The ongoing joke for many years is that it's not a question of if you are going to get let go from the company, it's only a matter of WHEN.
I spent 13 years at MTV Networks in Nashville in a couple of different departments. I realize the MTV name is what draws many people in the door, but once you're inside, you will encounter some really great people, and some really awful people. Some great professionals, and some just getting by on the coat tails of the professionals. The childish and petty discord is palpable in some departments, and HR has no interest whatsoever in remedying any situation that might help an employee. They will defend bad managers to the death, though. To. The. Death. I've seen more good people forced out because their abusive managers were defended by HR, and there was nowhere else to turn. Even some managers aren't safe either, though. The coupes happen at every level except the top.
Layoffs are routine; at least once a year, and as many as three, so people are always nervous about their jobs and fearful. There's never any budget money to do your job well. It is to the credit of some incredibly creative people that the network is still operational at all, because they are given so few tools to do so with.
Just watch Viacom stock on Wall Street. That says it all right there. But the company will lay off 50 low to mid-range employees so that a top executive can keep their 10 million dollar YEARLY bonus. It's shocking.
