Share via

Memories of layoffs

  • Article

Bob (of Bob's Top 5) has a nice post about layoffs. Here's my story (well, one of my stories - maybe I'll tell the second one some other time).

Near the end of the 80's, I worked for MicroRIM (of R:Base fame). Trivia fact: R:Base grew out of software that was developed to track the heat-resistant tiles on the shuttle.

R:Base was a very popular DOS program, and customers were clamoring for a Windows version (well, some for Windows, and some for OS/2...). Unfortunately, that request got a bit garbled on the way to management. Customers said, "Make R:Base run on Windows", and management heard, "You know what we really want? You should build a next-generation database product that runs on Macintosh and OS/2, and while you're at it, you should create your own database server and make sure you can interop with Oracle, Sybase, DB2, and all the other mini and mainframe databases".

If ever there was a project that had delusions of grandeur, it was this project.

They finally ended up naming it "Vanguard". (The irony of picking the same name as a rocket that only orbited 3 satellites in 11 attempts was not lost on any of us...)

But the project was planned, millions of VC cash was raised, and groups staffed up - one to build the DB server, one to build the GUI layer, one to build connectors to other databases, and my group, to build the UI that sat on top of everything.

Things went poorly for the first couple of years. Nobody had any experience building anything that big, and the groups weren't exactly tasked to help other groups out. After about 18 months, my group got called into a conference room one morning, and my manager Tom said, "Okay, is everybody here?", and somebody said, "Mike and Tim aren't here", and then Tom said, "Yeah, that's what I need to tell you guys...". That was the first layoff.

The second layoff came about 3 months later, and I was putting together my resume. I survived the third one, and got moved to the database connector team, working on the connector to one of the VMS databases (and, IIRC, the only piece of software that ever shipped out of that project).

Then one day, I got up from my desk to get something to drink, and noticed that everybody on my team was in a conference room. Except me. I got a drink, went back to my desk, and started packing...

So what's your story?

Comments

  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2005
    So they told everyone else you were leaving before they told YOU?

  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2005
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2005
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2005
    Wow, Eric, I didn't realize you were at Microrim. I was a big R:Base user, developer, and writer of lots of articles on R:Base and Vanguard back then. I remember the CEO at the time (name escapes me) doing a demo for me in some back room at Comdex in the early 90's (I think). Microrim really did run themselves into the ground. But that made for a lot of talented people to help staff the Jet, Access, SQL Server, etc. teams at Microsoft.

    I remember how Microrim had their building on the corner of the Microsoft campus too.

    Ahh, the memories.
    Paul

  • Anonymous
    December 08, 2005
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    December 09, 2005
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    December 12, 2005
    I was laid of on valentine's day =]
    it was also a monday.

  • Anonymous
    December 18, 2005
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    April 09, 2008
    PingBack from http://drugsmoviesblog.info/eric-gunnersons-c-compendium-memories-of-layoffs/

  • Anonymous
    May 31, 2009
    PingBack from http://woodtvstand.info/story.php?id=2649

  • Anonymous
    June 02, 2009
    PingBack from http://woodtvstand.info/story.php?id=43837