Back in the Fall of 2009, when "Up in the Air" was released, I didn't see it, but people told me I should have. I watched it the other day. Wow! It is not just an excellent movie and the most realistic piece of American cinema I've seen since 2005. It is also a gold mine of occupational themes that hit so close to home, it's unreal. You know, the subtle truths about corporate existence, which are so familiar to those of us, who have been boiling in that soup their entire lives. Thank you, Jason Reitman!
Our new economic reality of depressed businesses and desperate people serves as a recognizable background to the personal stories unfolding in front of us. The uncertainty of survival in the contemporary corporate world is so pervasive, nobody knows what tomorrow shall bring. "Living in the Now" is not a conscious choice of enlightened individuals anymore. Whether a CFO or a receptionist, in companies large or small – every wage-dependent person lives one day at a time.
As the matter of fact, George Clooney's character, Ryan Bingham, is sent to large companies. These companies can still afford to hire an outside firm to conduct the "separation" exercise for them, with fancy folders and severance packages.
In small business environment, even during the best of times, you wouldn't think of spending money on protecting yourself from the brutal necessity of firing people with whom you worked side by side. As a CFO/Controller, I've had my share of sitting across the table in a conference room, looking into a person's eyes and delivering the bad news. I developed my own style as well: do it gently, make them feel better, give them hope… Some even thank me at the end. Just doing my job, like Ryan Bingham.
He, actually, works for a small company owned and managed by his boss (Jason Bateman), who (how typical!) changes his mind about the company's direction three times in a few depicted weeks. Ingeniously, the filmmakers reduce smooth and dashing George Clooney to a powerless subordinate: his entire way of life is about to be changed by his boss's decision and there is nothing he can do about it. "…Here's the boat?.. Do you want to be in the boat?" You are either in or out. You have no choice. You swallow your pride and you go along. Just doing your job.
What are we doing? How do we go on and live with ourselves when we fire someone who is good at his job? How do we sleep at night after dismissing hundreds of hopefuls' resumes? And what happens when our own resumes get swept into trash? Do people feel anything at all? Those are our hopes that get dismantled. Do we register the weight of what we do? I don't know.
Everyone's life is up in the air, with no help coming. Help ourselves? We can try to stay positive and continue struggling on – that's the best we can do.
The Frustrated CFO 