I said yesterday, Engineers in Qualcomm are a rare bunch: Always eager to solve and always prepared to do what it takes. Also, most of them were selected with rigorous interviews and so are pretty smart. So skill set and qc culture will be your companions in life's journey. I am confident all those sad stories of today will become memorable turning points for better for all of them. One day they will recollect this as best thing ever happened. Hoping best to all of them, I remain.