Thanks to all for your comments.

A few comments from me, after reading what has been said. I've been a supervisor or manager for most my career and have been on both sides of the lay-off desk, so experience is not a question. I am well aware of the pragmatic issues involved and have always approached my job as just that. I expect no more from my company than what they have to do to make their business work, yet at the same time, I find that a good manager can get better results by providing a solid and consistent support for his/her employees.

That does end up building a certain relationship as each of us spend at least 8 hours of our waking day interacting. To merely say that it is just a job so buck up and get over it, is a somewhat cynical and callous way to look at things. Sure, there were no promises and we are each working for our own personal gain. That'* work. But if that'* all it ever is for you, then you are missing something in life, IMO.

I don't hang out with folks at work as a general rule, but over the years I have developed a few lasting relationships from work acquaintances. Natural, no? I take my responsibilities towards both my employer and my employees very seriously and view my role as a manager as somewhat of a go-between for each. I find that if you treat employees as humans (similar to oneself, lol), results are better.

So to make some sense of this rambling...I was just feeling a little low as a let-down after the dust had settled. I was not seriously depressed or anything, but experiencing a little empathy for those impacted directly by this action. Life does go on, as evidenced by the two letters of recommendation I wrote today.