Surviving a Layoff
By Lea Goldman
You worked late and did everything right. But your company pink-slipped you
anyway. Now what? Three women prove there is life after losing your
job.
Here's a stark news flash: The pink slip is back, big time. Call it the latest
grim reminder of these hard times, alongside $4-a-gallon gas prices and higher
prices on everything from Cheerios to chicken wings. In March, the ranks of the
nation's unemployed swelled 434,000 to 7.8 million, largely due to layoffs.
Wall Street has already shed 34,000 jobs since last summer; Dell will axe 8800
by year's end. What those numbers don't reveal are the many women who've
discovered an upside to being downsized. Their take? Don't panic. It is quite
possible to thrive post–pink slip.
Melissa Afromowitz, 27, former Wall Street investment
banker
Melissa Afromowitz tensed up when her boss popped her an e-mail shortly after
she arrived at work at 6:30 one crisp morning in early March. "Are you
around?" he wrote. "Do you have time to chat?" He summoned her to
another floor, where she found him alone, in a vacant office, no computer on
the desk, no pictures tacked to the walls. He told her she was a solid
employee, a hard worker, but that the market had soured and the firm had to cut
costs. She tried to hold in the tears, clenching her teeth so she wouldn't cry.
"I didn't want to seem weak in front of him," she admits. Afromowitz
could tell he was uncomfortable, looking away as she struggled to retain her
composure. He dispatched her next door, where a human-resources representative
waited in a similarly vacant room, save for a box of tissues and a folder on
the desk. Afromowitz couldn't maintain her steely reserve any longer and broke
down in sobs.
But the visceral reaction — equal parts fear, shame, and shock — had nothing to do with her work. "The truth is, I hated my job," admits Afromowitz, a former salesperson on the high-grade credit desk at Lehman Brothers, the storied Wall Street investment bank. The pace was grueling. Every morning she'd wake up at 5:30 for the predawn hustle to the office. By 7:30 a.m., the trading floor was already in the throes of its testosterone-fueled frenzy, which didn't wind down till late evening. Blunt and surprisingly forceful for her 5-foot-2 frame, "Afro" — as her colleagues dubbed her — held her own amidst the cursing, tirades, and occasional thrown phone. She was well-compensated — $85,000 base pay plus a bonus that could match that. But she rarely saw her boyfriend and took only one real vacation — a week in Barcelona — during most of her tenure. The high-octane environment proved so stressful that she developed stomach problems that sent her racing to the bathroom throughout the day.
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Important Safety Information
- KAPIDEX may not be right for everyone. You should not take KAPIDEX if you are allergic to KAPIDEX or any of its ingredients. Severe allergic reactions have been reported.
- Symptom relief does not rule out other serious stomach conditions.
- The most common side effects of KAPIDEX were diarrhea (4.8%), stomach pain (4.0%), nausea (2.9%), common cold (1.9%), vomiting (1.6%), and gas (1.6%). KAPIDEX and certain other medicines can affect each other. Before taking KAPIDEX, tell your doctor if you are taking ampicillin, atazanavir, digoxin, iron, ketoconazole, or tacrolimus. If you are taking KAPIDEX with warfarin, you may need to be monitored because serious risks could occur.
Uses of KAPIDEX
- Persistent heartburn two or more days a week, despite treatment and diet changes, could be acid reflux disease (ARD). Prescription KAPIDEX capsules are used in adults to treat heartburn related to ARD, to heal acid-related damage to the lining of the esophagus (called erosive esophagitis or EE), and to stop EE from coming back. Individual results may vary. Most damage (erosions) heals in 4–8 weeks.
Talk to your doctor or healthcare professional. Please see full Prescribing Information for KAPIDEX.
You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
KAPIDEX™ is a trademark of Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc., and is used under license by Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Inc.
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Ob-Gyn Laura Corio explains why women should not try to diagnose their own yeast infection.
