This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with May Lee, a 59-year-old seasonal worker in Antarctica and former marketing and communications manager at HP. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I joined Hewlett-Packard in 1987 as a software engineer intern. As a graduate, I wanted to sign on for life with a good company that I knew I could be loyal to and would be as loyal as a company could be.
I didn’t want to climb the corporate ladder or jump from company to company. If I hadn’t been downsized last February, I would never have left.
There were signs that the writing was on the wall, such as a hiring freeze and a temporary…
