As Workers Get Ax, Friendships Also Cut

After the Layoffs: Band Together and Make Lemonade?

None of this is to say that layoffs and work friendships always make for awkward bedfellows.

For Katharine Richardson from Nashville, who was laid off in 2007 from her marketing director job in the music industry, pink slips and pleasure have gone in hand.

To stay in touch with laid-off colleagues throughout the country, she started an alumni e-mail list on Yahoo! Groups.

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"Every time someone new is laid off, we welcome them immediately to the invitation-only group and congratulate them on graduating," said Richardson, who now runs her own company. "We help each other network for new jobs and help people deal with the horrible feelings from being laid off."

But that's not all.

"This year at the National Association of Music Merchandisers convention, we held the first annual alumni reunion party and had over 60 people come -- all former employees," Richardson said. "It was a blast."

This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.

Michelle Goodman is a freelance journalist, author and former cubicle dweller. Her books — "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube" and "My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire" (October 2008) -- offer an irreverent take on the traditional career guide. More tips on career change, flex work and the freelance life can be found on her blog, Anti9to5Guide.com.