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On Election Day (November 8), at the quarterly All-Staff meeting of my company, it was announced that there was going to be a Reduction in Force at the company.  Due to a “perfect storm” of circumstances—losing one of the company’s three state Medicare QIO contracts in a competitive renewal, the end of many longstanding special studies, both decreased budgeting flexibility and an overall decrease in the dollar amounts of the remaining Medicare contracts—15 employees (approximately one-fourth of the WA Medicare staff) were to be laid off.  That the CEO and senior management should have anticipated these events and prepared more extensively than they did, and that a not-insignificant portion of the impact may have been due to tactical errors by the CEO over the last couple of years, was left unstated.

To finish the meeting, the CEO explained how those who were to be RIFed would be informed ... they would find voice-mail messages from the HR department, setting up appointments with HR staff, when they returned from the off-site location of the All-Staff.  Needless to say, the stunned attendees at the All-Staff hurried back to the office, hoping to find no blinking light on their telephones.  Also needless to say, my little light was blinking.  Others in the “Class of ‘05” had it worse—one had been working on the road and didn’t learn her fate until late that afternoon, and another was on vacation in Hawaii and didn’t hear about her plight until she returned at the end of the week.

Like nearly all the others, my last day of work was November 22 ... wouldn’t want to pay us sad sacks for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I received about six weeks severance and about three weeks of accumulated vacation time.  Cruelly, at the very same time I also received the annual “gainshare” awarded to all employees because the not-for-profit company’s FY2005 bottom line had produced significant “excess revenues”.  We’re all getting outplacement counseling, which for me has largely consisted of distilling my 13-page CV into a two-page resume.

I’ve had a few feelers from colleagues at other QIOs around the country ... I’ve developed a strong track record in that small nationwide community.  It’s gratifying to learn of such interest, and to hear the occasional “what were they thinking by letting you go?” from people I respect and admire.  However, there a number of factors—family ties, developing and continuing friendships, political activities—that could hold me here in or near Seattle.  For now, though, I’m enjoying a temporary life of leisure.  This is hardly the season for a serious job search.  Come January, though, I’ll start ramping up to look for a job I really want, in a locale where I want to be.  Whether that’s still in healthcare quality, or something similar, or even a political policy job of some sort, who knows?

So, after this long explanation, in what way am I acting like a Republican?  It’s simple:

In the face of decreasing revenues, I’ve greatly increased my spending

New desktop computer, new flat-panel monitor, new software.  To say nothing of my recent oral surgery and appointment for more oral surgery in February, at a time when I’ll be paying the entire price of my health and dental insurance under COBRA while no longer using pre-tax money to cover the deductibles, co-pays, and such.

Would that I could simply take something away from the poor and middle-class, or get the Bank of China to fund my deficit, or had children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren I could bill for it.  Then I could really act like a Republican.

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UPDATE:  cross-posted and adapted as a DailyKos diary

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