The Last Supper

I had heard the rumors that there were more layoffs to come at Forbes, but given that my salary as a reporter was at the bottom of the newsroom totem pole, I felt certain I would not be a casualty.

Further proof of the fact that I was irreplaceable sat on my desktop: an invitation from Steve Forbes himself to a party for the African economist-turned-author Dambisa Moyo, whom I was interviewing about her new book Dead Aid. It didn’t make sense to invite me to a party and then lay me off. Or so I thought.

As I sat at my desk staring at the invitation, I fantasized that Steve would walk up to me at the party and shake my hand, praising me for all my hard work over the last two years. He would thank me for keeping the site’s readers coming back for more and enhancing the Forbes brand. He would even pat me on the back for my courage in the face of the previous December’s layoffs and would whisper not to worry - he had it all under control. My job would be safe.

Then the phones started ringing. One of the overnight editors on our team picked up the phone and said, “Yeah, I’ll be right there.” There had been whispers about restructuring and changes in the newsroom now that the magazine and the website had merged. Still I wasn’t worried. [more]

--Posted by Ruthie Ackerman, RecessionWire.com

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