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25 February 2021

Job news update [More:]We were told there'd be a big announcement today about our jobs. I posted in December that we'd been told there would be redundancies this year, involving several hundred people, with our jobs being replaced by zero hours contractors.

We had the announcement today - and I have been spared! Sort of. My existing job role will be redundant at the end of July. I can then take voluntary redundancy if I want to (I most definitely do NOT want to, as I'll be 62 then, and finding another job in a Covid/Brexit economy will be nigh on impossible).

If I don't take redundancy, I can then move to another role which is pretty much identical to the job I'm doing now, but on a new contract, and at a slightly lower salary (£2K down on what I earn now). It's a permanent contract, so I retain all my pension rights, paid holidays, benefits and employment rights.

This is such a relief. I'd been losing sleep over what I would do. I know from what colleagues in other areas of the business were saying that the 40-odd of us in my current role were doing such a huge amount of the work that the Exec was told if they lost us, it would cause significant operational and reputational problems for the organisation (which is already under Govt scrutiny in relation to waiting times for people's cases to be dealt with - it's a quasi-public organisation, so subject to Treasury oversight).

I know some of my colleagues have had enough and will take voluntary redundancy. But at my age, this is so much better than I could have hoped for.
posted by: senyar at: 14:39 | 4 comments
Well it's good to hear that it's not the worst possible situation. Sorry that you had to go through it all though.
posted by arse_hat 25 February | 16:26
I'm so glad that you are heading towards a more stable situation. The uncertainty is soooo stressful.
posted by mightshould 25 February | 20:36
I have a couple of colleagues who recently took on new roles in the organisation that they really didn't want, but they have mortgages/families and couldn't risk being made redundant. They both wish they had stuck it out now, as they'd be doing a job they liked, rather than one they just needed.
posted by senyar 26 February | 15:55
That's awesome news, Senyar!

And if the demand is still there after all this settles down, maybe your colleagues can return to roles similar to what they were doing if they're still needed there.

I work for a big company and this kind of thing happens from time to time. My position has transitioned from one division to another recently and is planned to do so again at the end of next year. The one solace in the upheaval is that I've been working for the same manager (now a director) for over 10 years and he recently gave me a very strong vote of confidence by means of a sizeable financial incentive. But there's a foreseeable possibility that our entire product line could go away, so there's always that shadow.

In the 1990s I had 4 "permanent" jobs evaporate in 5 years. I could probably be further along now if I chose advancement over stability, but stability is important to me.
posted by Doohickie 01 March | 15:44

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