the shrimp harbinger, the quartered meatballs, and other signs of financial trouble at work

Last month we talked about signs of financial trouble you’ve seen at work — the early signs that foretold something worse was to come — and here are 12 interesting stories you shared.

1. The shrimp harbinger

One place I worked at had a holiday party, and long-timers clocked that the size of the shrimp cocktail tower was an indication of the financial health of the company. Some years it was a four-tier ice sculpture piled with giant shrimp, some years it was a single platter of average shrimp. It became known as the “big shrimp party.” One year … no shrimp at all, and rumors started flying. A few months later there were layoffs.

2. The rug repo

You know those rugs you put in the doorways so that people don’t slip if it in wet weather? We were leasing them. Receptionist came to me to tell me the company that leased them to us had an employee come in, roll up the rug, told the receptionist that they were taking the rug because we hadn’t paid the lease/rental fee in a long time.

3. The ominous email

I was working at a camper van rental firm where an email went out announcing that because we weren’t paying back people‘s deposits no one should be in the office alone any more in case angry customers showed up.

4. The polls

My ex-company, as cost-cutting measures, sent some company-wide polls for employees to vote for perks they wanted to keep (one of each pair). And by “perks,” I mean stuff like “lactose-free milk or decaf coffee?” and “cocoa or fruit juice?” Not sure if a year of lactose-free milk came close to even one worker’s price.

Not long after that they cancelled Fruit Thursdays and we all knew the end was near.

5. The trash bins

They had the cleaners stop emptying the trash cans at our desks. We were expected to take them to the kitchen at the end of each day. Some people were better than others about taking out their trash. But also, each floor had 100+ people using the three garbage bins in the kitchen. Meanwhile, one of the VPs was $30 million over budget and it wasn’t flagged until almost year-end. Layoffs followed but the VP was spared.

6. The pay cut inquiry

We literally just got an email asking us how much of a pay cut we could take and survive.

7. The blinds

After 2008, OldJob encouraged “energy efficiency” by closing all of the blinds and dimming the lights in the summer. We had some layoffs and a hiring freeze, so there were rows and rows of empty cubicles. It was great for morale to come into a gloomy, half empty office every day.

It was about a year later the company was suddenly sold, a month or so after the CEO swore we were not up for sale.

8. The quartered meatballs

I used to work for a family-owned department store chain that had come under the “leadership” of the founder’s nephew, who was really really bad at it. The specific store I worked at had a restaurant inside it. The place always did a Christmas dinner for the employees and the offerings started to get skimpier and skimpier, until the last year they had it where the restaurant manager was only given a budget of $1.50 per head. The meal consisted of two different kinds of pasta, one with meatballs cut into quarters, and plain iceberg lettuce with store-brand dressing, and ice water. No fault to the restaurant manager, who did well to put together any kind of meal for that skimpy amount.

Then, after the new year, there were loads of cut hours, reduction in benefits, lots of junky merchandise coming in, stores in the chain closing, and constant rumors about our store closing. The chain eventually declared bankruptcy and the founder actually came out of retirement to fix the situation.

Amazingly, the chain actually recovered and in fact is thriving today, but that didn’t happen until I was way the hell gone from there.

9. The Sharpies

When they replaced the brand-name Sharpies with significantly crappier ones. Soon after they closed our second location and cut staff at the home base.

10. The LinkedIn giveaway

I figured out that layoffs were imminent when I checked out the LinkedIn profile of our new head of HR, and it it turned out he had a background in ushering companies through restructuring. He ushered us through our own restructuring a few months later.

11. The stock ticker

Removing the stock ticker from the company intranet! We were told that it was because “people were spending too much time watching the ticker and not working.” Yeah, watching it fall off a cliff and realizing they weren’t going to be able to afford their kid’s college.

12. The meeting notice

The shorter notice you have for a meeting, the worse the news will be. Normal monthly staff meeting schedule, nothing wrong. All-hands in one hour? Be ready to bounce.

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