September 4th, 2009 
joel 
Tom Lavery
How many times have we written about this set of layoffs, that series of buyoffs, those salary freezes and decreases?
Behind every statistic are people. Real people; colleagues, friends, members of our family. We seldom get to hear the thoughts and emotions that these ones in transition are experiencing.
This Labor Day weekend, Tom Lavery has given us a gift of insight sharing what it’s like to lose your job. Lavery is a master control operator at WQLN, and due to a new automation system, will be without work on 9/11. He loses his job after 12 years of service at the Q.
Tom is also the regional correspondent for the Pittsburgh Radio & TV Online site, where over the past couple days has shared some feelings and memories of the station. I don’t know if our colleagues are keeping a “stiff upper lip,” but we rarely hear this side of job loss story.
So inspired by Tom, I would like to invite those who have been through this experience especially over the past year to leave a comment below of how things are going for you and where you were and what you are doing now.
Since it is Labor Day weekend, let’s honor those who invested their time and talents into making our Erie media outlets what they were before the downturn.
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Jim is another WQLN master control operator who is being eliminated. He posts about his situation and the new setup on his blog: JayAhrsBlog (HT to ErieBlogs.com’s Mike
I’ve had positions eliminated three times in the last 12 years. Each time I landed another position in a month or less. Sadly, the trick was to always be on the lookout for something better just in case. In the TV industry, now more than ever, you cannot be too comfortable in any slot. Always keep an eye on the job market, keep contacts aware of your situation and talk to anybody about anything.
The good news, each spot has been better than the last.
Best of luck to all in that position, the worm WILL turn.
Someone once told me that “you have to be fired in the TV business at least once”. I can relate to Tom’s posting. Most of us in this God forsaken business take way too much pride in what we do. Inevitablly, that comes back to bite us in the end. Uncaring corporate entities don’t look at case-by-case examples of dedication. They just want the bottom line to shine.
As a person who once moved his entire family for a TV job, just to be fired three months later for outshing the news mamagement let me offer these words of advice…Remember, you work to live not live to work.