Bacon buttie and a hot cup of tea now?

[Johnny Appleseed]

Good morning all you early risers?

Fancy a bacon buttie, a steaming hot cup of tea and a quick , what are you doing chat?

I'm up early because we have an emergency meeting at work to discuss redundancies.

Can't sleep - can't stop thinking about it. This is the first round of talks, we don't know who is going yet but some will be.

Well that's my excuse for being up so early - what are the rest of you up to today?

[crazy_red]

Cheers, I'll have a cuppa!

I'm up early, cos I never went to bed.

I've got insomnia, so I tend to lurk through the threads in the wee hours

I was 'let go' from my job under a 'compromise agreement' in January this year. So, you have my every sympathy regarding the work situation, the 'not knowing' is really stressful.

Best of luck, I hope you make progress and your meeting is positive.

Red x

[Johnny Appleseed]

Cheers crazy red

Please enjoy a virtual bacon buttie and a steaming hot cuppa on me.

I agree the not knowing is the worst - it won't be a nice Xmas for some at the company.

The management will have to make some tough decisions.

Younger employees with kids or older members close to retirement?

Hard times we live in.

I'm in the construction industry - and a lot of our suppliers have already gone under - big national names as well.

Still, not to worry - I keep getting emails from all my long lost, wealthy, deceased relatives in Nigeria wanting to send me millions of pounds in exchange for my UK banking details........ ROFL

[crazy_red]

Yum, nice butty

I worked at a Uni.

My compromise agreement was negotiated discretely, it wasn't part of a round of redundancies, although that did happen as well, just before and then again just after I left.

I don't suppose there's ever a good time to hear that sort of news

It's often 'a rock or a hard place' for management because it's a raw deal for whomever they choose.

The Uni brought in an external agency to do the dirty for them.

[Johnny Appleseed]

Yum, nice butty

It's often 'a rock or a hard place' for management because it's a raw deal for whomever they choose.

The Uni brought in an external agency to do the dirty for them.

I can see why they did that. If the existing management had to do it - it would be very hard.

Horrible decisions to be made.

Thanks crazyred - off to the meeting now - hope you enjoyed the buttie :-)

[Polly Fouracre]

I hope things went well for you! Why do these things happen just before Christmas.

[HeyWayne]

Hope it all works out for you dude. I work for a construction products manufacturer and we had to make some people reduntant earlier in the year - hopefully as a pre-emptive measure to ensure the business's future.

One thing they do say though is that construction is one of the first to be hit by any downturn, but equally one of the first to recover on the other side...

[zazen999]

As soon as they start relending, the construction industry should pick up.

I wish they'd flippin hurry up though. Blimmin bankers.

[Mrs Dobby]

Its not just the construction industry thats suffering, retail is too! I've had to go thru a consultation process with a long serving member of staff and make her redundant as she doesnt comply with the new ideal rota that we've been told to implement. She currently does a dual role, and with everything else they dont want folks doing dual roles, so as she couldnt afford to drop her hours in half, she has been made redundant. Nasty, nasty business thats left a lot of us feeling very bad indeed!

[HeyWayne]

Problem is, the negative feeling/morale doesn't go away quickly either. I myself am concerned about my job - which is why being off work with my back is making me feel even more uneasy.

LadyWayne's great though - she's optimistic by nature!

[Mrs Dobby]

I've a bad back too Wayne, but cant afford to be off with it, have already had 2 weeks worth of sick this year and dont want to take any more, so soldiering on regardless! Had a chat with my boss yesterday, he's coming to see me next week, turning around my new branch is taking too much out of me, so we're going to talk about options, I've done a darn good job (got rid of one waster, totally transformed the branch in terms of looks, standards, morale, upped sales, cut costs etc), but have 2 staff that are totally negative and have cost me self confidence and left me feeling down, tired and stressed, so perhaps a move back to a smaller branch would be a good idea! He's told me I'm definitely not one he wants rid of, so my job is safe, but he's concerned that I'm going to end up off sick with stress if he doesnt do something, and he's probably right! Feelsa like a bit of the stress is being taken off, but dont think anything will happen until after xmas now!

[HeyWayne]

I've a bad back too Wayne, but cant afford to be off with it, have already had 2 weeks worth of sick this year and dont want to take any more, so soldiering on regardless! Had a chat with my boss yesterday, he's coming to see me next week, turning around my new branch is taking too much out of me, so we're going to talk about options, I've done a darn good job (got rid of one waster, totally transformed the branch in terms of looks, standards, morale, upped sales, cut costs etc), but have 2 staff that are totally negative and have cost me self confidence and left me feeling down, tired and stressed, so perhaps a move back to a smaller branch would be a good idea! He's told me I'm definitely not one he wants rid of, so my job is safe, but he's concerned that I'm going to end up off sick with stress if he doesnt do something, and he's probably right! Feelsa like a bit of the stress is being taken off, but dont think anything will happen until after xmas now!

Don't soldier on too much Suzanne - I did that a few years ago and ended up in hospital, and then off work for 3 months (truth be known that's what worries me at the moment - and this time it would mean fusing vertebrae). Being stuck in these four walls isn't good for the head either. You have done a fantasic job by the sounds of it - so don't let the actions of a couple of muppets get you down. Hopefully the chat with your boss will ease things a bit for you - you can then look forward to a better working life. LadyWayne was worried about announcing she was pregnant (she works in a very male orientated results driven environment), and that she'd be treated differently. As it happens, because she is No1 in her business, they couldn't do enough for her. Most bosses aren't stupid, and when they have good emlpoyees - as you are, they will look after you.

[zazen999]

Here Here Wayne...what i was trying to say but you've said it much better.

[HayleyB]

What HW says is true, my business is seriously compromised at the moment and we are borrowing on a mortgage to see us through the next year. We have two employees and are keeping them going (even though it's very painful) especially one of them who is too good at what he does to let go. They would be seriously affected by redundancy as well and I just can't do that to them (although we have reduced the hours of the other employee). It's worrying and stressful and I just pray that things get better sooner rather than later.