After Google layoffs, we ask DoubleClick employees, "How was your day?"

NEW YORK — Google laid off around 300 DoubleClick employees today, one still with the company told me this afternoon. We were standing outside DoubleClick's headquarters at 111 8th Avenue in Chelsea, where I spent the afternoon asking DoubleClick employees how their day went.

One employee during his smoke break told me, "I guess I'm fine." His friend said, "We're moving on to Google. Looking forward to the free food." Others weren't so dispassionate: "It's never a good day when you lose colleagues that you know and love to work with." Another told me, "There's sadness on both sides." Most of the DoubleClickers turned Googlers I spoke with — those moving on to Google's scooters, free Odwalla juices and inflatable toys — told me they feel "survivors' guilt."

But not all of them. One told me that when he found out who was laid off, he wasn't surprised. "They had performance issues," he said. He also told me that Google did not make DoubleClick employees reapply for their jobs. "There some committees," he said," but most of it happened behind closed doors."

I spotted two guys smoking by the curb, and before I noticed the Google logos on their apparel, I asked: "You work at DoubleClick?" They answered at the same time: "No." OK, then.

Most said that people who lost their jobs today pretty much knew it was coming. But there was still suspense. Waiting to interview people as they left the building, I noticed a man standing near me also waiting. He looked nervous. I asked him if he worked in the bulidng. "No, my friend does." "DoubleClick?" "Yes." "Did he get laid off?" "When he comes out he's going to tell me." He came out. I asked him "You work at DoubleClick?" "I used to," he said. His friend flinched before he continued: "I work at Google now."

I caught one last DoubleClick employee hurriedly shuffling off toward his subway stop. "How was your day?" He answered, halfway down the subway station stairs: "I'm employed!"

5:20 PM on Wed Apr 2 2008
By Nicholas Carlson
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12 comments

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michaellamb at 05:40 PM on 04/02/08
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sounds like the annoying tv presenters who stalk families after a tragedy - so how do you FEEL about the fact that your son was kidnapped/ daughter raped/ husband killed / house burned down?
scoobydoo at 05:52 PM on 04/02/08
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In this day and age I would have at least expected you to Scoble them with your amazing video recording mobile phone.
dickrunning at 06:01 PM on 04/02/08
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Most of those that are left are looking for another gig. People were really upset today, it was bad.
raincoaster at 06:05 PM on 04/02/08
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I hope they at least filled their backpacks with the free food.
donmiguel at 06:33 PM on 04/02/08
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Welcome to the future. We all think that we'll be the next Zuckerberg -- or Denton (all hail Count Von Denton!) But in reality, most of us will neither start the big company nor figure the next killer app. For most of us, if we're extremely lucky -- we'll get to invest around 10 to 15 percent of our yearly earnings before taxes with matching input from our company into 401Ks.

Maybe, just maybe, there might be a tad of Social Security left. Oh blah -- whenever I read stories like this I get realistic and forget this isn't Logan's Run (Jenny Agutter and Michael York -- classic sci fi). There is no Carousel to end it all for us, so layoff stories make me nervous for my future. Um, now back to the happy happy! (Please insert snarky self-referential joke here).
Fidel on the Roof at 08:03 PM on 04/02/08
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@donmiguel: Next zuck? Come on. We aspire to be great.
famousauthor at 08:33 PM on 04/02/08
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Free Odwalla juice would be a great compensation.
GlobalNetworkNavigator at 11:08 PM on 04/02/08
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Logan's Run? Now there's a classic reference.
Jenny Agutter had so very... perky... assets on display.
Nice.
zibby at 07:34 AM on 04/03/08
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See, my grandfather used to work in a factory. Good paying job. Anyhow, their business was a little lumpy, so once in a while when things were slow, they'd tell my grandfather, "Hey, Joe, don't come into work for a spell, but we'll call you when things pick back up." And they did. That was a layoff. I don't think that's gonna happen here, so these would be firings. Or "let-goings", if "firings" is too painful to say.
zibby at 07:36 AM on 04/03/08
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Oops. I forgot to add "good luck" to that ramble.
ThatKid at 05:20 PM on 04/03/08
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Wait, Doubleclick and Google were already in the same building before the merger?? Talk about synergy.
Owen Thomas at 07:33 PM on 04/03/08
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@ThatKid: They were indeed. Popular building thanks to the fiber-optic lines going through the area.