The big chop?
Its been a strange 2 weeks for me. 3 days before I went on holiday to Singapore and Vietnam, we got notified that our department will be scaled back. Basically they were going to cut about 50% of the people. Being in IT, this obviously meant we would have the biggest casualties. Between the announcement and me going on leave, was 3 days. The Wednesday, Thursday and Friday involved drinking non-stop with my workmates. We found out Wednesday morning at 9am. By 11:30am, we were at the pub having drinks. At first I was terrified. What would happen if I get the chop? I won't have a job! I have a mortgage!!! Then after the 2nd beer, I realised that I shouldn't be worried about finding another job. Infact, one of my workmates commented that I am easily the most marketable person within our group. By the 3rd beer, I really didn't care anymore. If they got rid of me, they would need to pay me redundancy which would be even better for me. 3.5hours of drinking does that to you.
Thursday involved farewell drinks for one of my close workmates. This involved a free bar tab from our manager (Partly for his farewell, partly to make everyone else feel better about the situation) which meant I didn't get home until way past 11pm after we ended the night with shots. Friday arvo we had the farewell lunch (Yes it was a bit out of order) which was at the Bavarian Bier cafe. This again, went for another 2-3hours.
By the time I left work, all the managers were still in the meeting rooms discussing who stays and who goes. I told my manager I am happy to have the catchup when I am back on holidays. She seemed a bit reluctant at first, but she agreed to hold off on our talk. 15mins later, she called be back up saying she really wanted to have the talk with me ASAP, as early as the Monday. Since I would be in Singapore, I passed my sister's home phone number to her. I went on my holiday as per usual, and woke up extra early on the Monday (5:30am to be exact) to log into my work email and find out what is happening. Apparently they made an announcement that our team size was going to reduce by almost 75%!!! Not the 50% we had intially thought it would be.
I already came to terms that I could possibly be unemployed when I got back to work, so when my Manager called me, I was more than ready for the news. What I wasn't ready for, was the fact that they actually wanted to keep me on. I actually made the cut. Infact, I was so shocked, I didn't know what to say. I kind of just went "Oh, ok. Sounds good. I'll talk to you when I get back". Ever since then, I have been thinking about what it means to me. Of course I am utterly flattered they want to keep me on out of everyone in the team, but there are much more implications to that which I won't go into.
Anyway, I decided not to think about it and just enjoy my holiday. Mind you, it didn't stop me having a few heart to heart conversations with my sister and brother in law. There are alot of options which I will think about over the next few weeks.
Last Thursday I logged into my email and got an email from our HR Recruitment MANAGER. I immediately emailed my workmates to see if they knew what was happening. Was I fired after all? Why is the Recruitment MANAGER contacting me? Only people who didn't make the cut will need to see them to see if they can be redeployed in other areas. This was really strange, but again, I decided to wait til I got back.
Today I get into the office and I gave the Recruitment Manager a call, and apparently, someone had recommended me to someone who contacted him to contact me? So I've got a meeting arranged with him to see what they want to offer me. Feels good to be head hunted I guess. So whilst I was worried about what is happening at work, the first 30mins I got into the office has already reassured me that I have nothing to be worried about.
So the next few weeks, if not months will be interesting for me. Who knows what will happen and where I'll end up. All options are being considered right now. Stay tuned.
P.S. I'll be updating with my wonderful Singapore/Vietnam holiday soon. It shouldn't take half as long as my last Italy/Mykonos/Istanbul blogging....
Thursday involved farewell drinks for one of my close workmates. This involved a free bar tab from our manager (Partly for his farewell, partly to make everyone else feel better about the situation) which meant I didn't get home until way past 11pm after we ended the night with shots. Friday arvo we had the farewell lunch (Yes it was a bit out of order) which was at the Bavarian Bier cafe. This again, went for another 2-3hours.
By the time I left work, all the managers were still in the meeting rooms discussing who stays and who goes. I told my manager I am happy to have the catchup when I am back on holidays. She seemed a bit reluctant at first, but she agreed to hold off on our talk. 15mins later, she called be back up saying she really wanted to have the talk with me ASAP, as early as the Monday. Since I would be in Singapore, I passed my sister's home phone number to her. I went on my holiday as per usual, and woke up extra early on the Monday (5:30am to be exact) to log into my work email and find out what is happening. Apparently they made an announcement that our team size was going to reduce by almost 75%!!! Not the 50% we had intially thought it would be.
I already came to terms that I could possibly be unemployed when I got back to work, so when my Manager called me, I was more than ready for the news. What I wasn't ready for, was the fact that they actually wanted to keep me on. I actually made the cut. Infact, I was so shocked, I didn't know what to say. I kind of just went "Oh, ok. Sounds good. I'll talk to you when I get back". Ever since then, I have been thinking about what it means to me. Of course I am utterly flattered they want to keep me on out of everyone in the team, but there are much more implications to that which I won't go into.
Anyway, I decided not to think about it and just enjoy my holiday. Mind you, it didn't stop me having a few heart to heart conversations with my sister and brother in law. There are alot of options which I will think about over the next few weeks.
Last Thursday I logged into my email and got an email from our HR Recruitment MANAGER. I immediately emailed my workmates to see if they knew what was happening. Was I fired after all? Why is the Recruitment MANAGER contacting me? Only people who didn't make the cut will need to see them to see if they can be redeployed in other areas. This was really strange, but again, I decided to wait til I got back.
Today I get into the office and I gave the Recruitment Manager a call, and apparently, someone had recommended me to someone who contacted him to contact me? So I've got a meeting arranged with him to see what they want to offer me. Feels good to be head hunted I guess. So whilst I was worried about what is happening at work, the first 30mins I got into the office has already reassured me that I have nothing to be worried about.
So the next few weeks, if not months will be interesting for me. Who knows what will happen and where I'll end up. All options are being considered right now. Stay tuned.
P.S. I'll be updating with my wonderful Singapore/Vietnam holiday soon. It shouldn't take half as long as my last Italy/Mykonos/Istanbul blogging....
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