Profile: Layoffs in San Francisco's dot-com companies
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LAURIE HOWELL, host:
From NPR News, this is WEEKLY EDITION. I'm Laurie Howell.
The euphoria of the Internet boom has clearly worn off as dot-com companies continue to downsize and/or go bust. And Internet workers who once dreamed of cashing in on brilliant ideas in a limitless frontier now wonder if they'll even be able to make ends meet. For many it's time to find a new job. That's the evolution of the Internet pink slip parties: monthly gatherings that are more practical than social. Alex Cohen of member station KQED in San Francisco reports.
ALEX COHEN reporting:
Welcome to the GLAS Kat Club, a sleek combination of bar, restaurant and dance hall in San Francisco's trendy SoMa, or South of Market district. Tonight the Glass Cat is home of the second official pink slip happy hour. Outside the weather is foul, but the line to get into the club stretches towards the end of the block. Inside the bar those who have lost their dot-com jobs, along with those who fear their days are numbered, sport name tags with big red dots to indicate that they're looking for work. Recruiters wear green dotted tags and buy free drinks for anyone carrying a resume. Event organizer Marcus Rinaldi(ph) says dot-commers are known for their unconventional, laid-back work style, so it's not surprising, he says, that when it comes to looking for a new job, they'd rather do it with a martini in hand than at a traditional job fair.
Mr. MARCUS RINALDI (Event Organizer): When you meet somebody in a social environment, you'll find out if there's an actual work chemistry or if you'd actually like this person. It's a better way to meet people. With all the technology in the world, the best way to meet people is still face-to-face.
COHEN: Aron Cargo worked as a quality assurance engineer at Bid.Com until he was laid off in early November. His expensive leather jacket and designer knit cap give the appearance that he's flush with cash, but then if you ask him what he had for lunch...
Mr. ARON CARGO (Laid-Off Worker): I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Chex Mix, which might tell you something about poverty in these days of anti-dot-comness(ph).
COHEN: Cargo says he lost his job with no notice and little hope for finding work during the holiday hiring freezes. Since then, he's been temping at a non-profit organization, but the salary, he insists, isn't enough to afford the leisurely lifestyle he was once accustomed to. So he came to the happy hour in search of another high-paying dot-com job.
Mr. CARGO: Unfortunately, I seem to be here looking for more quality-assurance work in an already proven unstable industry. And I guess I'm just a sucker for easy money at the age of 23. I'm not sure. I mean, something I could care about would be nice, but, honestly, it is a secondary consideration right now, which is kind of messed up, and I know this.
COHEN: Money isn't the top priority for Catherine Edwards. Edwards was a development manager with an online education company until she was called into a meeting and told she had an hour to pack her things and go. But, she says, she truly loved her company and felt no bitterness when she got the ax.
Ms. CATHERINE EDWARDS (Laid-off Worker): It was a little different than working for just a random dot-com that happened to sell something on the Internet because it was education focused, so a lot of the people who worked at our company were very passionate and dedicated toward K-through-12 education--a lot of former teachers, etc.--so it puts a little bit different emotional spin on it. It was quite devastating for several people.
COHEN: The effect of the dot-com downfall extends beyond the digital border. Sandy Smith(ph) worked as an account executive at a public relations firm that relied heavily on high-tech clients. Once its clientele started going belly-up, the firm began firing employees right before Christmas. Smith was counting on a regular paycheck to afford holiday shopping and a trip back home to Philadelphia.
Ms. SANDY SMITH (Laid-off Worker): I was looking forward to a little something extra, you know. I guess the good thing is that a few of us were laid off, and so it's not like, you know, you were taken out back and shot, so at least you have companionship.
COHEN: Although Internet job losses are rising at a swift rate, few people at the pink slip happy hour seem too worried about finding work again. There may be a few bad business models out there, but the Internet is here to stay, they insist. Some even confess that they thrive on the fast pace and high risk of a career world where one year seems like an eon on a resume. Last week software company worker Dan Schwab lost his job for the third time.
Mr. DAN SCHWAB (Laid-off Worker): I was laid off in the middle of a three-week vacation. And during that three-week vacation was when I vested, so I was actually shocked to be laid off being that I just got promoted.
COHEN: So Schwab is now spending what was supposed to be a vacation scouring the Web and calling old contacts in search of a new position. Unemployment, he says, has been a great opportunity to re-evaluate his career choices.
Mr. SCHWAB: I think I was so committed to this job, this start-up, in terms of being a total greed that I commuted up to an hour and a half to Pleasanton, and I sacrificed kind of personal relationships with my family. And I think I was kind of worn out and didn't enjoy living in San Francisco, which is such a beautiful place, that now I can, you know, have better time to speak to my friends and family and, you know, enjoy San Francisco.
COHEN: And if Schwab isn't able to find work in the next few weeks, he says, he can at least count on another free beer at the next pink slip happy hour in February. For NPR News, I'm Alex Cohen in San Francisco.
