Plot

The story centers on a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing at a major company - and how that affects them, their families, and their communities.

When the GTX Corporation must cut jobs to improve the company's balance sheet during the 2010 recession, thousands of employees will take the hit, like Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck). Bobby learns the real life consequences of not having a job. Not only does he see a change to his family lifestyle, and the loss of his home, but also his feelings of self-worth.—Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)

An ensemble drama that addresses the effects of downsizing on the upper class American family. For high flying Bobby Walker, his lucrative job at GTX has given him the American Dream: a big house in the suburbs, a silver Porsche in his garage and a beautiful family. But when Bobby is one of the thousands laid off by his company in the wake of an ongoing recession, Bobby must join the lines of the unemployed, but also deal with the effects it has on he and his family. Among the others laid off is Phil Woodward, an executive who rose from the factory floor to the corporate offices, but is now finding himself competing with men half his age as he reenters the job market. Meanwhile, Gene McClary is the number two executive at GTX and the vocal opposition to the layoffs, as he witnesses them happening to his friends and colleagues.—robgordon

GTX is a conglomerate based in Boston. In difficult economic times including what some may see as mismanagement by those in power, the company has to restructure leading to several rounds of firings, while those let go may or may not know that the company founder and CEO James Salinger is still going ahead with the plan to build a new headquarters building which would include his lavish new office. The stories of three of those fired are told, each in executive positions earning six figures, each in different levels of the executive, and each at a different stage of their life and thus career. In a changing job market than when they started working for GTX, they may have to reinvent themselves to get another job, which they may not be willing or able to do, especially if that reinvention does not afford them the lifestyle to which working for GTX has made them accustomed. Those who were fired in a later round of restructuring and thus who saw what happened to some of their colleagues let go in earlier rounds, may have a different perspective of their post GTX life.—Huggo

A young executive at a shipping and manufacturing conglomerate, Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) is on the fast track to the top. He is a rising star at work and has all the material trappings of success. Then his company goes through a few rounds of layoffs, so Bobby and colleagues Phil (Chris Cooper) and Gene (Tommy Lee Jones) find themselves on the unemployment line. As the year unfolds, all three must redefine their lives as they struggle to survive in a hostile post-career landscape.—tpsimpleman

2008 financial crisis. 53000 Citigroup employees are laid off. When the publicly held shipbuilding corporation Global Transportation Systems, or GTX (60000 employees and 11 Bn $ in annual revenues), is downsized in the midst of the recession, many employees are fired, including Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck). Walker is a white-collar, corporate ladder-climbing employee with a six-figure salary, a wife Maggie Walker (Rosemarie DeWitt), and a teenage son Drew Walker (Anthony O'Leary) and younger daughter Carson Walker (Angela Rezza). Sr HR Manager Sally executes Bobby's termination when CFO Gene is away in Chicago for an analyst conference. Gene is upfront and honest about the company's prospects, something that the CEO James Salinger, does not like. Gene is married to Cynthia McClary (Patricia Kalember).

At first Bobby is optimistic about landing a job in no time & rubbishes his wife for any talk of cutting back or selling the cars or the house. His refuses job offers below his last pay grade or title (he was making $120K + variable at GTX and the first offer he gets is $65K + bonus). Gene has lunch with Bobby and offers help with job searches with his friends, but Bobby rudely rejects Gene's help.

Walker gets outplacement services from GTX (Danny (Eamonn Walker) is Bobby's friend and fellow job searcher at the outplacement agency) but, without success, gradually loses luxuries such as his country club membership and his Porsche (despite Maggie's insistence, Bobby continued to pay the club fees and the Porsche maintenance in the hope that things would turn around). Bobby is optimistic when he gets a positive response to a job interview, but later finds that he lost the job to some other applicant.

He finally resorts to selling his expensive house (with a large mortgage) and moves his family in with his parents. Ultimately, Walker is forced to take a manual labor job working for his blue-collar brother-in-law, Jack Dolan (Kevin Costner) (married to Diedre Dolan (Dana Eskelson)), renovating a home. Jack hated Bobby for offshoring American jobs to Asia, and in the end, he is the one that helps Bobby with a job when he most needed it.

Bobby eventually gets Danny to join him at Jack's construction crew. Bobby gets a call from a headhunter for a VP Sales role, based out of Chicago. Maggie is not happy, as their life is based in Boston. Bobby flies to Chicago, only to find that the interview was scheduled for the following week. Bobby learns that Jack was paying Bobby and Danny out of his profits, to keep them working through the winter.

Chief Financial Officer Gene McClary (Tommy Lee Jones) challenges GTX CEO James Salinger (Craig T. Nelson)'s strategy of employee cutbacks (as he witnesses them happening to his friends and colleagues). Most of the cutbacks (3000 of them) have happened in the company's shipbuilding division, which came directly under Gene's operational control. James argues that the stock is flat, and profits are falling, while Gene argues that the economy is in recession, so this is to be expected. James also says that heavy manufacturing in US is dead and has no future. Future is in a services portfolio.

Gene questions the ethics of spending money to build new corporate headquarters (with lavish offices, private dining, gym and showers for the board members of the firm) while laying off employees. Angry at being questioned by McClary, his longtime friend, college roommate, and first employee, Salinger asserts that the deep cuts are necessary to increase profits, to increase the stock price and discourage a rumored hostile takeover of the company.

Later, it is determined that an additional round of lay-offs (5000 people) is necessary to boost the stock price to a level, so that's it's not a low hanging takeover target from a PE firm (In the 2nd round of downsizing the company fires everyone over 50). Senior manager Phil Woodward (Chris Cooper), who, over the course of 30 years, had risen from the factory floor to the corporate offices (a decidedly rare accomplishment), is also fired (he was in the list of those above 50 yrs of age) (plus he lost a critical account that Gene needed to justify keeping the shipbuilding division intact). When McClary demands that senior HR manager Sally Wilcox (Maria Bello), who is also his mistress, rehire Woodward immediately, she tells him that he, too, is being fired.

Woodward's life quickly falls apart as employer after employer tells him he is either too old to start a new career, or too old to do jobs that that half his age finds difficult. At his wife's request, Woodward goes out every morning as usual with his briefcase to keep his situation secret from the neighbors, but he cannot do anything to abate his mounting bills or his daughter's impending college tuition bill. Frustrated and depressed, he commits suicide in his garage by carbon-monoxide poisoning.

The CEO of the company takes home $22 MM & sells the company for $97 a share & his shares are worth $ 600 MM. Despite McClary's anger, he has become even wealthier as a shareholder of the firm (the value of his GTX stock options increases due to the company's downsizing), but he feels guilty about his company ruining so many lives and, instead, would rather put people to work. Feeling the need for a change, he breaks up with Sally and starts his own business. Walker is the first person he hires (he pays him $80K, half of what he used to make at GTX. Bobby takes the job happily and hugs Jack before he leaves).

Walker arrives at the bare offices to help start a new business composed of many former GTX employees.