Those who are not planning to take the voluntary severance package are wondering what comes next. How many jobs will need to be cut? Who will be fired? How will that decision be made?

We try to deal with the unknown by making little jokes — "gallows humor." "Have a good weekend. See you Monday — maybe."

More than anything else, a feeling of uncertainty permeates the office. We all go about our daily reporting and editing and photographing and designing. We work as hard as ever — maybe harder than we ever did — to put out the best newspaper we can, but we're in a constant state of distraction.

Thinking back now to my time on the business desk, I imagine this is what it was like at all of those other companies I reported on or read about.

The uncertainty. The anger. The frustration. The fear.

In other words, I think I get it now. Those of you who have gone through similar experiences know what I mean. For those of you who have not, I hope you never do.

This little bit of life experience is something all of us at the News could have done without. But since it's unavoidable now, I want to know how others have dealt with such things. I'd like your stories of surviving corporate layoffs — either as someone who lost a job or as one who remained at a company after jobs were cut.

I'm hoping your thoughts will help me and my colleagues at the News deal with the problems we are experiencing in our own little corner of the work universe. And maybe we can help someone else, too.

After all, this is a newspaper. That's part of the job when times are good, and especially when they're bad.

If you have comments you'd like to share, or if you have a financial question, send them to gkratz@desnews.com or to the Deseret News, P.O. Box 1257, Salt Lake City, UT 84110.

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E-mail: gkratz@desnews.com