Fast forward a month after my team member had been Freed Up (definitely go read this first), and I had the closing on my first house later that week, after about 6 months of searching for a new place. It was the week before Christmas and our PM called me out to the hallway. He said “I’ve just been asked if I can free you up to move onto another project.”
I walked straight into the boss’s office and said “we need to talk”. I point-blank asked if he was firing me and he said “we do need to reduce staff to get costs under control, but there’s room for someone who will work hard and put in extra effort.”
In that moment I might have snapped just a little bit and responded that I had been working 60-80 hours every week for over 6 months and that I had the only project in the company that was being delivered successfully on time and under budget and if that wasn’t good enough he could shove his “extra effort” where the sun doesn’t shine.
Needless today, I was invited to pack up my desk and go home after that, which I did.
Once I got home I called up one of the clients I had been working with. I had my next job lined up that same day, and the husband of my new boss (an attorney) joined me at my closing to help address any concerns with my employment.
