Random thoughts on recession, hiring and firing..

We have a recruitment drive going on in the office. Now, me and the husband, both of us generally carry our work home, but not our offices, meaning we hardly discuss official matters at home. This, despite the fact that he was a colleague before he transitioned to be a spouse and we still work for similar organizations in similar capabilities. But when it is things like hiring and firing, we do spill over the beans. He expressed surprise at my company hiring so soon after doing away with some 10% of the employees, barely 4 months back. This has got me thinking. Somehow, I had not put things in perspective and considered it a general activity till I discussed it with him. How do I feel about this hiring.. Strangely, I have almost the same feelings as I had at the time of firing. My general feelings about most things are a little mixed. There is no extremely happy news, and no absolutely sad tidings, which means I am never jumping with joy, and not shedding buckets of tears ever. I guess I have been conditioned to think in this manner by my parents, and I cannot thank them enough for it. When the company was firing like crazy, I did not feel scared, and not that disturbed. I would agree that circumstances vary, and I might be better off than some other people who faced the music. I mean I have a husband who earns as much, some savings to keep us going for a few months, probably an year if we behave responsibly. Our parents can still support us, for sometime at least.. we have no loans, the flip side being that after working for so many years, almost always with a decent pay package, we still live in a rented apartment. The only *liability* we have is my little daughter, and I hate to call her that. She is an asset to me, and I have put the best years of my life in order to earn her. Women prime at 25, isn't that the saying. I digress.. but I seriously think that a correction was required in the IT industry. People have been taking a lot of things for granted. This served as a rude reminder that your job is not meant to be one of those things. It was really unfortunate for the victims, they were penalized for no obvious fault of theirs but at the same time, it did a hell lot of good to the others. It makes me sad to see people not giving half their potential to their jobs. Now, this is a personal observation I made during my years in the software industry, it might be entirely different for other people. Post the job cuts, we did lose resources, but the ones still employed came out so much more responsible and matured. Now that the company is recruiting again, we will get additional resources but it is only when the current ones keep the momentum going that we shall benefit from it. Also, recruitment at such a big scale means loads of interviews and extra effort on our part. For me, it will be trying to squeeze more in the already hectic schedule. All the same, I feel it is a healthy sign of recovery from recession. Here's looking forward to an eventful week.. Resumes anyone?