Wednesday, February 20, 2002

The world of the laid-off techie

[zdnet 08.02.2002]

"A year ago, Jose Carlos Cavazos was enthusiastic about his new career in telecommunications and his position with Nortel Networks. Now he's throwing mail on the night shift at a U.S. Postal Service distribution center for $13 an hour.

Cavazos didn't plan to go from high-tech to blue collar. But after eight months without a job, the 37-year-old Raleigh, N.C., resident had burned through his 401(k) savings and was nearing the end of unemployment insurance. He took the postal job to pay the mortgage--even though it leaves him wanting professionally.

"My daughter came home yesterday with a group homework assignment and I had to write a paragraph about what I do for a living," said Cavazos, who has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University and a master's of business administration from Pfeiffer University. "Here I am throwing mail with an MBA. I was totally embarrassed. I'm just grateful that my daughter is still too young to understand how tough this is for me."

My old company, Dimension Data, laid off another 58 staff yesterday. This brings the total for the last twelve months to over 250. It'd be interesting to find out what they're all doing now. I doubt they're all enrolled in business school.

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