Former NCR employees with similar skills may face tough competition for fewer jobs.
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September 6, 2009
When Teana Nicol lost her job as a project manager for the NCR Corp. in April, she was showered with sympathy and support. Friends gave her small presents: flowers, decorative purses, gift cards.
“It was a big boost to me to know so many people cared,” recalled the 41-year-old Oakwood woman.
But very few could understand how it felt to be laid off from NCR for the second time in 11 years.
Now, unfortunately, she has plenty of company — and plenty of competition for a dwindling number of jobs.
“I held high hopes of being hired back, and I had some strong leads and lots of people pulling for me,” she recalled. “Now they’re pulling for themselves, as they should be.”
Nicol has tried to take full advantage of her unexpected time off, enjoying the summer with her 20-year-old daughter, Vanessa Russell, a senior at Miami University. She expected to throw herself even more wholeheartedly into her volunteer work with the local chapter of the League of Women Voters.
“Why haven’t I gotten more involved?” she asked herself, then remembered her college psychology classes on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
“Getting laid off takes you lower on that chart to the level of food and security and shelter, so that things such as ‘making democracy work’ aren’t as high on the radar screen,” she observed. “You don’t think as much of lofty ideals. You tend to focus more on keeping your house, keeping your daughter in college, paying for your health insurance.”
There’s one emotional need that is being amply met: “Now I have a huge support group of former co-workers who know exactly how I feel.”
Since being laid off by NCR in April, Teana Nicol has somewhat neglected the garden of her Oakwood home. She hasn’t planted any annuals this summer, hasn’t puttered over potted plants. She’s patronizing fewer arts events, going to fewer restaurants, making fewer charitable donations.
“For now, I’m squeaking by,” she said.
Nicol and her husband, Fraser, both worked for NCR when she was laid off the first time five years ago. Fraser never went back to the company; he started his own telecommunications company, which also has been affected by the economic downturn. Teana carried the benefits for the family.
“Having been through financial upheaval, we already weren’t in the habit of being extravagant,” she said.
She knows she’s lucky to get by through these small economies of scale. Many laid-off workers are losing their health insurance, even their homes. “I’m very grateful the government is picking up 66 percent of our Cobra payments; otherwise the amount would outstrip my unemployment check,” she said.
She’s also fortunate that a small inheritance has enabled her daughter to finish her senior year at Miami University; otherwise, she might have resorted to taking out a second mortgage. “That was supposed to be my daughter’s nest egg, or her down payment on a house,” Nicol lamented, “but at least she can complete her education.”
That dilemma only worsened when NCR announced it would be leaving Dayton in June: “There are hundreds of other candidates with similar backgrounds in the same job market. That makes it even more challenging to have the luxury of staying in Dayton.”
The couple desperately wants to stay in Dayton. Nicol grew up here; her husband’s family lives only a few hours away. They love the small-town feel coupled with big-city amenities. “I could break into community theater here and get leading parts,” Nicol said, recalling her role as Marian the Librarian in the Dayton Playhouse’s production of “The Music Man.” “This town is small enough you can really make an impact as opposed to large city, yet it’s big enough, it has a lot to offer.”
Nicol worries about older NCR workers who grew up in the company’s “cradle-to-grave” era: “I feel bad for people who were the sole breadwinner or who were closer to retirement. They’re thinking they have a job for life, and now their skills are obsolete.”
Not that she doesn’t lose sleep over her own prospects: “There are those awake-at-night moments, when I wonder, ‘What makes me special?’ I do get scared sometimes because there are other people running out of their unemployment who are highly-qualified. If they can’t find a job, what makes me think I can?”
Other days, when a recruiter calls or a telephone interview goes well, she feels guardedly upbeat. “But I’ve been through this a couple of other times — there have been strong leads, but the job didn’t materialize. It’s a real roller coaster.”
To relieve stress, she’s riding her bike more frequently. She makes sure she gets out every day, takes time to network with people.
That’s exactly the right approach, according to Dean McFarlin, chairman of the management and marketing department at the University of Dayton. “Searching for a job is a full-time job in itself,” he noted, “and it’s important to see people face to face and not to spend all your time cruising the Internet. Leverage all the connections you’ve got. If you’re an alumnus of a local university, your alma mater may be able to assist through its career services center. At a job fair you can find 60, 70, 80 employers in one room.”
The loss of a job, McFarlin noted, involves a lot more than the loss of an income. “One of the biggest things people have to deal with when they’re laid off is the deflation of their self-worth. A lot of people, particularly in this country, define themselves by their jobs. That can cut across white-collar or blue-collar lines, and it can be particularly acute if the job is something you strongly identify with, if you have a sense of mission.”
Nicol has witnessed that phenomenon with NCR: “People were so dedicated to NCR, if you left at 6, 7 or 8 p.m, there would be tons of cars in the parking lot. Now people are so worried about their futures and their families, I wonder how much work is getting done.”
In retrospect, Nicol realizes she was the first small wave of a much bigger wave that would disrupt the lives of some 1,200 NCR employees. She is taking advantage of her own advice that “all American workers should continue to educate themselves and to make themselves marketable.” She has taken advantage of the time off to attain her project management certification, an arduous process, hoping that will help her resume to rise to the top. She’s helping the League of Women Voters to develop a social networking and communications plan in the hopes that the local chapter “will connect with younger people, and communicate all the great things they’re doing in a medium more and more people are using today.”
She’s remaining hopeful in the face of an uncertain future.
“I have strong technical and business and analytical skills,” Nicol said. “I have a lot to offer. I just hope it’s in Dayton.”
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