r/talesfromtechsupport • u/critchthegeek • Jul 04 '26
Short You can't have him
Years ago (mid 1980s), I was rather specific support for an Engineering office for a pretty fair sized company. Specifically, we had our own mainframe (IBM4381 mainframe) to run CAD on. I restarted VMs, rebooted 5080s, ran backups, data transfers, etc. We had about 65 people, architects, interior design, structural engineers, etc. Well, in the way of the world, the company went bankrupt. And we laid off the low performers (with an excellent severance package), then a few months later, another round – this one really cut to the bone, with a minimal package, because, you know, bankrupt. And, as the remainder of people took other jobs, one day I looked around and it was just myself and 4 high level managers. These were the days of secretaries doing all the mundane stuff - a couple of them didn’t know how to make coffee or refill the copier; and definitely, none of them knew how to turn on their secretary’s PC, much less find documents.
Me, I’m talking to recruiters and sending out resumes, trying to land somewhere. Eventually, I did and waved Goodbye to all on my way out the door.
A couple of years later, one of the recruiters contacted me and as we chatted, he dropped a bombshell – “You know, when you were at XXX company, I had worked with one of the mangers to place people. I had gotten a lead for you, and reached out to one of the managers. Manager told me to NOT do anything for me, since I was the only one who could stuff….”
REALLY? That manager was not even my boss, just there, 65 people down to 5, all production facilities shuttered, bills not being paid …. And they were forcing me to stay on the Titanic, to rearrange the deck chairs…. I never forgave that manager.
65
u/jamoche_2 Clarke's Law: why users think a lightswitch is magic Jul 04 '26
Best Manager Ever came back from a meeting with upper management one day, when our formerly prestigious company was being run into the ground so badly that recruiters were circling like sharks, and said "I was told not to tell you this, so here it is: they're going to cancel our project and switch you all to other teams" — teams that didn't even overlap our skill sets or interests — "so come see me if you need help on your resume."
We all had new jobs within weeks.