Went into work as normal today, got called into the office with three other guys and got told three of the four of us are to be made redundant – gutted. Had to give my phone, laptop and credit card back there and then but get to keep the car for two months. Did OK on the farewell package but a bit p*ss*d off that it can happen so quickly. Goes with being part of an American company that has lost 80% of it’s value in the past year.

Oh well, got a couple of months to find a job and lose a couple of stone out on the bike!

What industry? I know of a company that is recruiting

Sorry to hear that. Looks like a tough year ahead of us all. Good luck in finding a new job job and let us know how you get on.

Good luck – enjoy the leave and I hope you find something.

WCA: who’s recruiting, then?

The company who are chasing me 😉

In Sales for the Construction industry but would turn my hand to anything really. Who is it that is recruiting? Based in the NW/Yorkshire area. Cheers.

best of luck

Thanks everyone!

How do they manage that? Don’t proper ‘procedures’ have to be followed – a time period for discussion, offering alternatives etc?

I would guess the 2 months with the car is garden leave/PILON, hence you finish as soon as they tell you.

Bums

I expect quite a few of us have this hanging over us. I work in IT technical sales so I recon I have a reasonable chance of getting the boot some time in the next year or so.

I went through all this during the dot com crash where the ISP I worked for had 5 rounds in 2 years.

Remember it’s the role that is redundant, not the person.

Yeh, the two months is a one month ‘consultation period’ up until the 19th Feb, which is when I actually am classified as redundant – I then get one months pay and any holiday pay oweing plus some statutory redundancy. Hardest part was giving the phone etc back literally ten minutes after being told. No doubt the car will be doing some mileage over the next two months!!

I’m probably going to be recruiting again soon. Electrical utility companies are pretty good places to be in recessions. Unfortunately I doubt it’s for you Itchy but for any power engineers / electrical engineers who like Yorkshire / North East, look out for CE Electric UK in the press. I’ll stick a link to the advert on here when it goes out.

Iain

If you work in sales there are always work in the recruitment industry.

Yes, we are legalised pimps, and yes the basic will be low, but if you need work then there is money to be made with some hardwork and some luck.

There are plenty of rec-to-rec companies who would snap experienced sales people up.

Wife worked in recruitment until last Thursday. She’d already put her notice in but then found out that 20% were down the road…

It happened to be just beofre Christmas, it’s rubbish – I got a bit more notice than that but as soon as they told me I was definitely going I had to clear my desk then was escorted off site.
Get yourself down to CAB/the local Job Centre, they’ll help you out with any benefits you’re entitled to and may be able to give you a helping hand with finding a new job. And make the most of your time off, it’s an opportunity for something new and a bit of time on the bike!

Bloody hell John sorry to hear of the bad new mate, all the best in your search, clock up some miles on the Passat 😉

I got made redundant a week before christmas! Worked in the furniture industry doing CAD drawings. Not exactly alot of jobs out there for me right now. In the space of a week we went from being told there may be redundancies, to there WILL be redundancies, to there will be 14 (half the company!). They got rid of my role completely as well.

Feeling pretty low, what with there being so few jobs to apply for and working hard to get to that position with in the company, for nothing.

Needless to say, i’ve been getting out on both my road and MTB’s alot and have been building a new trail in my local woods.

Not sure how our wedding in May will be paid for though!!!

I have been through three rounds of redundancies in the past year, going through a fourth at the moment. Got a really bad feeling about this one. Already switched to a four day week and taken a 10% pay cut as a result and finding that I have less and less to do each day… I too have a wedding to pay for this year. Wish they’d stop toying with us and just make the damn redundancies. There will probably be more before summer again even if I get through this round…

But hey, more time to ride bikes right?

All this redundancy talk makes me glad I’m in the job I’m in! I’ll be on 28K soon (OK, not fantastic) & don’t really think I’ll ever be made ‘redundant’ You don’t even need any particular qualifications to join, just plenty of life experience & dealing with people.
As the prison population rises (which it will) the more secure my job becomes.

sorry to hear your news – went through same thing 2 yrs ago and it came as a shock and I had about a week’s notice. Make sure you get maximum use of the car, and as mentioned above get the job centre thing under way.

good luck

I’m really sorry to hear that John; that’s really shite.
All the best finding a new one.

Just hang in there itchy and try to get whatever job you can while searching for a better one.

It is going to be a long ride back to what it used to be.

Shite economy now.

😥

Hi
Know the feeling I was hit last March. Since then I’ve been fairly lucky with contract jobs, but the current one is due to end next week and there’s nothing on the horizon (apart from child no2 in April!).

I had a reasonable pay out last year and am about to experience the joys of claiming dole/jobseekers etc. I’ve seen on their site that it gets reduced if you have any savings.

Does anybody know if you can transfer funds to a spouse/child/parent and it won’ be counted as yours? What would happen if I were to withdraw the cash & stuff it under my bed (safer than RBS shares!) how would they know?

Itchy – check the wording on you ‘at risk’ letter. The one month consultation should be just that. If they are using words that assume the outcome is certain, they might be in breach of their procedure.
Best thing to do is contact ACAS as they are in the best position to help you.

Thanks for all your comments folks – has perked me up a bit.

Matt – bit of a shock after meeting up on Monday, just been into work and got a really good severence package so if I find a job fairly quickly may even have that TV off you! Computer up and running thanks.

Andy – had a good day on Monday meeting up with three or four guys from here, all nice folk. Hope the forks are OK mate.

Geetee1972 – letter supposed to arrive tomorrow, will have a good look but will more than likely just leave things. Had an interview today, got another tomorrow and had three folk ring me already and it’s only been 24 hours!