possible redundancy - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

rsgerry · 03-12-2003, 04:49

you think banks are shitty to their customers? try working for one. for four months i have been in the 'redeployment pool', waiting for assistance in being relocated. in all that time, they offered me ONE position, which was nothing like what i currently do. further, it was a cut in grade. i politely told them 'no'.

well, not surprisingly, today we were called together and officially told there would be job cuts...massive job cuts. of course, all assistance would be given to us to help us find other work (yeah, right) and those that miss out will be paid out. my payout wouldnt be too bad, but i have effectively worked for this bunch for 14 years. i had one year away to study, but went back. whilst i have been lucky to work in a variety of roles, which will help me on the outside, this is effectively all i have known. it is a bit scary.

one of the many problems is that there will be a few other people in similar roles to mine (project work / project management) getting the flick, and perth is a small toen. there are only so many jobs to go around.

what annoys me the most though, is that the real reasons behind the sudden drive for efficiency is that some of our corporate lending practices have been iffy. the bank will publicly deny this, but i know many people, and hence the truth. if you asked a doped up sloth to assess some of the deals, it would do a better job than the highly paid pricks who have got us into this position. further, if proper checks had been put in place, me, and 199 of my friends and colleagues wouldnt be facing the dole queue (except that i am married and will get f8#k all).

i have enjoyed the ride. i have made a ton of friends. i have obtained a world of experience. but now i am staring down the barrel of a great deal of uncertainty.

richard branson reckons you need to look after three groups of people. staff, customers and shareholders...in that order. if you have happy staff, you will get happy customers. they will come back, and therefore the shareholders will be happy. sadly, my employer cant keep the staff happy, the customers are never happy (new fees have been introduced...i am glad i dont have tto explain that) and our share price has fallen about 30%. reckon some of the twits at the top need cleaning out first.

rant over.

Sir Revalot · 03-12-2003, 09:49

That sounds crap RS Gerry...

I trust that you would have a fair amount of knowledge that you can now take to a new job with you though?

Being in the dole queue sucks, but you will get another job if you try hard enough. Been there, done that.

Just try and it will happen..

It is a pain in the arse tho isn't it!

Good luck anyways..

Marek.

TopGhia · 03-12-2003, 10:27

That sucks. The government should penalise companies like this with higher taxes or something, as your income support has been transferred from them to the government. The gov loses your income tax revenue and has to pay out an unemployment benefit, so they (we) are behind by that amount, (tax lost + benefit paid). Tax the bastards, I say.

Anyway, best of luck finding a new job.

Blurter · 03-12-2003, 13:18

RS, I'm also ex Financial Services. Redundant after 12 years when our parent bank decided we were no good. Mind you our top brass made the decision easier for them with some dodgy decision making but over 18 months more than 2,000 people lost their jobs.

One thing I learnt is that life goes on. Ask all of your friends if they know of anything coming up that you could do and look for casual work as well. I ended up unloading containers for 3 months for a mates father. I loved it as it was such a change from pushing a pen, set hours etc etc. Shame the pay was so low.

Anyway it gave me time to assess my life and my career aspirations and took the pressure of eating into the payout as my pay covered the mortgage at least.

Be realistic in your expectations. My first real full time job was not ideal but it provided what I needed cash wise and again gave me breathing space until I found a better job. One thing I found out was that when you are unemployed you put pressure on yourself looking for a job and that manifests itself in being too keen at job interviews (ie you are not yourself). When comfortably employed in any capacity you are not so desparate as you still have a job even if it is not ideal to go back to should you be unsuccessful. Its a mid set thing if you get me drift.

And RS take everything you get offered, especially any outplacement assistance. They actaully do help get your thoughts and CV in order.

Good luck buddy, I feel for you.

Steve

Falchoon · 03-12-2003, 14:08

A woman at my current work came from a bank and she says the same sort of stuff as you about them rsgerry. Hope it works out for you mate.

Mr Sparkle · 03-12-2003, 14:38

Hold in there Gerry. Some great advice from Blurter there, keep an ear to the ground, keep your chin and head up, and try and focus on moving forward.

I've been through hell with one particular job I had, with the biggest arsehole dickhead boss you can imagine, (to this day they still owe me over $6,600 in unpaid salary), and just like your seniors, he made stupid and selfish decisions which made it very easy for him to ruin the lives of employees with bulk sackings.

Best of luck mate!

Aussie Pete · 03-12-2003, 15:26

If you have the right attitude the next job will drop on your door step. I have never spent a day out of work because I tell myself I can do anything. I actually found enrolling with someone like Drake Personnel was a good thing as I built up many contacts and started receiving job offers all over the place from my short term placements. I highly recommend this idea!

Banks? What's a bank? (I use a credit union)

Pearly · 03-12-2003, 18:47

I was made redundant at the end of November last year. My payout got me through most of the last few months, but now I'm going out of my mind trying to look for work.

Good luck mate, I know exactly how you feel

Devil CV8 · 03-12-2003, 23:13

Been there done that, but in my case it was my decision. 20 years with telstra and sick of the management bs along with a personal situation made my mind up to ask/demand a redundancy. 14 months before I got a permanent job I liked..

for cutbacks try over 50000 staff cutback, as that what has happened in telstra...

rsgerry · 03-13-2003, 05:35

thanks guys.

blurter...your advice prompted me to ask for the money. to cut a long story short, i was due to have a meeting with the peanuts in our HR dept and they postponed for the 4th (thats right...FOUR) time. well, i spat it. basically told them to give me the f**king cheque and f**king let me get on with my life and stop pissing me about. i call it the hairdyer technique

anyway, she didnt know what hit her and went into stunned silence. maybe it was the wrong thing to do, but;

1. i am glad i let them know how i (and others) feel.
2. maybe, but not likely, they will treat us a bit better.
3. it felt so good. so very good.

i dont regret it.

round two is tomorrow.