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.