Flashback to the mid-1990s, when this manufacturer has decided to slash the number of plant workers — and an IT support pilot fish figures he’s in the crosshairs too.

“I was the lone IT person at this site, doing network administration and PC repair and supporting more than 200 users,” fish says. “But I’d heard rumors from co-workers at corporate HQ that my manager was going to make a surprise visit the following week to see if perhaps my job could be outsourced.

“The day before the visit, I walked around the plant handing notes to friends, asking them to page me over the intercom system at various times throughout the next day.”

Manager arrives the following morning, and invites fish to the cafeteria for coffee. But as soon as they sit down, the intercom goes off, asking fish to call extension 9999.

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